Chapter 703: I Am Real

Mina did not want to make any sort of remarks, but she knew that it was expected of her, and since Sadie had not come to tell her that speaking was unsafe, she decided to push ahead with a small greeting to her guests. She purposefully made it so that no one knew who she was, and when it was time for her to speak, she had one of Chief Chute's daughters inform Olivia, so the preparations were made around her.

Before greeting her guests, Mina quietly worked on her accent and after being handed a microphone, she stepped forward, intending to address the laughing men and women who were casually and comfortably eating their meal. Mina wished that in all things, people could get along the way her guests were, but sadly there was a lot of discrimination based on class, gender, and even looks.

For the event, her guest list was purposefully made a complete jumble of people who ranged from lower middle class to upper class with a few high-class businesspeople sprinkled in between. However, there were no small cliques among them, and she was fairly sure that some of the people who were drinking and laughing with one another would die if they found out who they were enjoying a meal with.

Mina stepped into the small opening that was meant to be used as a greeting area and with a gesture, her microphone was turned on so that she could addressed the crowd

"Thank you all for coming," Mina said in the thickest Sani accent she could pull off. "I am incredibly grateful for your attendance, and I hope that tonight's banquet was worth your time. Hopefully, you will be able to take your experience back to your friends. Let them know that I am real; you can also let them know that what they say about me is true." Mina turned off her microphone, intending to leave the awkwardly chuckling guests scratching their heads. She knew there were a lot of things people said about her. Some of it was true, some of it was fake, but a lot of it was absolute nonsense that she could not even think about without giggling.

Done with her speech, Mina planned to leave the banquet, and she hoped that she would not have to hold another one for at least another year. The cost was not exuberant because she did not invest heavily in unnecessary security, nor did she waste money on the top chefs, but she did not enjoy putting herself out there, especially when it was near impossible to stop people from taking photos with their phones.

All Mina wanted to do now that she had proven her existence was sit back, relax, and enjoy ruining President Lee's life.

----

Zane recognized the look on his friend's face. He had seen it several times in the past, but right now was probably the worst time for Ian to have an outburst. The man was prone to acting rashly anytime he believed he spotted or saw Mina, and sadly, each time a situation like that occurred, Ian would become depressed for days afterward. Zane could not imagine what it was like to see someone you once loved in the shadow of a moving car, or in the silhouette of another person, but he could see the effect it had on Ian, and having an episode in front of Lisa was not in the best interest of the Lee group.

Seeing that his friend was staring off into the space behind him, Zane turned around to see what it could be that his friend was looking at. When he saw no one who could even mildly resemble Mina, he tried to get his friend to come back to reality before it was too late.

"Ian, now isn't the time. Mina is not here. You need to-" Zane never got to complete his instruction because Ian shot to his feet and stared at the woman Zane could only guess was Madam Aych, who had just wrapped up her greeting.

The woman was wearing a mask, so her face was not visible, but her hair was blonde and while her build was remarkably similar to Mina's, her arms were toner. She was also bigger than Mina had been, and her body proportions were off. Realizing what Ian was intending, Zane tried to reach out and grab his friend, but Ellie blocked his hands and held him back.

"Not you too," Zane said sorrowfully. He knew how hurt Miss Ruby was over the fact that Mina had chosen to take her own life, but he did not know that Ellie was among the people who believed that Mina was still alive.

"That is her," Ellie replied, however Zane could only shake his head. The woman speaking had a thick Sani accent, one that rivaled Mills.' There was no way it was Mina because she used to speak with a slight country accent.

Zane believed they should have been able to tell the accent was fake right away. While he did not make it a habit to study the voice of anyone, not even Mina, he liked to believe that he was close enough to the woman to recognize if it was her, but obviously Ian and Ellie believed otherwise.

"Ellie, please let me stop him. He is going to make a fool of himself."

"Then be grateful he is still wearing his mask," Ellie replied. She was confident in her stance, and Zane was forced to physically move her aside.

----

Ian abruptly stood but when he turned, he did so in a way that was so slow it hurt. Madam Aych was standing in a small clearing that had been left to act as a makeshift stage or greeting platform and as soon as he got a look at her, he knew it was Mina. She may have been wearing a mask, she may have changed her hair color, but Ian knew it was her. She could fool everyone else with that accent she was putting on, but not him.

