Chapter 582: Bound to Happen

Ian was not surprised when Zane showed up with the personal items Mina had left behind in their haste to leave. Maggie Arden had been taken out of the event without witnesses, but even if there were, Ian already had people spreading the word that Maggie had gotten drunk and taken a nasty fall.

Originally, Ian wanted to set Paul up to take the blame for his fiancé's condition, but when he hinted at it to Mina, she was adamantly against hurting Paul in any way. Despite the fact that the man would not listen to her, and apart from himself, Ian knew that Mina was the forgiving type.

"How is she?" Zane asked. Ian found it comical that Mina was mostly uninjured, but everyone who knew the truth of what happened immediately asked after her, not Miss Maggie, the actual injured party.

"She is Mina; broken up, full of guilt, and consumed with the idea that she is going to jail." Zane shook his head.

"Do you think she would want to see anyone?"

"Knowing Mina, she is too embarrassed to see anyone right now, but I can ask her if you want." Zane found himself internally smiling. Ian was finally beginning to respect Mina. Had it been in the past, he would have assumed and agreed.

After confirming with the woman, Zane made his way into Mina's room, where she was curled up on the couch wrapped in a thick blanket while staring at the television screen. Mina's eyes were painfully red, her nose and cheeks were pink and looked raw from wiping, and the corner of her lip was slightly swollen. The sight caused any pity he felt for Maggie Arden to melt away.

Zane asked Mina if she needed anything, rather than ask her to explain whatever had happened, he wanted to distract her from it. She, of course, denied needing anything and he tried to tempt her by offering her several types of sweets, but the woman did not even smile in response.

Giving up on his usual tactics, Zane switched gears.

"My mother said she had a fantastic evening." He handed Mina his phone and the woman glanced at the screen before sitting up abruptly. She allowed her blanket to fall, and Zane could see she had circular bruises on her shoulder and collarbone.

"Are all of these commitments?" Zane shook his head. "Proceeds?" Mina was successfully distracted, and Zane took advantage of the situation.

"Are you going to stay in soiled clothing all night." Mina stiffened and pulled the blanket back around her shoulders.

"No, I just don't want to add tampering with evidence of a crime to my criminal charges." Zane did not mean to laugh, but he burst into laughter, making Ian, who had been standing at the door chuckle lightly.

"We are laughing but she is serious. I have been telling her that Paul is not foolish enough to pursue the matter, but she won't listen to me."

"You didn't see the way he looked at me," Mina said in a barely audible whisper.

"Mina, how Paul looked at you should not matter. That man was specific with his words tonight." Mina flinched at the memory of Paul basically accusing her of lying.

"I really didn't mean to hurt her; she just wouldn't stop talking." Mina began to cry, and Zane made an exaggerated annoyed sound that made her look up at him. "What's wrong?"

"You!" Zane pointed at Mina's face and then toward the area where he had seen the bruises. "You can't expect me to believe that she did that after you beat the-"

"Zane!" Ian shouted. Mina had really done a significant amount of damage to the Arden daughter, but Ian did not want his friend to remind her.

"What? That woman deserved every slap, scratch, pinch, and punch that Mina gave her. She is lucky that Mills wasn't around because she would have ended up just like Ly-"

"Zane!" Ian shouted again, and the man rolled his eyes.

"Mina, if you are really sorry for what happened and you want to make it up to the Arden family, open an investment account in one of their banks, but don't torture yourself over something that was bound to happen. From what your friend told me, if it were not you, it would have been someone else." Mina did not know how to feel. Her whole life she had been made to believe that violence was wrong, but she did not feel wrong, and something about that made her feel… wrong.

"Will that help?"

"Are you kidding me? There are few people with a story like yours and being able to brag that you bank at their branch will bring in customers." Mina had noticed that her influence had somewhat risen, but she had believed it was because of Oric's friends. "Now, please go shower before Ian calls Ellie to help you again." Mina gasped; the last time Ellie had helped her shower she did nothing but ask her if parts of her body were real or fake and apparently, she told Zane.

"No!" Mina said with a little more emphasis than she meant to add. Ian smirked at the reaction and he pulled out his phone, making Mina stumble off the couch and into the restroom. The men left the room, giving the woman the privacy to shower in peace.

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Maggie was not as severely injured as Paul had originally believed. Her tooth had bit into her lip, and her nose had been bloodied, but she was overall fine except for facial bruising. Maggie claimed to have lost consciousness because she could not pull in enough air, and the red mark on her throat told Paul that she was lucky to have been alive. He was no medical expert, but he knew she could have asphyxiated.

"This is probably the worst time to ask you this, but what was Mina talking about?" Maggie looked confused, and Paul realized that she had been unconscious when Mina tried to explain.

"I've never had a problem with Mina."

"Then why is she accusing you?" Maggie did not want to lie to her fiancé. She loved him, and although she believed that he was still in love with Mina, she told him the truth. She watched Paul's face contort into one of the most pained expressions she had ever seen on it before he sat down and gripped his hair. "Do you know that I accused her of lying?" Maggie felt her stomach flip.

"Just go to her already. I'm not going to stop you." Paul looked up at his fiancé, his pained expression shifting into another that told her he was conflicted.

"Maggie, you are my fiancé-" Maggie lifted her hand.

"And yet, you have been texting Mina about how much you 'miss the past,' and don't even get me started on how you were looking at her tonight." Guilt settled within Paul because he had been trying to see if the signals Mina was sending him were real, but she had denied them.

"Maggie, I admit I have been a little confused, but Mina and I haven't done anything; ever." Maggie rolled her eyes. "I mean it. She tried to kiss me once, but I didn't let her." That statement made the woman chuckle.

"Because you weren't interested?" She questioned sarcastically.

"No. I won't lie to you, it was because at the time, I wasn't sure if I liked her or Willow more." Paul grabbed Maggie's hand and pulled it to his chest. "I may be confused, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you, and what Mina did is unjustified." Maggie knew she should have let things go; even she knew she deserved the beating, but with Paul's words, she saw an opening to get back at Mina and took it.

"You should have seen the dead look in her eyes. I don't know what that man is doing to her, but the woman who attacked me tonight was not the woman we went to university with."