Chapter 697: Lady

Drax placed a photo onto Ian's desk and pointed to the face of the person shown. While he hated to crush his friend's hopes, he needed the man to understand that he was holding onto a very unrealistic and movie-like hope. To Drax, Ian was not getting any younger, his influence was slipping through his fingers, and he was losing the Lee family and the Staton family money in the process.

"Who is this supposed to be?" Ian asked, picking up the photo to examine the woman shown on it.

"That is Claire Loam; and my intel says she is the judge." Ian sighed deeply.

"Drax, I get that you think you're helping, but I know what I saw, and I have supporting information. My father was robbed by a masked woman. At the time, we did not think much of it, but the information your prisoner gave us matches my father's description; Claire Loam does not."

"Your father had an encounter with the judge?"

"I think he has, but the only way we can confirm is to send him this photo. He says that he caught a glimpse of the woman's face before she slid the mask on." Ian sent a scanned copy of the photo to his father and waited for the man to reply.

In his heart, Ian knew he was grasping at straws, but he had to maintain hope. However, he could not deny that what his father told him did not sound like something Mina would do at all. Apparently, a large group of women pretended to have escaped a trafficker's ship to elicit pity from the cruise captain who allowed them on board. Many of them were 'overwhelmed' with 'gratitude,' and it was not long before their presence distracted enough of the armed sailors to put the whole ship in a vulnerable position.

After the ship's crew lost control, Ian's father told him that he realized that the women planned everything in detail. It was an inside job, and the only person that stood out to him was the one who kept her face hidden. She was the one who had put a gun to the back of his head and subtly warned him not to try anything. Another man with similar intent was not as lucky and to Ian, it was more evidence that the masked woman was Mina; he once saved her father's life, so she spared the life of his.

Instead of receiving a text back from his father, the man called, and Ian gave Drax a cheeky smile after listening to the man speak. He knew that his friend was hoping the information would help him give up on his search for Mina, however, the fact that someone was even trying to have another person pretend to be the judge was all the evidence he needed to prove to him that the real judge was in hiding. For someone to have the resources that were needed to steal from the Lee group, and still be afraid to be seen by them, told Ian all he needed to know.

"Ian, if what you're saying is true then that means that Mina is the one who robbed your father. Do you really think that she's capable of that, and even if she is, would she risk being caught if she's truly hiding from you?"

"I don't think she's hiding from me." Ian replied. "I think she's trying to punish me." Ian wore a smile on his face because in his mind that meant that Mina still loved him; she was just angry about what happened and she wanted to get back at him. Mina didn't know the whole story, and she was under the impression that he sent his sister to end things on his behalf, but that was completely untrue.

Ian knew that Mina was not a vindictive or a vengeful woman, so to him, her still holding onto her hurt was a thrilling feeling; one that lifted the cloud of gloom he once felt, and replaced it with hope, but there was another fear in the back of his mind that tortured him daily.

Ian genuinely believed that Mina was carrying his child; all the signs were there, from sensitive breasts to fatigue. If his plans had gone on as he hoped, they would have confirmed his suspicion the very next day, and since it had been so long, it meant that she was nearing the end of pregnancy, which could explain why she was seen as 'overweight' to people.

Ian met many pregnant women in his life, and while some would only grow a rounded belly, others would grow everywhere. He also considered the fact that Mina could have been wearing some sort of bodysuit to keep herself and her unborn child as protected as possible while she did things that were less than safe.

Of course, there was also another option that Ian did not want to think about, but he knew Mina well, and based on the last conversation he had with the woman, she was willing to have his child. He knew how she felt about having a family with children because of the first night they were together, and then from stories she told him as they got to know one another. Ian also knew that Mina was the reason Olivia Twan kept her own child, despite being unmarried and not in a relationship with the father.

"You do realize how absurd what you're saying is, right?" Drax questioned. He understood that Ian's obsession with Mina had transcended into a sort of delusion; one he couldn't really blame the man for because if he had lost Mills to similar circumstances, he too would want to hold on to the hope that she was alive.

However, the difference between Mina and Mills was that one of them was literally a killer, and the other one was in constant danger of being killed. They were like complete opposites of one another, and although they liked to believe that they were the same, they were not. Mina was soft and weak, while Mills was hard and tough. The only similarity the women shared between them was their beauty. Even then, they were so different in that aspect that they really could not be compared.

