Chapter 57: Loathe
Through his bedroom window, Zane watched Ellie climb down from the second story and gracefully land in a bed of flowers. He had not wanted her to leave this way, but this was amusing. Zane had known Ellie since she was six, and he watched her grow into a mischievous little devil. In all that time, she was always just a bad little kid to him, but now she was a beautiful young woman. When had that change happened?
Zane was nearly eight years older than Ellie and he wanted to keep a large distance between them. Ian was like her brother and his best friend, so naturally Ian was privy to every aspect of Zane's private life. He could not allow himself to have any untoward thoughts of Ellie. Zane could tell from her facial expressions that she was expecting him to be excited to see her, and normally he would have been. He just did not expect her to have changed so much. From the moment his heart fluttered, Zane decided to keep Ellie at a wide length. He was no angel and if given the opportunity he was not confident that he would reject the offer. How then would he be able to explain it to his best friend? Ian may be comfortable hiding his love life, but Zane preferred to be open and honest. He knew that this was a relationship he should never pursue.
Zane was suddenly pissed. If Ian had just opened to him, he would not have text Ellie and she would not have flaunted herself in front of him. Tomorrow he planned to make things hard for President Lee. Grinning evilly, Zane turned in for the night.
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Mina did not know how long she cried. Her heart was heavy and filled with guilt. President Lee was an evil man and she hated him. No type of good looks, money or charm can fix a broken person, and that is exactly what he was. What had she done that was worthy of such vile treatment? Sure, she was wrong, she knew that. She also knew that he could not just let her go unpunished, but wasn't this level of torture too much? Not even considering what she lost in the process, she did not even get to take the picture!
Mina had told President Lee everything she could think of to avoid this. She held nothing back. She would have even told him that she had a crush on him if he would have asked, but it was not enough. He wanted to make her suffer. He probably relished in it. Fine! Since he wanted to see suffering, she would not resist. Her heart ached terribly as she thought about her parents, but if they were all dead; wouldn't that be better than what she was experiencing right now?
For the first time ever in her life, Mina finally understood what it meant to loathe someone. She wished she could kill President Lee, revive him then kill him again. She wanted to cut off the hands he used to touch her and gouge out the eyes he used to look at her. She wanted to cover every inch of his body in marks the same way he did to her. She wanted him to feel as hopeless and pitiful as she was feeling now.
Mina's negative thoughts intensified, and her chest began to burn with pure hatred. She had disliked many people, she had even wished a few people did not exist, but the feeling she held right now was beyond anything she had ever felt for a living person. She told herself then and there, that if President Lee did not kill her first, she would kill him. She would destroy everything precious to him and leave him alone in the dark, just as he had done to her. With that thought as comfort, Mina fell into a deep sleep. Even if her goal could not be realized in this life, she would not let him off in the next.
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Ian sat in his locked study. Earlier he sent word to his house keepers that he would be away on business for another three days, so when his morning shift arrived, they were more relaxed than usual. They did their jobs peacefully and other than them engaging each other in casual conversation, nothing changed. Those who knew about Mina were few, and the others did not care to know. There were many such things one had to be mindful of while working for the Lee family. The more diligently and quietly you did your job the better. Besides, the pay was great, and President Lee was seldomly home, so the workload was not much.
Out of all the positions within the home, the kitchen staff had it the worst. They were responsible for President Lee's diet, but he often skipped meals and was a picky eater. There were times when he would take two or three bites of food and walk away from the table without a word, leaving the chefs questioning their abilities. Only once was a chef fired and that was by Miss Ruby, not President Lee.
The chef was fired after he openly expressed his displeasure for cooking for an ungrateful person. He claimed that with his skills in the kitchen he could be a successful five-star chef with his own restaurant. He did not expect Miss Ruby to overhear him. The woman looked sweet on the outside, but she was just as evil as the man she raised.
That day, she calmly walked the chef to the door and while pulling it open, she advised him to follow his heart and live out his dreams. It was a clear dismissal, but she phrased it in such a way that made it seem like he had chosen to set out on his own career path. With tears in his eyes the man left. It was rumored among the staff that he was now working as a fast-food cook. No self-respecting restaurant wanted to hire a chef who had been deemed unfit by the Lee family.
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No one knew President Lee was still in the mansion, and although Ian could not see or hear what was going on outside his study, he still had eyes and ears in Mina's room. Ellie had warned him about someone being close to Mina, but he wanted to see it for himself before making his next move.