632 Chapter 632: Something to Do

Mina considered President Lee's words, but she was not convinced. Sadie was their mother's princess and their father's joy, so she believed that any child born after Sadie would have been treated differently. Her sister had been planned and expected, while Mina's had thrown a wrench in her mother's family plan by arriving two years too early; in short, she was a mistake. Her very existence had taxed her parents' finances in a way that forced her father to take more hours at work, and in wanting to save as much as possible, her mother received no prenatal care while she carried. It was on delivery day that they found out the son they had hoped for was a girl.

Mina remembered most of her clothing and bedding from her youth being various shades of blue. They were the things her parents had collected from neighbors in anticipation for a son. She had become so accustomed to the color that it eventually became her favorite. While all the other little girls in her town wore yellows and pinks, Mina ran around in blue jumpers and her sister's old ballet flats.

"I'm not trying to hurt you. I just want to stop you from hurting yourself," President Lee said, and her mind returned to the present.

"I don't know," she replied, ignoring the man's statement, and answering the question he had asked before. She had always 'handled' working and going to school because she felt as though she didn't have a choice. It was why she had insisted for her sister to attend college. It was not because she just wanted Sadie to be a better person, but it was because she needed her sister's help; she wanted them to work as a unit.

"Let's go find something to do," Ian suggested, seeing that he had sent Mina's mind into a spiral that was confusing to her. She had obviously never thought of the possibility that she would have been in the same situation regardless of whether she had siblings or not.

Ian knew it was cruel, but he needed to break the hold that Mina's parents had over her. That did not mean that he would stop the girl from taking care of her family. He found that quality of hers admirable and he would never change it, but he wanted her to have the power to say no, especially after finding out that her father was willing to marry her off to the same man who they believed had killed their older daughter. Had David chosen to keep the photo a secret, Ian would have had to kill Ren Loam to protect Mina from a life that undoubtedly would have been filled with misery.

----

Brayden stepped out of the recording booth feeling confident. President Rue had agreed to his solo pursuit, and after sampling his voice, he was presented with not one, but three songs that would be featured on a mini album. It had always been his dream to be a singer, but the band he had joined as a teen only needed a drummer and backup vocals. They had no idea they would become successful, and the more success they found, the more miserable he had become. He felt like he was stuck in the background, but he wanted to be out in the open and now, he was getting his chance.

"Cy, what made your father change his mind on me?" Brayden asked. It was CEO Rue who was working directly with him, which made the environment relaxed as they had once been very good friends.

"My father had nothing to do with this decision. It was actually Mina who pushed for you, and because I owe her a huge debt, I brought the idea to him, and he couldn't refuse."

"What do you mean Mina pushed for me?" Cylus was baffled. He knew Mina and Brayden had something going on. He hated it, but he had already made the mistake of pushing Olivia away and he did not want to do the same with Mina. They were both adult women, and he promised himself that he would only be there to catch them if they fell. In short, there was no way Brayden could not have known that his entire solo project was of Mina's design unless the pair had ended things.

"I'm guessing that you broke up with her."

"We were never together," Brayden admitted. "But you still haven't answered my question." Cylus rolled his eyes, mentally chuckling at the idiotic man, who, if he had any semblance of a brain would have held onto Mina and never let go. Connor was living in and hating that reality, and he had a feeling that Brayden would be the next one lamenting his stupidity over drinks.

"Mina felt responsible for the way her boss handled whatever situation led to you being pulled out from your promotional event. She called me and told me that she wanted to use the misunderstanding to help you launch your solo career. She asked me for music, and she wrote the first three songs on the album for you." Brayden felt his chest burn with the admission, but he could not understand why Mina would even care or why she had not pulled her support after the way he had spoken to her.

"Why would she do all of that for me?"

"Wow, you really don't know her at all do you?" Cylus found himself grateful that Mina and the man were at odds, and while he said that he would not get involved, it looked like he would have to. "Listen, Mina is not like other women, or even other people. When she cares about a person, she goes all in for that individual, sometimes at the detriment to herself."

"Right; she cared about me, but she lives with another man?" Brayden found himself shaking his head at Cylus, who was obviously blinded by Mina's beauty, the same way he and Connor Boyd had been.