"Give me six months," Ian said, "If I can't find her in that time then I will give up."

----

Mina knew she should be happy about her parents' willingness to help her with 'anything' as they said. Unfortunately, she was not. When she lived under their roof, and she struggled to keep the family afloat; when she worked two jobs, went to school, studied, completed her chores, and was already exhausted before even getting to her homework, they never cared about helping her in any way.

In Mina's opinion, her parents only cared because Sadie returned, and in her heart, she knew that without her sister, her mother would not be willing to help her with anything. The frequency in which she begged her father to retire was actually comical to her in the present. Even when she had more than enough money to take care of them, the man continuously refused. He worked his body broken, saying that it was his 'duty,' but then Sadie showed up, and his desire to work suddenly disappeared.

Anytime they called just to check in on her or to make sure she was okay was heart-wrenching to Mina, and it made her feel guilty because she knew that it was a petty way to view her parents' newfound 'love.' To them, they were just trying to be open and to accept who she was as a person, but to Mina, they were just trying to keep Sadie happy, and because of that there were many things she could never trust them with knowing.

For example, the couple did not know why she was hiding from the Lee's. They just assumed she was still heartbroken over her first failed relationship, but in reality, she had not done enough damage to reveal herself to them yet. They were aware that she was doing something dangerous to keep them all safe, but had no idea that she was funding a full-fledged militia for a political opposition party in another country. Her mother had asked her the monster question eighteen years too late; now, she was worse than what either of her parents could ever imagine.

"What are you thinking about?" Sadie asked, and Mina smiled at her sister through the rearview mirror.

"How do you know I was thinking about anything?"

"Because whenever you're in deep thought you make a weird face." Mina scoffed at her sister, who was in the backseat feeding her daughter. She was a good mother, very attentive, but she was extremely overprotective, which was why she insisted on taking the child with them to meet their maybe brother. Mina turned her body to view her sister fully. She was happy that Troy was driving because her mind had not been settled since the birth of her niece, and she was almost too nervous to do anything.

"I was thinking about a name for her; have you thought of one yet?" Mina Lied.

"Actually, I kind of like Ami for her, but I like Lady too," Mina raised a brow in confusion, but after a second with no laughter or smile, she knew that her sister was serious.

"Why those names?"

"If you hadn't found us, she would have been named after you anyway." Mina's eyes snapped to Troy, who had answered instead of Sadie.

"I thought the youngs' named-"

"They named her Minnie, not Mina," Sadie interjected with an attitude. "I should have known something was up when they asked me if it was okay." Mina could see that her sister was beginning to get worked up, so she changed the subject.

"Are you nervous about meeting Cylus?"

"I'm not, you've told me so many stories that I feel like I already know him. I just hope he lives up to my expectations. Lady needs a good uncle." Mina smiled at her sister, who seemed to have finally chosen a name for her month-old daughter.

"I think 'baby' finally got a name," Mina said to Troy.

----

Never in his life did Cylus think he would be sneaking around trying to organize a business meeting with a woman who may not even be the person he thought she was. He paced back and forth in the warehouse he was brought to and when the doors opened, he found himself holding his breath. Not one, but three people walked into the room, and one of them was pushing a baby stroller.

As they got closer, Cylus could feel the color drain from his face as Mina's scarred one came into view. She ran to him, giving him a tight hug that was once uncharacteristic of her, but he found himself too angry to hug her back with the same intensity.

"It's not real," the woman whispered. She pulled away and gently tugged on one of the scars that seemed to lift off her face. "It's for my safety." With that out of the way, Cylus pulled Mina in for another hug, smothering the top of her head in kisses that had all the love he could pour into them.

"I've missed you so much," he said. The pair stayed embracing each other in tears, and Sadie became jealous. That was how she was supposed to reunite with her sister, but instead guns were drawn. She cleared her throat and Mina quickly wiped her eyes before pulling Cylus along.

"This is going to be a shock for you. It was a surprise for me too, but this woman is-"

"Sadie," Cylus said. "You're alive?" he questioned. He could see that Mina wanted him to be happy, but he was not. "M- I mean Ami, what is going on?"