Chapter 452: Obscure

Ian could see that Mina was struggling to make sense of what he had confessed to her. The truth was that he had been obscure in his speech about what he planned to do, but it was not because he planned to kill her. Ian wanted to be in a relationship with Mina and he was too afraid that being direct with her would give her the confidence to move on.

Mina had no shortage of suitors, and as Zane had pointed out in the past, she had a long and growing list of men who were lining up to take his place, and he hated it. Mina was his, and if he could not have her, neither could anyone else. When she pushed past him and left the room, Ian saw it as the perfect opportunity to say and do what he felt was necessary without an audience; specifically Zane.

"How could you think I still wanted to kill you?"

"Let me think? Maybe it's the constant mind games, hurting me, holding me hostage, spreading rumors about me, stealing from me, taking my neighbors son, letting your girlfriend kidnap me, taking credit for Cylus saving me, allowing-"

"Okay stop," Ian said loudly. He had not realized all the charges Mina had put against him but only one was irritating. "When did Cylus save you?" Mina crossed her hands over her chest. Unwilling to dignify the man's question with an answer. "Lets go," he said after a long and awkward silence that ended without his question being answered. He could and would ask Cylus about it later.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Home." Mina was at first elated, but then his meaning dawned on her. She laughed out loud, but when she realized that the man was not joking, her face became serious.

"Forget it; your 'female companion' already hates me, and if she finds out that I'm staying with you again she may actually go further than having me kidnapped."

"Mina, Lisa had not-"

"Stop," Mina interjected with a raised hand. "I don't blame you for protecting someone you care about, but I have my own opinion. You two have gone way too far in what you have done to me and truthfully, I would rather avoid you both."

Ian wanted to explain to Mina, but she was right. No one would want to spend time with a person who they did not like and did not trust, but his plan had always been to take Mina home with him after Lisa's event, because he had things planned to do with and for her.

Ian knew it was selfish, but he told himself that he could and would make up for his next set of actions in the future. He reached forward and grabbed Mina by the wrist of her uninjured arm. She struggled against him, hitting, and pinching his skin but he continued to pull her back to the room they had just left.

----

As soon as Mina and President Lee left, Dr. Bernard Sancho was pulled into a heated debate with a man who introduced himself as Dr. Jeremy Witt and his younger sister. He knew Rebecca Witt from her time as a candidate to stand for the country in a 'brilliant minds' campaign aimed at stifling the backlash that had hit the Lee family for its implementation of the healthy child initiative, but that was not important to him.

Bernard was upset that the man and woman had nearly given Mina a nervous breakdown, but to preserve the woman's right to privacy, he had not mentioned to anyone the things he knew she had faced growing up. Mina's parents were told that she was mimicking emotions like kindness and gentleness, they were also told that she could and would manipulate others into trusting her.

The Harlow family took the diagnosis seriously and suddenly, every emotion Mina showed became an issue. If the girl smiled, it was a problem; if she was angry, it was a problem. The worst part was that when Mina withdrew into herself, it frightened her parents further, and they insisted that she get out and interact with other people. When she started to show improvement, they flipped on her again, telling her that she needed to stop drawing attention to herself.

It was then that Bernard suggested for Mina to start looking into leaving home. His intention was to look after the girl, and take care of her while she studied, but his wife had gotten sick, which forced his attention away from Mina for a brief period. By the time he had come back, Mina was chasing after her sister, who was chasing after a boy.

Eventually, the relationship Sadie was adamant on keeping led to her death and led to the harassment of Mina. In a haste, Bernard helped Mina apply to three prestigious universities, and unsurprisingly she made all three. He had hoped that she would go to the furthest one, but she was afraid that she would not be able to make it to her parents in time if there was ever an emergency.

Bernard could never understand Mina's love for her parents, her mother being the worst of the two. No matter what Mina did, she was always questioned as a criminal. It was not until Mina was thirteen that her family stopped treating her like a monster, but even then, they kept a close eye on her. Still, just to help her parents, Mina took on jobs at local resorts, cared for elderly at a local community center, and even tutored older students to make extra money, while Sadie did nothing, but it never seemed to be enough.

Now, he was listening to two clearly unqualified individuals claim that they had reason to believe that Mina was the very thing that had brought her near a breaking point as a child. Had it not been for her sister, Bernard was sure the young girl would have been destroyed by her parents. He too had once believed that Mina's behavior was a clear sign that she was a sociopath, but it took less than a month for him to realize he was wrong, and had he said something sooner, Mina's parents would not have been manipulated.

The bickering trio was interrupted by the door being pushed open. President Lee was dragging Mina by her wrist, and she was pinching and punching his arm, trying to break free. He tossed a set of keys at CEO Zane before turning to the Witt siblings. He pardoned their lives and told them that Dr. Sancho was not to leave the facility, making Mina struggle harder.

"Why don't you feel pain?" She asked while punching President Lee's arm, but he simply ignored her.

Out of patience, Ian tossed Mina over his shoulder and walked out of the room. She was punching at his back, but he ignored her assault. Eventually Mina gave up trying to punch and went back to biting, she tried everything, but the man was like a robot, and Mina found herself frustrated.

"Are your nerve endings dead?" She asked, still slung over the man's shoulder like a rag doll. Ian did not bother to answer Mina. She was not using as much force as she thought she was, which was common. Even for him, the thought of biting through a person's flesh was disgusting enough to stop him from doing it.

Ian placed Mina down by the side of his car and forced her into the passenger seat. She had stopped fighting but she was visibly angry, but Ian found her angry expression cute, so he did not mind looking at it.

"Where are you taking me?" she growled, and he fastened her seatbelt. She knew the answer, but if he were only taking her to his home, then he would not have left Zane behind.

"You'll see when we get there."