Chapter 617: Ravi

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟏𝟖+

Milo followed Fiori into a private room where she pushed him backward, lifting her dress up to reveal her bare skin. He did not need to be told what she wanted, so he gave it to her, using his hand to stifle her moans as he pressed her against a wall. The moment was short lived, but he could tell they were both satisfied, and while Fiori was cleaning up in a nearby restroom, Milo went to find Mina. He had not realized how fun she was, and although his sister was a strong advocate for the woman, he had only just considered her as an actual option for the first time during the game they were playing.

Mina was a funny woman, she was not vulgar or rude, and she clearly was not the type to take herself too seriously. Since they had entered the hall, men of all ages had been staring at Mina, who either ignored their stares or did not pay attention to them. It was a quality that not even Cala possessed, and she was one of the most laid-back women that he knew; excluding his sister of course.

As soon as Milo caught sight of Mina, Fiori stood in his path, clearly upset. She wanted to know why he left without a word, but Milo really saw no need to say anything. He had been chasing after her since he 'broke up' with Cala, and it was her who said that she was done with him. He was getting older, and for the first time since Fiori had put a hard stop on what they were doing, he was genuinely having a wonderful time.

"Fiori, now isn't the place to have this conversation. If you want to talk later, we can, but right now, I want to find my date. I shouldn't even have entertained you back there." Fiori felt her chest tighten as Milo belittled their escapade by phrasing it as if it was a mistake. She could not even fault him; Mina was an amazing woman, one she wanted to be more friendly with, but Cade and Adir said it was unsafe.

As if her thoughts had called her brother to her side, Adir approached carrying her nephew. There was a man beside him who Fiori recognized, but no immediate alarm came to mind. It was not until after her brother introduced the man as a possible suitor that she had a reaction. She had always known that her brother or father would choose her husband for her, but she did not think it would be so soon. She thought they would at least give her a chance to date someone on her own accord first, but the way Adir was speaking made her feel like the proposal had gone through and was set in stone.

"You choose to tell me this here?" Fiori said in a whisper, and Adir looked pained as he replied.

"You wouldn't have been respectful in any other setting." Fiori just stared at her brother. He was right, if they had told her in the privacy of her own home she would have fled.

"Fiori, I know I am not considered the most handsome, but I promise I will treat you fairly." She knew the man was lying. If he respected her at all he would not have agreed for the decision to be revealed to her in a public setting. He would have wanted her to process the information anyway she needed to, just as he had time to get used to the idea of having an arranged wife.

Fiori looked to Milo, who had suddenly produced a glass of wine. He was taking slow sips of it, careful not to look in her direction as he did. Rage overtook her, and she wanted to hurt the man who was pretending as if she meant nothing despite having lied to her practically the entire time they were together. He had made her feel like a forbidden fruit, a woman he wanted but could not have. She felt alive with him, sexy even, but now he was avoiding her gaze as if he were relieved that she was being pushed onto another man.

"I am sorry Milo," Fiori said. "But it looks like we will have to stop sleeping with one another." A wicked smile flashed across her face as Milo started to choke on his drink. She was glad Adir was holding her nephew because the look he gave Milo was murderous.

"Fiori, that is not a funny joke," Adir said, silently praying that his sister was joshing, and he had not given her unrestricted access to Milo, who was still living in their family home.

"It isn't a joke. Milo and I were just together." Adir's eyes went wide, and he raised his hand as if he were going to strike her, but Milo reached out and brought his wrist down.

"Whatever you are feeling, it can wait. There are a lot of eyes on us right now, and the man you brought over is already talking to someone." Adir looked to see that Milo was right, and he reluctantly handed his nephew to his sister as he fished out his phone to call Drax.

"The two of you need to leave now," Adir ordered.

----

Ian had been looking for an opportunity to approach Mina since the moment she arrived, but she and Milo seemed to be having fun and he did not want to interrupt, but at some point during the evening, Milo was gone, and Mina was wandering around the event alone. He watched the woman take a seat next to another woman with an infant. He saw the women exchange a few words before the small child leapt into Mina's lap, making her chuckle.

Feeling as though he could no longer be satisfied with just observing Mina's interactions, Ian made his way over to where she sat. She could not see him approaching, and he was able to hear a piece of the woman's conversation. She obviously did not like what she was told about falling in love or having a baby soon, because she handed the child back to its mother so fast that another man who had been standing behind them also laughed. Mina looked back, and it was then that she caught sight of him, and she flashed a warm smile in his direction.

