Chapter 699: Sunken

When Ian thought Mina was dead, time moved so slowly that it hurt. He would feel like days would pass when it had only been a few hours. Sometimes, he would wake in the middle of the night and find himself lost in reading Mina's notebooks, but the difference now that he had given himself six months was like torture. Time seemed to move so fast that if he blinked, he would lose an hour, if he slept, he would lose two days, and the added stress of not having the support of his friends, drove him to seek out comfort from someone he believed would understand him.

Natalie was smart, kind, and easy to talk to, so when she invited him out to dinner, Ian found himself agreeing for no other reason than to pull himself away from Mina's books. He had discovered a pattern in the numbers, and after weeks of staring at them, he realized the woman had written journal entries in between working on the problem she was obsessed with, and from the ones he had so far decoded, the woman's life had been steeped in darkness from before he stepped into it.

Ian could not imagine living a life where he was blamed for everything, but for Mina it was all she knew. The most bizarre entry he read was shortly after her older sister lost her virginity, and their father found out. Instead of addressing the daughter who had sex, the man accused Mina of not 'stopping' her sister from making an 'unwise' decision. It was extremely disheartening to Ian, because in a previous entry, Mina wrote about feeling like a prisoner under the constant supervision of her sister, who according to Mina had been charged with making sure she made good choices.

Basically, there was nothing Mina could have done to make her parents happy, and it was evident to Ian that his actions alone were not what broke the woman. He had just added another level of abuse and humiliation into her life, and mentally, she could no longer stand it.

"Are you just going to stare at your meal?" Natalie asked, and truthfully, Ian was not at all hungry. He was tired and depressed because his time to find Mina was running out. He did not know why he agreed to dinner, but he regretted it the second he stepped foot in the restaurant.

"I've got a lot on my mind," he admitted, and Natalie nodded at him.

"It's coming up on a year, isn't it?" Ian was not comfortable telling Natalie that he did not believe Mina was dead at all, so he went along with her assumption. "Ian, I've had time to think, and, while I don't know what you and Miss Lisa have with one another, you don't seem happy with her." Natalie rested her hand on Ian's and his face contorted in confusion. "I would like to be with you tonight," the woman said, but Ian had no desire to be with her anymore.

"Natalie, what happened between us was a mistake. I should not have crossed that line. You are my friend, and I want to keep things that way." The woman sighed deeply, and Ian was grateful that she did not cause a scene, however, a scene was made anyway.

For whatever reason, Lisa and her father were entering the restaurant, and Ian knew they had seen Natalie rest her hand over his. The gesture was intimate, and the fact that he did not pull away made it appear worse. While Ian's plans with Lisa were to lead her on until she was too tired to hang on anymore, he had to be careful with what he did. They both had no memory of the night that occurred, but the bruising on the woman's body was against him, and with the Loams in an alliance with the Anders, a lot of trouble could be caused.

"I thought you said you had to work," Lisa whispered, and although Ian never wanted to make any woman feel as useless as she looked, he felt no pity for Lisa, who he still believed was the reason he was not married and celebrating his new baby.

"I took a break," he said. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to take my daughter out to a nice meal since her FIANCÉ has been too busy to spend time with her," Lisa's father replied. "Tell me President Lee, after what you did, do you still expect for my daughter to chase you?" People in the restaurant were beginning to stare, and Ian struggled to keep his anger at bay. He knew Lisa's family took pictures of her injuries, and thanks to Luna, there was no way to dispute his involvement.

"This isn't what it looks like," Ian gritted out, but Mr. Anders' seemed to be out for blood.

"I see, so two grieving people holding hands in a restaurant at this hour is no cause for alarm?" Ian looked back at Natalie, who he hoped would speak up for him, but the woman remained silent. He ignored it as a side effect of embarrassment, and he could not help but to compare her actions to that of Mina. Not only would she not have agreed to be his lover, but she would have cleared up the misunderstanding without being asked or told. The problem with Mina's honest approach was that like him, her parents, and all the other people in her life, no one ever believed her.

When they had first met, Mina had told Lisa that she was not interested or trying to date him several times, and while she eventually became a liar, originally, she was not. She had not even looked at him in a romantic way until after he confessed his feelings to her over the course of several weeks, and even then, it was pure lust that encouraged her to give him a chance. Ian was convinced that had it not been for the father of that Brayden character, he still would have been chasing behind Mina like a puppy.

