Chapter 527: Cozy
Mina was being held down by President Lee and Drax as they allowed the Pomeranians to repeatedly bite at her face. No matter how much she cried, the men did not stop, and Mina found herself wishing for death. Her mouth was blocked with a piece of fabric, so no one could hear her scream and she did not think about one would be willing to help if they could.
From the very beginning, Mina did not want to be tortured, but here she was being attacked by two dogs that she had been told were not attack dogs. As if the small puncture wounds on the sensitive skin of her face and neck were not enough, someone handed the men what spelled like rubbing alcohol, and they began pouring the liquid on her injuries, making her writhe in pain.
It was cruel, Mina knew that the alcohol was doing more harm than good. It would not only slow the healing process, but it could promote scarring, by damaging the tissue surrounding each small cut, and from how raw her face felt, Mina knew there were many.
"Did you really think you could just talk your way out of this?" President Lee asked, his face pulled into a menacing glare. Mina just closed her eyes waiting for the men to finish torturing her. Even if she wanted to tell them where she believed Mills had gone, she could not, and she knew they did not care. She felt a sharp object pressed against her temple, and she opened her eyes to see a knife.
"You may not want to tell me where she is, but Mills will come to your funeral." With those words, the sharpest and briefest pain overtook her before she was swallowed by darkness.
----
Ian arranged for Mina's funeral to be open to the public. Her parents were there, staring at their daughter's body in disbelief. He felt guilty, but he was tired of chasing behind the woman, who did not even look at him, but he could not let go. He did not want to see her with anyone else, so using Drax as his tool, Ian removed Mina from his life permanently.
As expected, Mills came bursting through the doors of the viewing room, with a tear-streaked face. She ran to Drax, who lied to the woman, telling her that Mina tried to cause a distraction and was attacked by an unknown assailant. She could see several small dots on Mina's face and she suddenly did not believe the man who was still holding her.
Mills looked around the room, at all the heartbroken faces and knew she had to get revenge. Not just for Mina, but for all those who were positively affected by the woman who was selfless to the moment of death. Mills knew that Mina would not have run, she specifically told her that it was useless, so that meant whoever killed her had been inside of the Staton Mansion.
"Don't leave me again," Drax whispered. Mills looked up at the man, whose expression lacked any sort of sympathy or empathy and she intuitively knew that he was the one who had killed her friend. She did not know how she was going to do it, but she promised herself that she would expose the truth. She just hoped she could pretend long enough to do it.
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(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ APRIL FOOLS!!! ♥
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Mina found herself staring face to face with President Lee, who was gently patting the head of the dog in his lap. She stared at the menacing creature, wondering how long it would be before the thing snapped and mauled her face off. President Cameron and Cade had left, but Mina had the sinking feeling they had only gone to help organize a search for Mills.
Mina looked around at the people who were on the balcony, Zane had shown up, and Mills' twin was staring at her accusingly. She was sure he suspected her, so she repeated the phrase that Mills told her. She watched Milo immediately walk back inside, relief all over his face.
"What does that mean? Mina, please tell me where my fiancé is."
"I already told you. Your fiancé is inside somewhere, you saw her yourself." Understanding finally dawned on Drax, and he narrowed his eyes at the woman.
"Why won't you tell him where Mills is?"
"He never asked me where Mills was, he specifically asked where his fiancé was, and I told him; she is inside." Ian looked up at his friend because he knew Mina was intentionally trying to irritate Drax. She had done it to him often, so he was already used to it.
"Fine, where is Mills?" Drax questioned.
"She left," Mina said with a shrug. Ian chuckled and Drax took a step forward, but Zane stepped in his path.
"I'm going to kill her."
"You'll have to get in line behind your boss and Miss Lisa," Mina teased; she was still staring at the dog President Lee was holding. Mina did not know why, but he gave up on trying to use it against her and handed the small Pomeranian to Zane, who in turn gave it to a staff member he caught walking by.
"Mina, I don't know why you're doing this. Please tell me where Mills is?"
"So that you can keep her locked up and miserable all day?"
"If that is what this is about, I know I was wrong. I will give her back her freedom. I just didn't know until tonight how miserable I was making her."
"Well, you are still out of luck. Mills left because your fiancé approached her."
"Mills is my fiancé."
"The ring you are holding says otherwise." Drax balled up his fists.