The man who was standing behind Mina and the woman with the baby extended his hand to Ian, introducing himself as Levi Streep, a name that Ian felt he had heard before, but was not entirely sure. He noticed the woman holding the child make a disappointed face, and Mina questioned her in a language that Ian did not recognize immediately.

"Maribelle," the man whispered, and Ian remembered the couple at once. They were older than him; around Cam's age, but he had been invited to their wedding, which was a big fuss at the time.

"You are my cousin, right?" Ian said, making the man flinch.

"Sorry, it's just that in my wife's culture, family is important. She has forty cousins, and she knows them all by name. She did not mean anything bad with her words." Ian realized that the man mistook his reaction as him having understood the language, but really, he had just guessed.

"Your wife is fine. I'm actually here to check on my guest." Levi's face took on a perplexed expression before he realized that his cousin was referring to Mina.

"Miss Mina didn't tell us she was affiliated with you," Levi responded, not wanting it to appear as though they approached her with a motive.

"Miss Mina does not often speak of her connection to me. I'm sure you can understand why." Ian then focused his attention on Mina, who had stopped looking at him and was trying her best to ignore the baby that was reaching for her, while the boy's mother giggled. "What is his name?" Ian asked, reaching a hand to the baby, who took it and gestured to be lifted, which worried his mother and made Mina tense. "Am I doing this right?" Ian asked as he held the wiggly boy to his chest. Not surprisingly, it was Mina who stood and corrected him, which Ian was grateful for; he did not want to drop the child.

"He doesn't have a name yet," the woman said. She had relaxed only when Mina stood beside her husband's cousin, who had obviously never held an infant before.

"Cultural?" President Lee asked, and the woman nodded.

"My husband allows me to retain some of my practices although I no longer live in Ludousa. The right of naming usually goes to the first person a child goes to willingly. Miss Mina should be the one giving him a name." Mina stiffened, not entirely comfortable with naming a stranger's child, but she also did not want to offend the woman's culture. It was rare for men in Pan to consider their wives past lives, and even Drax had issues with things that Mills found normal, like shared showers between members of the same sex.

"Did you have anything in mind?" Mina asked, pinching the tiny, chubby hand that had once again started to reach out to her. When Maribelle denied having a name in mind, Mina thought of the lie she had told President Lee when she was still hiding the fact that she spoke and understood Sani. She had combined Drax and Mills' names and she did the same for Maribelle and Levi. "How about Ravi?"

"Ravi Streep," Levi repeated. "It's not bad." Maribelle also agreed to the name, and Mina reached out to the child who was eager to jump out of President Lee's arms, calling him by his new name.

As she played with the baby, a shrill voice called out gleefully, and Mina could see Maribelle tense. She handed the woman back her infant after exchanging a few quick words that expressed her worry. The woman approaching was Levi's mother, and she was 'glad to see' that he was interacting with his cousin. Mina did not miss the fact that the old woman mentioned another woman to her son, who pointedly asked her to stop.

"Issues?" Mina asked in Luody. Maribelle responded by telling her that her mother-in-law was not happy that she used to teach in a public elementary school and made little money compared to her husband who taught history at a private university. "Is she kind to your son?" Mina asked because that would shape her next move. The woman shrugged, telling Mina she was indifferent to all three of their children, and she pointed to a little girl and boy who were quietly reading at a table not too far away.

Mina sucked in a breath, trying hard not to become angry. She had heard of monster-in-laws, but many of them still at least liked their grandchildren.

"President Lee," Mina called out sweetly. "Miss Maribelle is an elementary school teacher." Ian studied Mina's face, not sure why she was telling him the useless information, but then he remembered the low-income daycares he sponsored.

"Really? The Lee group is looking for a general overseer to manage a line of daycares we recently invested in. What are your qualifications?" Maribelle looked confused, but with a slight nod from her husband she relayed the information that had been asked of her. "Excellent, exchange contacts with Mina and I'll be in touch." Levi's mother frowned, so Mina asked Maribelle to call over her children, who she had seen were reading, despite their extremely young appearance.

"These are Maribelle's other children. They are homeschooled by her," Mina said. Both children bowed, while Levi beamed at them.

"I saw you two reading," President Lee said while kneeling to meet the children's eyes. "Your family must be proud of you."

"Of course," Levi's mother replied. "They are geniuses."