704 Chapter 704: Not Yours

It had been a long time since Mina felt true fear. She hated that she was in a situation that could potentially put Lady in danger, and she was scared about leaving Sadie and Troy behind. Cylus assured her that her sister was taking another car to distract President Lee, however Mina's heart told her that she was doing something wrong by leaving her sister in an unknown amount of danger. She had seen the look on President Lee's face when he pulled off her scar, and there was nothing gentle in his expression.

"Mina, I know that you want to go back and get Sadie, but if that man catches you, he is not going to let you go. Is that what you want?" Cylus questioned, snapping Mina into reality. She had her niece with her, and the little girl was her responsibility until her parents returned.

Nodding her head, Mina climbed into an emergency car, and Cylus drove them away from the venue. They did not go far because another vehicle had already been stationed close to the hall just in case Nael showed up; not President Lee. Switching cars, Mina and Cylus continued with their escape path until finally they got to the last vehicle in her line of retreat.

Cylus did not feel completely comfortable, although they had switched transports many times, so he pulled into a parking garage and called for a taxi for Mina and Lady, while he drove the getaway car.

"What about you? Mina questioned. "What if he catches you?"

"I would prefer for him to catch me instead of you," Cylus replied.

"But what if he hurts you?" Mina was worried, she knew firsthand what President Lee was capable of and she did not want to subject anyone to what she had experienced with the man.

"He won't hurt me. He would use me to get to you," Cylus said. Mina did not like talking about President Lee, but if she had bothered to listen Cylus would have been able to tell her how broken the man had been when he thought she was dead. If he were in his shoes, he too would have had a negative reaction.

"I don't like the idea of leaving you behind. This is not why I reached out to you." Cylus smiled at Mina, who was displaying the loving side of herself that he missed about her most.

"I know that, and I appreciate that you're looking out for my well-being, but please let me do this one thing for you. If not for you, let me do it for Lady. She is innocent in all of this. She doesn't deserve any of this and we've already pulled her into a dangerous game before she's even had a chance to speak her first words." Mina could feel her heart rate increase as Cylus spoke, and choosing to listen to her maybe brother, she climbed into the taxi, and instructed its driver to take her to the airport.

There was no CCTV footage at the airport due to security reasons, and Mina had access to a utility vehicle parked on the property. It was meant for an extreme emergency, but the situation she was in now felt extreme enough to warrant her to take it. Mina did not have a car seat for Lady in the van, which was nerve-wracking to her, but she was left without options and after a slow drive to her apartment, she entered, expecting Sadie and Troy to be waiting for her. However only Miss Claire was there, and the woman did not seem worried at all, meaning that her sister had not come home to tell her that something went wrong at the event.

"Why are you with Lady?" Claire asked, but it was not an aggressive, or accusatory tone as she used to take in the past.

"Something happened, and Sadie and Troy left her in my care."

"Oh, Sadie just called me," Claire replied with a smile. "She told me that she would not be home on time." Mina felt panicked, so she hurriedly called her sister who did not answer the phone. "Mina relax, you know how Sadie is and you know how Troy is. They would never leave Lady behind if they didn't plan to come back."

Choosing to listen to Miss Claire, Mina asked the woman to wash and change her niece while she prepared a bottle for the infant. As soon as the baby was fed and in bed, Mina went straight to her phone, but there was no one trying to reach her. It was strange to her, however Mina forced herself not to panic. The chances of President Lee finding her in an apartment registered under someone else's name was near to zero. She knew she had not been followed, and even if she had they would not be able to get around her security who she already instructed to guard the area.

After sending a 'please call me' text message to Sadie, Mina finally allowed sleep to take her. She worried that she may have to put her plan into overdrive if Sadie did not come home, but that would mean actually leaving her family to mourn her real death, and although she liked to play tough; Mina did not want to leave them alone again.

----

Mina took her time getting ready for her day, and she panicked when she realized that she was in the apartment alone. She called Miss Claire in a haste, and when she was told that Lady had been dropped off at the daycare she sometimes attended, Mina nearly fainted. Her niece rarely went to school, but because Sadie knew her daughter needed socialization with other children and adults, she allowed the little girl to be enrolled. Her grandmother was never permitted to drop the child off, and Mina did not understand why the woman had chosen to take the initiative.

"Go back for her," Mina ordered. She did not even bother to wait for a response before she hung up and ran out of the house.