"Mr. Anders, if I were trying to embarrass your daughter, I would do it in a much grander setting. What you are witnessing is dinner between friends who have similar life experiences. Please calm yourself, and don't wear my patience with your family too thin."

"Ian," Lisa said in a shocked tone. "Are you threatening us for her? Haven't I gone through enough for you? All so that you can choose another woman; again. If you do not want me, just let me go." Lisa ran out of the restaurant, and knowing that if he did not show a little concern it would cause her family to react, Ian chose to give chase.

"Lisa, stop. You and I both know that I do not want to be with you, but I am because of what happened. That does not mean I like it, but this is where we are."

"Then let me leave," Lisa pleaded, hoping that the man would agree and set her free to try and salvage whatever relationship with Shai she once had.

"I've already said no. No matter what, if I let you walk away from me, I look like the bad guy."

"And what do you think you looked like when you went on a date with another woman?" Lisa quipped, hoping that Ian could see the irony in his words.

"Like a man having dinner."

"And how am I supposed to feel about that Ian? Do you expect me to stay in a relationship that has no love in it? I understand that you're angry with me for Mina's-"

"Don't ever say her name," Ian shouted. He did not believe Mina was dead, but he hated to hear Lisa say her name because she always spat the syllables like curses.

"I get it; you're still in love with her; even though she isn't alive anymore, but Ian, please listen to me this once. That woman back there is not a replacement for the one you lost, and truthfully neither am I, but I had nothing to do with what happened between us, and you know it." Lisa was not exactly being truthful, but she was not lying to the man either. She had no way of knowing any drink within his home was tampered with, and if she knew back then what she knew now, she would have just called for help the minute Ian's body started to seize.

"Thank you for your concern," Ian replied. "But like I told you; Natalie and I are just friends."

----

With every day that passed, Mina found herself sinking further and further into depression. Everything she did reminded her of President Lee, and the closer it got to the man's birthday, the more anxiety she felt. The only time she was calm was when Sadie and Troy wanted alone time because those were the moments that she would spend hours listening to Lady babel and giggle at the most ridiculous things. If she sighed, the little girl giggled, if she rubbed her eyes, she giggled, and it was the only thing that really kept Mina's mind from wandering in the dark.

"You're really good with her," Anne said. She was looking for ways to bring up the child that Mina should have had, but she had not quite gotten the chance.

"She's easily entertained," Mina replied, poking her drooling niece's nose before wiping the child's mouth.

"Do you have any children?" Her mother asked, and Mina chuckled.

"Did Sadie tell you about the sanctuaries?" Anne frowned at the way her daughter changed the subject, but she followed the conversation through. "I opened two shelters for orphaned children. I haven't legally adopted them yet, but I'm thinking about it." Anne became panicked by Mina's statement because to her, it meant Mina would not be staying in Pan which had strict adoption laws. Even if the process occurred in a different country, they could deem it invalid if the country's criteria for raising a child was not properly met.

"Mina, if you leave, Sadie will go with you." Mina took a deep breath as, once again, her mother reminded her of her worth; she was an anchor.

----

David noticed his daughter sinking deeper and deeper into herself and while everyone else seemed oblivious, he knew exactly what was causing Mina to shut down. President Ian Lee's birthday was approaching, and that was a dark day for her. Just like her mother, she tended to draw into herself whenever something was bothering her, and thanks to his wife's insensitive comment the matter was only made worse.

Now, not even Lady could cheer Mina up, and when she was not furiously typing on her computer, she was pouring through pages and pages of notes. She clearly was not in a good headspace and every time David left Mina's apartment, he felt like it was the last time he was going to see her alive.

"How much longer are you going to blame me?" Anne asked. "I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted her to stay."

"Then why didn't you say that? You could have just said 'Mina, I want you to stay.'" Tears began to fall from Anne's eyes, and she roughly tugged at her hair.

"I wanted to say it David. I really did, but every time I think about some of the things I told our baby girl, I feel like I don't deserve to ask her to stay."

"That's all in your mind Anne. She would-" David froze as he noticed the headlights of a car pulling onto their property.

"Who could that be?" Anne questioned, moving closer to her husband who told her to keep the panic button ready. The couple opened the door, shocked to see President Lee.

"Mr. and Mrs. Harlow; may I speak with you for a moment?"