Chapter 591: Positive Changes

Mina did not consider the kind of attention she and Brayden would receive when they sat down in the small bakery. While the man she was with was being showered with affectionate smiles and warm eyes, she was being glared at by almost every woman in the room, and her level of discomfort had gone from manageable to unignorable.

Not wanting to ruin breakfast, Mina chose her words carefully, but Brayden saw through her attempts and refused to cut the meal short. When the server brought Mina the sampling platter that he had ordered for her, she could not touch a single item on the tray out of fear that it contained more than sugar.

"You aren't behaving like a woman who likes pastries." Mina chuckled at how comical the statement was to hear, especially because she knew how badly she wanted to taste some of the things in front of her.

"I have had my lifelong fill of tainted foods." Mina pushed the tray away from herself and Brayden sighed when he realized what she meant.

"If I eat one, will you?" Mina went to shake her head, but Brayden already had his hand on her chin. "Words," he said.

"No, I will not." The man smirked at her before calling for the server. The woman looked disappointed when he handed her the untouched pastries, and for one second Mina thought she made a mistake, but her suspicions were almost immediately confirmed.

"Can you try the chocolate one for me," he asked the young woman, whose face soured at the thought. Brayden looked shocked but Mina just laughed.

"Why are you laughing? If it's what I think then that is disgusting." Mina kindly dismissed the server who scampered away with a relieved look on her face.

"You know, my sister was obsessed with your group. Not you specifically, but Hansen as a whole. She would probably have done the same thing." Brayden's face remained disgusted, and Mina was tickled by it. She found herself giggling every time she looked up at the man.

"This doesn't count as a date," he finally said, standing from the table and gesturing for Mina to follow. She stood, preparing to leave with him, but they were stopped by the last person Mina thought she would see.

"Anyone but him," the man said while pointing to Brayden. He was glaring at the man, clearly annoyed for reasons Mina did not understand.

"Connor?"

----

Mina was miserable and confused the entire taxi ride back to the Lee mansion. Her first date was ruined by jealous fans and then to cap things off, Connor showed up to cast more doubt in her mind. The man claimed to have come as a friend, but Mina was not so certain. She had tried to reach out to Willow for advice, but the woman was not answering her phone, and Olivia was scheduled to be in a breathing class with Dom.

Mills was the worst person to ask for advice about men because she always brought up Milo, who Mina would not have minded dating if the man were interested, but he was not interested. She was so consumed by her thoughts that she had not noticed that the taxi she was in was not heading in the right direction until she crossed a bridge that made a loud humming noise to keep drivers alert and awake.

"You are going the wrong way," Mina said in a panic, but she knew the man would not listen. She tried opening the door, but the safety had been engaged.

"What do you want?" she finally asked, and the man pressed a button on his console that placed a call.

"Miss Harlow, I understand that your sister was killed going over a bridge." Mina became paralyzed with fear, but she knew being scared would get her nowhere.

"Mr. Walsh. Do you want to explain where your driver is taking me?"

"He isn't going to hurt you. We just wanted to show you how easy it would be if the need arises."

"Hurting me stops nothing and you gain nothing." Mina had begun to record the conversation on her phone. She assumed that her calls were being jammed and she hoped that if something happened to her, that her device would be exposed long enough to allow it to connect to a network and maybe send the file as an email if she had time to compose one as a draft.

"This isn't about my wife."

"Ex-wife," Mina corrected, making the man on the phone chuckle. "And if this isn't about Miss Meagan, what do you want?

"You."

"I'm not for sale."

"That is not what I heard," the man mocked. "First there was little Ian Lee, and then that Hansen fellow made a sizable donation to your 'support group,' and how was he rewarded?" Mina remained silent, but her mind told her that Mr. Walsh was blackmailing her parents.

"You were the one who contacted my family."

"Please, Miss Harlow cut me some slack. I know from asking around that your parents couldn't care whether you are dead or alive, but I do know who approached them." Mina could feel her chest burn as, yet another person had come to the conclusion that her parents did not love her.

"What do you want?" Mina asked again, deliberately ignoring the bait hung before her nose.

"I already told you what I want." The car Mina was in stopped and she looked to see that she was in front of her old apartment complex.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To remind you of where you come from and where you will end up if you aren't careful." Mina scoffed. There was nothing wrong with where she came from and there were many times that she wished she had been content with what she had instead of trying to greedily reach for more.

The car door was opened, and Mina flinched as Harvey Walsh climbed into the backseat of the taxi with her. She was trapped with the man who she knew was not a trustworthy or honest person. He mockingly reminded her of some of the embarrassing things she had done in order to survive, and when he saw that he had no reaction, he started playing a recording of a woman speaking.

Mina did not have to ask; she knew who the voice belonged to, and she was successfully hurt by the woman's claims. Not that they were untrue, she had indeed stolen food from the resturant, but she had worked for most of it, and what she had 'stolen' would have gone into the trash anyway.

"I wonder what people would think if they found out that the out from nowhere Mina Harlow used to be a beggar and a thief." Mina wanted to shrug, but her body had gone stiff from trying to suppress her tears. "Should we find out?"

Mina said nothing, but the Taxi driver handed Mr. Walsh a large tablet that was playing a segment from a daytime gossip talk show. He had timed it perfectly, and what was displaying on the screen was surveillance video of herself sneaking into a kitchen and eating food that should have been scrapped into the trash.

Mina knew the man thought he had successfully embarrassed her enough to have her fold, but all he had done was give her reason to push harder. She was unconcerned with the way people would perceive her, all she cared about were her parents, who had no idea how hard she worked or how terrible things had gotten for her.

Mina stared at the video, watching herself from different angles over the course of different days. She had gained a healthy amount of weight since the time the video was taken, her complexion was much healthier, and if she had to, she would argue that seven months was a short amount of time to have made such positive changes.

"Keep in mind," the man said as he turned off the screen. "This is just one of several people who have been candid about your past; there is also a Miss Maggie who says she has evidence of you interfering with her engagement." With that, the man made a gesture and Mina was let out of the car where hopeful paparazzi had been called to gather.