666 Chapter 666: Exposed

Ian stood at the back of Mina's family home, waiting for her father to say anything to him. The man had taken a seat in a lawn chair and was staring into the distance as Ian stood beside him.

"When Mina was little, she used to play right there." David rubbed at his forehead before continuing. "We used to force her to go outside, so she found a way to do what she wanted while still following our rules. At first, Anne and I were upset. We wanted her to run around with Sadie, but she preferred to watch other children play, almost like she was studying them."

"Mina was special," Ian added, sitting in the open chair that David patted the seat of.

"More than special," David replied. "You broke her, you know?" Ian's breath hitched as he struggled to keep his emotions under control. "...wasn't all you. That sister of yours drove my daughter into a bottle. I'm sure Anne and I contributed to the problem by treating her like a monster for most of her life."

"She wasn't," Ian said.

"Do you think I don't already know that?" Ian kept quiet, allowing David to glare at him in a way that told him that the man wanted him dead. "It took seeing her with a broken heart for me to realize that we had been lied to."

"Mr. Harlow, I didn't mean to hurt Mina. I wanted to marry her; I loved her."

"She loved you too. More than she loved us, which is fitting considering that we have never been good parents to her." Ian hated that it took losing Mina for her father to realize his faults, just like he had only realized how much she meant to him now that she was no longer living. At that moment, Ian felt as though he needed to come clean to David, who was still under the impression that his daughter had hurt his wife.

"Mina had nothing to do with your wife's failed pregnancy. One of the men who worked with the healthy child initiative set her up to take the blame. Whatever happened to that baby was done by doctors at the hospital, and the complications were an unforeseen side effect." David looked down, playing with his wedding ring as tears dripped from his eyes.

"I always thought they were a little too accommodating." He sighed deeply, leaning back in his chair as though he was being weighed down by something. "Don't tell my wife," he said. "She can barely get out of bed as it is." A period of silence went by. "So, my baby was having a baby?" David said more to himself than to Ian, who could not even look at the man anymore.

"I'm sorry that I did this to your family," Ian stated, making the man chuckle in a way that Ian knew was mocking.

"People with money are all the same," David replied. "After Sadie's accident, Ren said the same thing; then he turned around and tried to take my other daughter away from me." David stood up and walked toward shrubbery that was not too far away from where they sat. He dug into the bush and pulled out a briefcase that Ian recognized at once. "Don't ever come back here," the man stated, holding the case out to Ian, who could see that it was still heavy.

"Mina earned that money," he said, standing up without touching the briefcase.

"She told me; but Anne and I can't stand knowing who she got it from." David dropped the case and Ian had to pull back his foot to avoid having it crushed. "I know you bought Mina's things. I want them all back, consider that repayment."

"No," Ian replied. Every night since he had returned from the hospital he slept in Mina's bed, he sat at her desk, and had on many occasions flipped through the notebooks she left behind, desperately wishing that he had taken more time to understand why she was so consumed by one specific equation.

Ian walked away from David, feeling the growing need to flee the Harlow family home before he broke down, but he was once again consumed by anger when he saw that his sister and Lisa had not left. He pulled them out of the house, wanting nothing more than to kill them both but he needed to keep Lisa alive

Back at the hospital, Lisa had at first denied being looked at by any doctor. She told them that she felt dirty and wanted to shower. Luna, being the woman's friend, allowed Lisa to wash her body, despite being told it was a bad idea. She was also the person who allowed the woman to contact her family. Luna claimed that Lisa was presenting with a form of PTSD, but Ian found it all too convenient.

However, as terrible as her actions had been, Ian still loved his sister and he could not bring himself to kill her, but Tavin, that was another story altogether.

Pushing his sister and Lisa into his car, Ian demanded an explanation. Luna told him that she knew all about what he had done to Lisa, making Ian's brows furrow. After his sister was done speaking, he glared at Lisa, who was staring at Luna in utter confusion.

"Luna, I never told you that." Luna's eyes snapped to Lisa.

"You don't have to lie," she said, but her friend shook her head.

"I'm not." At that point, Luna felt her confidence in the way she handled the situation fold in on itself.

"Lisa, you told me that you were pregnant by Ian. You told me that he told you that you were not, and after visiting a doctor, you believed him. Then you told me that you saw another physician, who claimed that you had been lied to."

