Chapter 568: The Mina Fund

Ian was quiet as he drove Mills' car. He was upset with Mina, but he really had no reason to be angry with her. His concern was that someone would trace the disappearance of Lydia and Gregory to the woman and start a whole new mess for him to seek help from Cam to hide.

Although Ian could make any criminal charge disappear, he did not want to go after yet another family on Mina's behalf. There was a limit to what he could do, and with him having weakened the Lee family's appearance, a lot of other families were growing bold.

Even Drax knew better than to just decimate the Sims. They had their hands in a little of everything, and their complete disappearance would financially hurt too many people. Ian began to bicker with Mina, because he just did not understand why the woman seemed to be a magnet for trouble, and it was the only thing he could think to do.

"You are acting as if I knew."

"Would that have changed anything?" Mina crossed her arms over her chest. It absolutely would not have changed anything. "I thought so." Ian continued to drive, but he was not yet satisfied with his scolding. "You know Mina, I am starting to become suspicious of you again. How do you have inexhaustible funds?"

"Inexhaustible?" Mina pulled out her device and showed President Lee her bank account which held a very minuscule amount of money. "After I paid the contract severance with Rouge, I spent most of my money on Willow and Olivia. If not for my employment with the Lamar family, I would not have been able to help anyone at all."

"So, you are telling me that you don't have money hidden somewhere?"

"I do, but you just gave it to me, and I have not deposited it yet." Mina was, of course, lying. She had her offshore account, but it contained barely a month's worth of living expenses, and she did not want to make any withdrawals from the account unless it was absolutely necessary.

"What about your Arlo account?"

"Rachel manages that account, not me. Any money earned is just sitting there. If you want, you can send it to me. I could certainly use it right now." Mills started to giggle in the backseat of the car and Drax never thought he would be happy to hear Mina and Ian argue. "Yeah, you laugh while you can back there, because as soon as I know you are going to survive, I'm going to kill you myself. What were you thinking getting shot?" Mina turned to face Mills, who was leaning against Drax. The man was holding up a thumb, because he was obviously too afraid to scold Mills himself.

"Mina, you wouldn't understand."

"And 'some interesting' person does?" Mills was quiet, but President Lee did not allow the conversation to pass.

"Absolutely not, you two will not speak in code as if Drax and I don't understand that you are trying to hide things from us." Mina just ignored the man, who gripped the steering wheel tightly.

----

Mina opened her eyes and found herself inside of the Lee facility. She remembered talking to Doctor Witt before falling asleep, and she shook her head several times, trying to make sure she was not dreaming. When she did not feel like she was in a dream, she looked down at her clothing, and knew she was awake.

"What were you doing just now?" Called Doctor Witt, who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Mina flinched because she thought she was alone.

"I was making sure I wasn't dreaming. Where is Mills?"

"She is in recovery. Have your dreams become waking?"

"Not exactly. When can I see her?"

"You can see her as soon as she is awake, but what do you mean by 'not exactly?'"

"I have been dreaming more about things that I failed to notice at the times they happen. They aren't always distant memories, and when I wake up, I can't always tell if I am awake."

"How do you know when you are awake?"

"I check my clothing. I am usually wearing the same sweater in all my dreams."

"Including nightmares?"

"No, my nightmares are much more detailed and vivid. I have a harder time telling whether they are real or not, and they are almost always set in my hometown."

"Are they nightmares or memories?" Mina paused, giving the truth away. "You are lucid dreaming; you know that right?" She nodded.

"But I do not purposefully pull forth the memories, they just happen."

"That might be what you think, but subconsciously you are."

----

Drax did not want to crowd Mills who had so far accepted his presence, so he stayed out of her recovery room, but he was close enough to appear as soon as she opened her eyes. Ian also stayed with him, which was shocking considering the fact that Jeremy had been flirting with Mina from the moment she alighted from the car.

Drax had always found Mina beautiful, but it was only recently that he realized that she was also beautiful within. For the time that Mills was gone, Mina had made sure to keep the woman funded, and while she told them that she was splitting her wages from the Lamar family, Ian and Drax had since fingered out that Mina had another investment account that was set up under the name Nolan Maw.

"What are we going to do with the Sims?" Drax's calm mood was suddenly thrust into darkness by Ian, who he had been patiently waiting to act after having the siblings removed from the trunk of the car and put into holding. "Lydia is in bad shape, so I have Rebecca treating her, but Drax, I believe her." Drax sighed.

"I believe her as well, but I won't make the call without Mills and ultimately it is your decision." Ian nodded. He knew he was the one who controlled the fate of the brother and sister, but Drax was his friend and he respected him enough to give him an input.

"Isn't it crazy how one ripple made over a decade ago can turn into a wave so big it almost drowns you?" Ian could not relate more to Drax's words. Lisa was his ripple and the waves she made were still trying to pull him under.

A nurse walked into Mills' room, and Drax intuitively knew that the woman must have woken up. He stood in the doorway but did not enter until he was invited inside. Seeing that his presence was unnecessary, Ian went to pay Gregory a visit. He wanted to know why the man had conspired against Mina, because as far as he knew, she had no connection to the Sims family, but then again, Mina was extremely good at making enemies.

It did not take Ian long to figure out why Gregory had targeted Mina. The man was already so broken by Mills that he was actually begging to be killed. Ian did not grant his request though, instead he ordered the man be sedated and treated for his injuries, which was torture to someone who wanted to die.

The action made Ian's heart spasm as he realized that what he had done to Gregory, was almost what he had done with Mina. She had stopped eating because she was done with life, but he forced her to continue.