Chapter 572: Fine

Mina was fine, but everyone was behaving as though something were wrong, and she was beginning to think that something should be wrong. Reading her sister's file had helped her to heal in certain areas. Mina's relationship with Sadie had become so strained toward the end of her life, and up to the moment of death, they had not fully forgiven one another.

Somehow, believing that her sister was emotionally drained helped Mina to forgive Sadie's decision to leave her, and it gave Sadie an excuse for all the terrible things she did to make her escape possible. Someone knocked against the wall, and Mina looked up to see President Lee staring at her with a weary expression.

"I am really fine," she said.

"I don't think you are." Mina took a deep breath and pointed to a chair in the room. Once President Lee was seated, she told him her truth.

"Before Sadie died, she was like a completely different person. Troy had been cut off from his family, and she were so desperate for money that she convinced three boys from our town to kidnap and ransom me. I guess she believed that my parents would have paid for my release, or maybe she thought I would."

"I don't understand." Ian was genuinely confused. Mina was telling him a horrible story, but there was a smile on her face.

"When my sister died, I had two emotions: the first was, of course, heartache, but the second was relief. She had become secretive and withdrawn, and whenever I tried to find out why, she would verbally attack me."

"Mina…"

"Let me finish please," Mina said, and the man nodded. "You probably would not understand, but imagine someone you love and look up to suddenly betraying you without cause. Today, the information I read gave me a cause." Ian did not respond to Mina because he had been in her shoes. The only difference was that Harvey Walsh's cause was greed and lust. "President Lee, I am really fine. I am more than fine, but with the way you are behaving, I feel like I shouldn't be."

Ian completely understood where Mina was coming from. When Zane first found out what his father was doing, he had pulled away from Ian, thinking that it was best for him to hit the ground running rather than being caught off guard. It was a bad decision, and Zane later confessed that he had been influenced by the talks of others.

"Do you want to sleep here tonight? Mills is already gone, so there is no reason for us to stay."

"I am fine with whatever you decide." Ian found himself in a difficult situation. He had given up on pursuing Mina and she had opened up to him. Now, he was tempted to start pursuing her again.

----

With her leg nearly healed, Mina decided that she would visit her friends, she knew from Dom that the girls were off work, so she and Mills decided to make a girl's day of it. They stopped at a grocery store and purchased the ingredients for the dinner they planned to cook before showing up at the woman's doorstep.

Excited squeals rang through the room, and even Emma made happy noises. Dom was nowhere to be found, and Jay told them that he was hiding in his bedroom. Mina wanted to ask, but President Lee told her that Dom had pretty much begged to be set free of the 'punishment' of living with four women.

When the excitement faded, and Mina toured 'her' apartment, she made her way into the kitchen where she began to make a beef and broccoli medley. Olivia had been helping, but once the beef hit the pan, her nose turned up and she ran out of the kitchen. Mina followed her, and Mills joined a few minutes later.

"Olivia, when was your last cycle?" Mina's eyes widened at what Mills was insinuating, but Olivia dismissed it.

"I have been under a lot of stress lately. Anytime I am stressed I have trouble keeping food down."

"That doesn't answer my question though." Olivia looked between Mina and Mills and shook her head; she could not remember. The entire apartment had gone silent, which must have been suspicious to Dom, who stuck his head out of his room.

"Dom," Willow shouted. "We need you to go to the store." The man groaned.

"Please, not again. The women at the store are starting to think I am a pervert." The last time Willow had sent him shopping, Emma, and Jay had tagged on their requests, and he ended up walking out with three giant bags of feminine hygiene products. The worst part was that the cashier was cute, but she did not even look at him, no doubt assuming that he was buying the products for his girlfriend.

"Please," Mina added. "This is serious." Dom took on an expression of dread, but then he caught sight of Olivia's panic-stricken face.

"What's going on? What am I missing?" As soon as Dom was told, he put on his shoes and disappeared. In the meantime, everyone tried to calm Olivia, who looked on the edge of fainting.

When Dom returned, Olivia wasted no time running to the restroom. No one had to ask her what the results of the test were, because she screamed loudly enough to let everyone know it was positive. The sounds of sobs rang out loudly, and Dom had to threaten to break down the bathroom door before the woman opened it.

"What do I do?" she asked with a tear-filled face.

"Don't you know who the father is?" Mina punched Dom, and every woman within striking range followed suit. "What? I am just stating the obvious. She has to let him know, right?" The group huddled around Olivia's phone as she called Peter. She was so nervous that she was shaking.

"What?" Peter answered coldly.

"Hey, I... Can we talk?"

"We are talking."

"I mean, can we meet somewhere?" Before Olivia called Peter, Dom suggested for her to have the real conversation in person. He had convinced everyone that it was wrong to 'drop a baby bomb' over the phone.

"Olivia, I have moved on. I have nothing to discuss with you and I would appreciate it if you left me alone." Peter ended the call and Olivia broke down. Surprisingly, it was Dom who was most affected by Peter's words. He was ready to show up at Peter's apartment, but they were able to talk him out of it.

"What do I do? I am not married; this baby doesn't have a father and I don't even have a family to run to for help."

"That is not true. I promised you that I would take care of you and I meant that. Dom will take you to a clinic and they will tell you how far along you are. Once we know that, we can make a better plan."

"Mina, I am not sure I want to go through with this," the woman said. Her voice was strained, and it sounded as if the words hurt to say.

"Olivia, you can't," Mills said. "The child is innocent."

"Mills," Jay interjected. "You aren't from Pan. Life will not be fair to them." Emma nodded in agreement. Rachel was illegitimate, and she was bullied for it in school.

"None of us should be trying to influence Olivia's decision. We should all just support whatever she chooses to do."

"No," Mina said. "We should present her with all available options, and then support her decision. Everyone was shocked by the quiver in Mina's voice. "Sorry, I am just very against what Olivia is suggesting." Dom rubbed Mina's arm. She had once told him that she was an unplanned pregnancy, and he knew that she was projecting herself onto Olivia's unborn child.

"What Mina is trying to say is that Olivia needs time to think," said Dom. "In the meantime, let's make an appointment. I will pretend to be your husband, and where we are going, you can use a false name."