"No," Lisa replied. "I was drunk, but I know what I said. I told you I thought I was pregnant by your brother, I told you that a pregnancy test proved that I wasn't, and then I told you that another physician told me that it was possible that I was lied to." Luna's eyes widened, and in a moment of sheer disgust, she slapped Lisa across the face.

"Do you know the horrible things I said to Mina?" Lisa stayed quiet, holding her cheek as she stared back at the woman, who had clearly been pushed too far.

"Luna, I never asked you to do anything for me. If you spoke to Mina, you did it on your own. I confided in you because you are one of my oldest and closest friends." Nauseated by the unfolding scene, Ian jumped out of the car, feeling for, not just himself in that moment, but for his sister who had only just realized the kind of 'friend' Lisa was. She was using semantics against Luna, who had believed Lisa's words as truth.

"Ian, wait," Luna cried, chasing after her brother. "I swear I didn't know. I told Mina that you had chosen Lisa because I didn't want her to show up at the hospital and put you in a difficult position. Mom had already made a decision; too many people knew about what happened, and uncle was trying to use it against us. Lisa made me think…"

"Luna," Ian softly interrupted his sister. He kissed her forehead before hugging her tightly. "Never let me see you again."

----

It had been a month since Mina set sail, and she was finally used to the way the freight ship moved on the water. It did not take her long to work out that Nael and Leal were into all kinds of illegal activities, but after a lot of planning and prep work, she was able to produce a plan to turn their bad money into good money.

"You're saying that I have to make my money go dark before I can use it; why?" Mina rolled her eyes, and Nael chuckled. He knew she was easily annoyed by him, but he did not care. It was his ship, and he made the rules.

"Like I've said, the money has to go through the black market before it can be cleaned. Money doesn't grow on trees. You have to earn it somewhere, and since you already have a ship…"

"You want me to sell fish to myself?" Mina smiled brightly and Leal handed her back the notebook where she had detailed the plan out step by step. "And how much is this little charade going to cost me."

"A lot," Mina admitted, "but I am willing to invest another 20k if I'm put on your payroll." Nael pulled out his pistol, playing with the nozzle before pointing it at her. "Or you can try your luck at executing the plan without me. The choice is yours."

"You really are a cocky b*tch aren't you." Mina shrugged. She had gotten used to being called all manner of names, especially since she used a medical grade glue called collodion to give her face the appearance of deep scarring.

"I'm not, but I paid you for safe passage. Working for you was not part of the deal we made."

"Whatever Scarface; how much do you want?"

"Ten percent," Mina replied confidently.

"That sounds like a trap," Nael said, and Mina shrugged.

"It's not, I just don't want to give myself an hourly rate that will tempt me to steal from you when you start bringing in thousands per day."

"Fine," Nael replied, waving Mina away. She left the room, followed by Leal who was always accusing her of something.

"So, you're just a girl who was orphaned in Sani?"

"No," Mina replied cryptically. "I am also extremely smart." She walked into her own suite and tried to shut the door, but Lael caught and pushed it open. "What do you want?" Mina asked, hating that the man suspected her, and they were nowhere near a port.

"You told my brother that you would invest 20k; where will you get that money?" Mina stayed quiet and Leal laughed, realizing that she was not going to tell him where she kept her money stored. "Just be careful. I don't want to have to tell Mills that I killed you." Mina's eyes went wide as she considered the fact that Mills might actually look for her.

"She can't know I'm alive," Mina said in a panicked tone. "If the man I'm hiding from finds out; she is dead."

----

Mina had settled well into the group of people who worked for Nael. Some of them were vile, but others were just desperate. There were other women on the ship, most who had been brought along specifically for 'entertainment,' but there were a few who were like her. She sat at one of the tables during dinner, speaking with one such woman about the damage the salt water was doing to her hair, and about how excited she was about stopping at the next port.

Nael did not treat Mina too badly, but he was verbally abusive in a way that made others feel they could speak to her in a similar manner, so instead of being called Ami, they started to call her Scarface, which she did not mind at first. In the past, Mina believed that being beautiful to others was a burden, but now, she was seeing that the reverse was even more painful. She was rarely respected, had been spit on in disgust, and it was all because of the scars she drew on her own face.

"I made you something," Shani said, handing Mina a solid brown box. "I had to use materials from around the boat, but when we dock, I will get the things to do it properly." Mina took the box, opening it up to reveal a mask. "Don't take it wrong, but I think it would help you."