As soon as Mina arrived at the childcare center, she encountered a crying Miss Claire, who claimed that Lady had been picked up by her father, but Troy and Sadie were not home. Mina asked the woman if she confirmed with the couple, and she nodded vigorously. Unable to accept that she had lost her niece, Mina entered the daycare, and was greeted with worried expressions. She questioned the staff, and they repeated the information, making Mina feel like her legs had turned to jelly, but then the attendant added another detail.

"Miss Aych, we couldn't say no; he was with the President. He told us to give this letter to little Lady's mother, but she isn't here." Mina snatched the letter from the woman and screamed at the top of her lungs before running out of the daycare. She wanted to snap at Miss Claire, but she would reserve that right for Sadie.

----

Ian stared at the small child that was sleeping in his office, looking for any hint of himself in her features. He had not slept all night searching for Mina, and with Cam's help, they were able to get into private security footage that spotted Madam Aych taking a taxi to the airport. Ian was able to determine where the woman lived from there, and as if luck were on his side, a car registered in Ami Aych's name left the apartment complex in the early hours of the morning. He had it followed, and he took his daughter with him.

"Who does she look like to you?" Ian whispered, but Cam did not respond, and instead started to leave.

"Let me know how this goes, and no matter what happens, no harm comes to that child." Ian scoffed at his cousin who made him swear he would not hurt his own baby.

"What about you?" Ian looked up at Zane who held up his hands. The man did not want to tell his friend that the baby looked like a combination of Mina and CEO Rue because he knew the man could see it for himself.

"And you're sure it was her?" Zane questioned, afraid that his friend may have kidnapped some innocent woman's child.

"I'm sure," Ian replied, and as if on cue, his office door flew open.

"Where is she?" Mina growled, sauntering into the office with a glare before her eyes spotted the infant sleeping in a baby carrier. Ian's voice was caught in his throat, he wanted to run to Mina, hug her, love her, and be with her, but there was nothing but hate in her eyes when she looked at him. "How dare you?" Mina questioned, and Ian's longing thoughts were snapped back into reality.

"Mina, I have a right to be in my child's life."

"What are you talking about 'your child?' She doesn't belong to you."

"Listen, I get that you moved on, but Cylus may not be her father." Mina's face contorted, and Ian breathed deeply in embarrassment.

"President Lee, what are you saying right now?"

"I'm saying that you were probably already pregnant before you ran away." Mina laughed mockingly, but when she realized the man was not joking her expression went sour.

"How? You and I never slept together without…" Mina paused, and she realized that the man must have had a reason to have his belief. "No… You are sick!" she shouted. Suddenly, Mina clasped onto her stomach recalling the pain she experienced on Nael's ship, and she intuitively knew that she had miscarried. It had nothing to do with stress, she was pregnant, and she did not know.

"Mina, calm down. I will explain the situation to Cylus-"

"Explain?!" Mina interjected. "You want to explain; then tell me this. What were my child and I supposed to do when you married someone else? Would I have dressed her up to be a part of your wedding? Tell me President Lee, how long would it have been before your sister or girlfriend killed her?" Mina could feel angry tears falling from her eyes. If she had known there was even a slight chance she was carrying the man's baby, she would not have pushed herself so far.

"Mina I-" Ian's statement was cut short when the woman he loved tearfully pointed a small pistol at him.

"She isn't yours, and you will stay away from us," the woman said, and Ian, having already had a gun pointed at him by Mina, took a step forward, but unlike the first time, she actually pulled the trigger, sending a bullet past his head and into a plaque on a nearby wall. "Next time, I won't miss," the woman said before picking up the sleeping baby.

"Mina, wait. We need to talk."

"There is nothing to talk about. She is not your child, and I am not Mina. I've already told you that."

"You're not going to get away from me again," Ian warned, and Mina chuckled deeply before pulling out her phone.

"Shut it down," she said into the device, and Ian heard his computer make a loud buzzing noise before his entire building lost power.

"What did you do?" Ian questioned, running around his desk to see if his secure laptop had also been compromised.

"I'm just showing you that I'm no longer the woman you locked behind that bookshelf. If you want a war, I can give you one. Stay away from us, and there won't be a problem." Mina walked out of the office, leaving a shocked Zane to just stare at his friend.

"Was that really Mina?" Zane asked. Despite seeing her up close, he had his doubts because of her behavior.

"She's confused, and needs time to accept the truth."

"Or you need to accept that you and Mina may not have a child together," Zane gently added.