"Look, speak straight. I don't understand what you are saying, and to be honest, I'm holding on by a thread."
"I once read that men who are insecure are usually projecting their actions onto others; I did not believe it until tonight. You kept accusing Mills of being interested in other people, when it was you with the secrets."
"What secrets? Mina please, I am going crazy. Just tell me she is okay."
"She is not okay, she is hurt. Even I was affected, but Mills is strong so she left."
"What do you mean hurt?" Mina shook her head.
"Mr. Drax, your innocent act is good, but I saw you with that Lydia woman as well. What you may not know is that she introduced herself to Mills as your former fiancé, and if that were not embarrassing enough, Mills saw you kissing her." Drax's eyes went wide with shock and genuine fear.
"Look D, if you cheated and got caught, Mills had every right to leave." Drax spun and shouted at Zane.
"I didn't cheat, she must have seen us from a bad angle." Drax called someone on his phone and asked for specific footage, and a man, Mina could at once tell was related to him, came with what he asked. Drax took the phone and held it out to Mina. She reviewed it, and just as Drax's face hovered in front of the woman's lips, he squeezed her face instead of kissing her. Mina turned away from the scene, which reminded her of Ren. "I warned her to never approach me as anything other than a friend again."
"Well, I saw her hands all over you after Mills came to tell me what happened, so I am not convinced." Drax ran his hands over his face.
"I warned you about Lydia," the man who had come with the phone said. "Miss Harlow, I'm sure you know by now that someone tried to kill Mills not too long ago. We had all believed that they were targeting Ian, but they were targeting my idiot of a brother. He has been treating Mills like a prisoner lately, but it is because we have good evidence that they are still after her." Mina's resolve faltered but she remained silent.
"Please Mina," Drax said. "She took nothing with her. No Phone, no money; nothing." Mina's eyes made the tiniest move and President Lee laughed.
"You gave her those things, didn't you?" In a way, Drax was relieved, but he still wanted to strangle Mina.
"I appreciate you for being there for her, but how far can she get on what you gave her?" Ian was chuckling while staring at Mina, who refused to meet anyone's eyes. He stood up and patted Drax on the shoulder.
"Mills will probably be fine for a few weeks. You can leave Mina alone now; she won't tell you anything." Mina watched the men go back inside, leaving her alone with Drax, who just stared at her.
"If something happens to her-"
"It will be your fault. If she knew from the beginning that she was in danger, she would not have felt so suffocated. You did not trust her enough to stick by your side and because of it, you cast doubt in her mind. Also, I saw you and how close you were to that woman." Drax made a call and soon Lydia was brought back to the balcony.
"I want to know why my fiancé's best friend is accusing me of being engaged to you." Lydia scoffed.
"I was just teasing her. I didn't know she would take it-"
"Teasing her?" Mina asked incredulously. "Then why were you hanging all over him?" Lydia looked at the woman speaking and became annoyed. Drax may have warned her, but he did not ask her to leave, so she felt as though she still had a chance.
"If Drax had told the truth in the first place, she wouldn't have been caught off guard." Mina turned to face her gaze toward Drax, waiting for his response.
"What truth? Lydia we were never engaged."
"Liar. You told me that we would get married; I have been waiting for you since."
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Mina knew she was not going to have a peaceful week ahead of her. Since she had declined to decide as to who was telling the truth between Lydia and Drax, and further refused to give any details about where Mills might have gone; Drax had promised that they were going to become best friends. It sounded cozy, but she knew it was a threat, and if Mr. and Mrs. Staton did not come to get her, she might have still been on the balcony. Mr. Staton was the most upset, not because his birthday was being ruined, but because someone had chased away 'his Mills.'
Mina learned that Drax's family adored Mills but were unable to get close to her because Drax was making it difficult for them to spend time together. The revelation served to steady Mina's resolve, and she decided that unless Mills returned on her own, Drax would suffer. He had made the woman believe that she was insignificant, maybe even an embarrassment to him, and while he may not have meant for it to happen, he had broken Mills' heart.
An entire day had passed, and Mina thought that it was going to be as normal as any other, but she was wrong. At 4:30AM a loud horn sounded in her bedroom. She scurried out of bed and started to unlatch her window, only to freeze when she heard the tickled laughter of Drax.
"Are you crazy?"
"Yes, and until you tell me where Mills is, expect to see me every night."