Chapter 577: Juvenile

Seated in the living room of 'her' apartment, Mina handed a contract to Olivia, whose eyes widened when she saw what it was for. All week, Mina had been telling her friend to prepare for big news, and she was sure the woman did not expect what she had lined up.

Aside from the event for Miss Meagan, Mina had convinced President Lee to allow the women to handle Zane's formal induction as CEO of the Lee group. He had finally gotten the votes he needed, and while President Lee was extremely vague about personal business matters, he did tell her that the board was looking forward to removing him and Zane when they failed.

"Mina, how did you arrange this?" Olivia questioned. She was so nervous that she felt as if she should reject the contract. Mina ignored her and went straight into details. She reminded Olivia that she would be nearing her sixth month of pregnancy when the event was scheduled to take place, and the woman was successfully distracted. "We don't have the capital to manage an event like this." Mina handed Olivia another contract and the woman gasped.

"President Lee has many event halls; they have a storehouse for the items they have acquired over the years and he is giving you full access to it."

"What else do you have in that folder?" Olivia asked curiously. Mina handed her another contract.

"That one is dependent upon how you do with the two events I have already lined up for you."

"Is Mills okay with this?"

"Mills is the one who suggested it. She told Drax that you are the only person she trusts to get her vision right." Tears started to spill from Olivia's eyes and Mina scooted closer to the woman so she could hug her. "It's not good for the baby for you to cry so much." That statement forced Olivia's tears back inside. The women stayed silent, while Olivia reviewed the contracts in her hands.

"This is going to be tough." Mina made a noise of affirmation.

"But it will set you and my godson up for a long time if you succeed." Olivia stiffened with Mina's self-given title, making the woman look at her suspiciously. "What is it?"

"It's just that you are now the fourth woman to call themselves the godmother to my baby."

"So? Everyone else is wrong because I am the only obvious choice. Without me, you wouldn't even know them." Mina did not have to ask who else would have the nerve to declare themselves godmother to her godchild, because only four other women knew about Olivia's pregnancy, and she was positive that Dom was not jockeying for the position.

"I kind of already agreed to Willow." Mina's mouth hung open, making Olivia involuntarily chuckle. She would never have guessed that Mina wanted anything to do with meaningless titles.

"Since you probably would have met Willow without knowing me, I will allow it; but I reserve the right to hold him first." Olivia agreed, but found herself wondering why Mina was referring to the baby as male.

"You seem convinced I am having a boy." Mina nodded.

"Do you really want a little Willow, Jay, Mills, me or even you? The best thing we can hope for is that a girl would take after Emma, who is the most normal in our group." Both women laughed loudly at the thought of a little girl being raised in a home with social misfits.

"Or she could take after Dom?" Mina shuddered at Olivia's statement.

"Have you looked through Dom's phone?" Olivia raised a brow while shaking her head.

"It took me weeks to forget some of the things I saw." The women chuckled into silence before Olivia's mind went back to Mina's request. "Do you want children of your own?"

"I used to," Mina said soberly.

----

Ian had been feeling great. With Mina at least having partially accepted his apology, he felt less guilt toward her, and closer to a point where he could consider her a friend. Luna also noticed his improved mood, and she did not forget to remind him that he should seek therapy before things had progressed to a level where he could no longer differentiate between affection and guilt.

Although Ian hated that his sister kept getting involved in his personal matters, he promised her that he and Mina would not spend as much time together, which was the truth. He had a lot of work to do, and he and Zane were actively working on putting Mina's plan into play.

Ian had never felt embarrassed about trying to catch someone but buying rats to set free in one of his facilities, had humbled him. It was ridiculous, but Zane thought it was hilarious, so they followed Mina's plan as it was written.

As expected, the general overseer of the storage unit that saw the most damaged items, had requested an approval for an exterminator. The approval was granted, and things proceeded as they would normally with Ian sending exterminators to all his facilities as a preemptive measure.

Rats in a warehouse were not abnormal, so no suspicion was raised, but as Mina had suggested, Ian pre-arranged for some of his men to join the exterminator crews and they were tasked with covertly counting specific unit models that had the most suspicious damages.

When the numbers came back wrong, Ian and Zane were shocked; Mina's juvenile plan was already working. All Ian had to do was trace the deliveries back to the driver, and that was a simple matter which was often done to award bonuses and overtime.

The men were left in silence; the drivers employment record showed that he had only made one unplanned stop ever on a delivery, and that was after a tire blowout, which a team from the Lee group was sent to repair.

"This doesn't make sense Ian, how is he getting all the delivery locations to sign off on nonexistent damaged items?"

"Because he is 'damaging' them." Not entirely convinced, the men put a tail on the driver. "I am not telling her that her rats worked." Zane was unusually quiet, and Ian knew it was because he was deep in thought. "What is wrong?"

"I just wonder how much damage Mina could have done if she were born into a different family."

"She wouldn't have been the same," Ian replied, making his friends eyes snap to him. "Mina told me that making money to lift her family out of poverty consumed her thoughts growing up. Imagine what would have consumed her if money weren't an issue?"

----

Mina was reviewing the guest list that Olivia and Willow had put together for the nonprofit she represented. The list included family names she was familiar with because of their social influence, and other names that she would rather not have on the list at all.

"Why the Arden and Anders families?" Mina hated that the names were so similar, but because she knew they were derivatives of one another the way Lee and Li were, she did not read too much into it.

"Money is the same color no matter who it comes from. You are a new organization, don't cause unnecessary drama for yourself by shunning people who are heavily associated with big donations." Mina rolled her eyes at Willow. For some reason they had not been getting along well, and it had nothing to do with who was going to be the godmother of Olivia's baby. Willow was behaving strangely, and Mina could not take it anymore.

"Are you going to tell me what's happening between us? Because the Willow I know would never have invited these people."

"Well then it looks like I am not the only person who has changed." Willow spoke without even thinking, and she could tell by Mina's face that the statement hurt.

"Maybe we should meet when you are feeling better." Mina stood and started to pack her things, but Willow stopped her.

"Mina, wait; I'm just worried. You aren't behaving like yourself, and do I even want to know where that ring came from?"