Chapter 571: Surpressed

Mina thought that President Lee was going to be upset with her, and even Mills seemed a little shocked that he did not react harshly. In fact, Drax seemed angrier, but he also did not remove the ring from his finger, so it may have been an act.

Bored, Mina went to go find Terrence, who did not look well. He had stopped sleeping again, but this time it was because he had become obsessed with the dark web. It was like he was a teenager who had just discovered comics, and no matter what anyone told him, he could not put his phone down.

"What is so interesting about what you are reading?"

"The information is invaluable to the research I am doing. A woman was arrested for petty theft but never made it to jail. The arresting officers that were named in the case claimed to have never caught the woman. Hundreds of other people have reported similar stories." Mina nodded.

"Maybe not in the cities, but where I am from, we are often warned to stay away from male police officers for that very reason. When I first moved to Scal, I was shocked by how many women there were in law enforcement. It is not the same in the countryside."

"Where are you from? Have things changed?"

"I am not sure; it has been more than two years since the last time I went home, and I did not visit for long." Mina took Terrence's device and put it to the side. "I need a huge favor."

"No, no, no, no. The last time I did you a favor, they took away my privileges."

"President Lee has been nice lately, so he might not care. I just need you to help me get into the healthy child initiative files." Terrence just stared at her, and she chuckled. Being judged by the man was always comical to Mina because he made no attempt to hide his irritation.

"Why are you trying to cause trouble?" Called out Rebecca, and Terrence used the opportunity to snatch his phone and walk away. Mina jumped in guilt, but she forced out a smile.

"Doctor Rebecca," Mina greeted.

"Don't play innocent. Why are you asking Terrence to be your spy?"

"You've misunderstood. I just want to read the true objective of the project. I think President Lee's uncle may have gotten something wrong back then, but I don't know what the goal was."

"Mina, that program ruined the lives of hundreds of children. Not just you." Mina's face contorted in confusion, but she shook her curiosity away.

"I just want to read the objective." Mina was telling the truth, but more specifically she wanted to see if she could read what was written about her sister.

With her perspective shifted, Mina's mind was playing tricks on her. She remembered her sister as always being kind to her, but as suppressed memories invaded her nights, she was starting to believe that Sadie may have been made sick by whatever trials she was put through.

If Mina's guess were right, something traumatized her sister to a point where not even family could comfort her. Looking back, it made no sense why Sadie was so adamant about leaving their hometown with Troy, and Mina felt like it had something to do with the healthy child initiative.

"Why don't you ask President Lee yourself?" Mina stayed quiet.

"There is no way you are smarter than me," Rebecca said while walking away.

----

Ian did not want to allow Mina access to her sister's file, it had been tampered with, and contained a lot of information that may not be completely accurate. Still, he gave her the necessary clearance to review it. It was when Mina asked to speak to Dr. Sancho that Ian should have said no, but he allowed the man to tell her everything he remembered.

At first, Mina appeared to take the information well. She showed all the emotions one would expect, and then, within just a few seconds, she was calm. She excused herself, telling the men that she needed a few minutes alone, and once again Ian made the mistake of allowing it.

Doctor Sancho, however, was immediately worried, but Ian believed the man was overreacting. He explained to the doctor that he had seen Mina behave similarly in the past, and Doctor Sancho told Ian a story that Mina had never mentioned to him.

When Mina was fourteen, she and her sister had gotten into some sort of argument. After years of suppressing her emotions, Mina snapped, and beat Sadie so badly that the girl had a concussion. The man did not have the details of what caused the fight, but Mina did not remember hitting her sister. She only remembered the terror she felt afterward, and what stood out to him back then was that fear.

Apparently, Mina was terrified of how her parents would react, she had somehow become convinced that they were going to send her away. Dr. Sancho was never able to address the cause of that stress with Mina, because shortly afterward, Sadie would get into a car accident, and the girl would fall victim to Ren Loam's harassment.

Nearly ten years later, Mina still had no idea that no one was going to force her parents to get rid of her. It was a lie she was told to scare her into behaving 'normally', and apparently it shaped much of her childhood. Ian could not imagine growing up thinking that one mistake would get you shipped off to some medical facility.

Taking Dr. Sancho's advice, Ian went to find Mina, who was having a playful conversation with Bressaw. In the past, he used to think that Mina was always happy, but he could now see that smiling was the way she dealt with extreme sadness.

----

Mills felt uncomfortable going to the Staton family home, but Drax insisted that she stay with him. She wanted to stay behind with Mina, who was behaving oddly. The woman had found out that her sister had reached a level in the healthy child initiative where she was expected and encouraged to take the life of small animals on demand. Mina was also informed that she had been flagged for genetic harvesting.

Mills wished she could help Mina, but Doctor Witt told her that the woman had to work through her emotions on her own. The problem was that Mina showed no real emotion. She had many times expressed her guilt for not noticing her sister's struggle, but Mills was not entirely convinced there was one.

Mills also wanted to remind Mina that she had parents who were supposed to play the role of caretaker, but Drax had advised her against it. Pairing Drax's reaction with information she had heard about Mina from Willow, it became increasingly clear that the Harlow's were either completely ignorant or neglectful.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay with you?" Mills asked to clear her thoughts.

"Of course, my mother knows that we are already having-" Mills elbowed Drax, who chuckled. "What? It's the truth."

"Will we get to share a room?" Mills raised a brow, and Drax pressed a kiss onto her lips that told her he would not have it any other way. "Milo is going to have a heart attack," she giggled out, and Drax made a noise that made her forehead crease. "What?"

"I forgot to tell you. Milo and Cala broke up."

"What? When? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Milo said he did not want you to worry."

"How is Cala taking it?"

"Knowing my brother, she is 'taking it' every night," Drax mumbled, and Mills made a face.

"What? Wait, Drax what?"

"Cade and Cala are kind of dating." Drax expected Mills to be angry, but she smiled brightly instead.

"That is great! Now there is no one standing in between Mina and Milo."

"Did you forget about Ian?"

"He told me that he isn't interested in her anymore." Drax laughed loudly at Mills' statement. "What?"

"Let's make a deal."