"Don't be an idiot. There are things that happen in life that are beyond any one person's control. For Mina, her living arrangement is that thing. She is a protected employee of the Lee group, and many attempts have already been made to kill or kidnap her. Where she lives is to keep her safe and well."

"You actually believe that?"

"I do," Cylus responded. "And so should you, but since it's clear that you don't, ask yourself; how many actresses in this country get shot while filming?"

----

Mina rubbed her forehead as President Lee meticulously measured out exactly fourteen point three grams of salt, and if the scale went over by point one, he would start all over. He wanted to know how to make the bland broth she had prepared for him, but after an hour of preparation work, Mina felt as though it would be better if she made a large quantity and froze it in single serving sizes for him. She knew the man had significantly cut down on his staff for her, and while Chef Tan was a regular fixture, he had given the woman a month of vacation time so she could focus on her eldest son's wedding.

"President Lee let's be honest, you are never going to cook for yourself, and if you were in a situation where you had to, you likely wouldn't have all the kitchen tools you are using."

"True, but I want to commit what fourteen point three grams of salt looks like to memory. That way, if ever I am in a situation where I need to know that information, I can refer back to this moment." Mina rolled her eyes and allowed the man to do as he pleased. When he had all the ingredients measured out perfectly, he turned to her, ready for an actual lesson.

Mina showed the man how to clean the protein she planned to use, and she told him that he could substitute it with any other form of meat that had a bone, however, she cautioned that beef had more oil and fat, while pork was naturally a bit salty. Ian took in the woman's words, but in truth he did not plan to ever cook for himself. He just wanted to take Mina's mind off her troubles by making her submerge herself into something else. After bringing the single chicken leg to a boil, Mina gave him step by step instruction on what to add, and when the broth was ready for sampling, Ian found himself underwhelmed.

"Why doesn't it taste as good as yours?" he questioned. He had followed every step perfectly, and even timed out when to add the ingredients, but his broth tasted like chicken boiled in water.

"It was the way you prepared it, you focused too much on being perfect and as you just realized, all your tedious measurements and labor ended up working against you." Ian stared at the woman, hoping that her words would penetrate her own brain as well. She was giving him advice on cooking, but it could also be applied to the unrealistic goals she had given herself.

Unable to waste, Mina repurposed President Lee's broth, adding two more pieces of chicken and turning it into the base for dumplings. He watched her knead and work with the dough, using the water from the 'broth' to mix into the flour, before filling each small pouch of dough with pieces of the chicken they had boiled. Ian was in a trance watching her work which was oddly satisfying, and by the time she was done, he felt as though the woman was made of magic.

Sitting at the table, Ian was eager to bite into one of the dumplings Mina had prepared for them, but more specifically, he wanted to sip the broth they were floating in. He could not see the tiny changes she made having a significant impact on the flavor, but as soon as the liquid touched his tongue, he became annoyed.

"I followed every step," he said, more to himself than to Mina, who was laughing at him.

"Sadie used to say the same thing, but cooking isn't an exact science. You will get it after a while, I've been cooking for a long time, so it comes natural for me."

"When did you learn to cook?" Ian asked, feeling as though it should have been one of those questions he should have already known the answer to.

"I started to learn when I was legally around six, but I could cook by the time I was ten. At twelve, I prepared every other meal alone."

"Why didn't your sister learn?" Ian was not sure, but Mina had implied that her sister was not given the same lessons with her earlier statement.

"The doctors from the healthy child initiative said that I needed extra work to occupy my brain, so my sister's responsibilities became mine." Once again, Ian felt his heart throb with guilt. He knew that it was Doctor Greaves who had given Mina's parents that information and he also knew it was given with the intention of having the girl break. The man wanted Mina to be pushed over the edge, he wanted her to act out, but the girl's empathy was far too great for that.

Ian had spoken to Dr. Sancho about Mina's lost brother, and the man admitted that his boss at the time was very 'interested' in Anne Harlow's pregnancy. He told Ian that when the woman had fallen off a step ladder and the child's life was in jeopardy, Dr. Greaves saw another opportunity to seed doubt into Mina's parents' mind, so he got the doctors to tell the woman that she had been pushed. All suspicion fell to Mina, and the only reason Ian had not told her the truth was because he was afraid she would go back to hating him again.