Every night Ian watched the video on his phone that had her voice recorded in it. He knew what the woman sounded like because he had committed to memory her laugh, her cry and even the small inflection of certain letters when she spoke. The dead giveaway for Ian though, was the way the woman moved.

Shaking out of his trance, Ian slowly started to move forward when the woman stopped speaking. He did not want to run because he was afraid that he may trip over someone's foot and lose the woman again. He did not want to take his eyes off her as she slowly made her way to the rear of the banquet. Ian followed her like a predator, and when she was within his reach, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into the tightest hug he could give her without hurting her.

----

Although she did not want to believe it was him, Mina recognized the shape of those shoulders, his walk, and even the sound of his shoes as he got closer. She had dreamed of the man so many nights that despite not being able to see his face, she knew it was President Lee. Somehow, he had gotten around her security and into her event. She tried hard not to panic and run because she did not want to give herself away.

Mina was trying to convince herself that even up close, President Lee would not be able to recognize who she was, and it was more likely that he wanted to have a conversation with her about the many overlapping business ventures they had. She had been legally robbing the man by buying things she knew he would need, and then selling them to him at a higher rate as a different entity. If he had drawn the connections between all the businesses and Madam Ami Aych, she knew she was in trouble.

However, a different sort of trouble became apparent when Mina felt the man's arms wrap around her waist and pull her into a tight embrace that she struggled not to melt into.

"Please," the man said. "Come back to me. Please Mina, come back home." Shocked that he could even ask that of her after breaking her heart, Mina decided to continue with her act, laying on her accent even more than usual.

"Sir, I think you may have the wrong person. My name is Ami Aych, I do not know this Mina you speak of."

Unfortunately, the pair were in a portion of the banquet hall that was mostly hidden from view and while there were people who could see them, no one dared to try and interrupt what they did not understand. Mina had not carried a gun or a knife on her, so she had just her fighting skill to rely on if President Lee did not willingly let her go.

"Mina; stop this please. I know it's you," the man said, but all Mina could hear was him telling Miss Lisa that he didn't care.

"Sir, kindly release me. This is highly inappropriate." Ian could no longer hold back. Mina, Madam Aych, Ami, whatever she wanted to call herself, he did not care; he turned her around and pushed her against a wall. He wanted to get a good look at her, but when he pulled off her mask, he revealed ugly scars that made him feel like his heart was on fire.

"Did this happen in the accident? Is this why you are hiding from me? They're just scars." Ian kissed the injury before his face went serious. Confusion consumed him as he realized that the marks were fake.

If Mina had just robbed him as The Judge, he would have been fine, but she pretended to be dead for more than a year, making him think he had failed her when she probably never went over the bridge in the first place. Ian had spent countless nights telling himself that he would accept any injury she had if she were alive, and to find out they were not even real felt like betrayal. He had mourned a woman who was probably laughing at his pain.

More than that, there was no baby with her, and with a wounded pride, he pulled one of the scars off Mina's skin, eliciting a whimper before the woman slapped him across the face. Her security managed to get to the area, and swooped into action, pulling him away from her while she ran in the opposite direction.

Zane was already approaching with Ellie, but they too were caught up by guards, and since they had no weapons on them, Ian was left to use his fists, and by the time he was able to pull himself free of the men who had surrounded him, he could only catch a glimpse of something he never thought he wanted to see, but also someone he did not want to see.

Cylus Rue was coming out of a side room carrying a baby. He handed the child to Mina, who hugged the infant tightly before sprinting out of the venue. Fury consumed Ian as he chased after them, but Mina and Cylus were already driving down the road. Ian patted his pants, hoping that he could call for his men to follow the car, however, he must have dropped his phone in the scuffle. He did not even bother with taking down the license plate number, because he knew that Mina would ditch the car. He had lost her again, but now that he knew that she had a baby, his baby, he vowed to find her.

"What the hell did you do?" Zane said, panting as he caught up to his friend, but Ian ignored his question completely.

"I want this whole area shut down."