Chapter 120: Web of Relationships

"What about tomorrow? Or the day after? Or sometime next week?" Amelia asked without backing down.

"You’re quite funny…" Hayden commented.

"Then let me amuse you over dinner," Amelia suggested with a seductive smile.

"Sorry but…I’m not looking for a relationship…" Hayden declined immediately.

"No one’s ever turned me down before…not that I’ve had to ask many guys out before either…" Amelia said, clearly interested.

"It’s not always safe to assume that every man will be interested in you," Hayden said flatly.

"Well, I’m not looking for a relationship either. I’m just looking for a dinner partner," Amelia replied with a small laugh.

"I’ll go if you’re looking for a friend," Hayden said with a grin.

"We can start there…" Amelia said before she smiled brightly at him.

…

I listened to Hayden recount the first time that he met Amelia and how they ended up having their first dinner date together shortly afterwards. So that was how they both met and started dating each other. Recalling that he did mention that he knew a good gynecologist, I guess he was referring to this Sara person.

I had to admit that when he mentioned that he knew a good gynecologist that he could recommend, I had other thoughts in mind for how he would know one…

Despite my efforts to keep my tears in check, I had started crying once again. As I turned to the side to hide my crying face, my eyes landed on a photograph that I had seen once before. It was the same photo that I had seen in Hayden’s bedroom, although this one was in a different picture frame. Amelia next to Hayden, both of them smiling as if they envisioned a bright future together.

"Oh that…you saw it before, didn’t you?" Hayden spoke up once again after his eyes undoubtedly followed my line of sight.

"Huh?" I said as Hayden’s words popped my bubble of personal thought.

I realized that he was now staring at me and probably saw my eyes on the photograph. There’s no point denying it now.

"In my bedroom. You saw this same photo before, didn’t you?" He asked.

"Yes…I did," I replied honestly.

If I remembered correctly, I saw this photo and I started crying. Then when I left Hayden’s bedroom I ran into Auntie. Bad timing really does exist.

"I did ask you about it, but you never replied to my question," Hayden said as if he just thought of something.

"Ask me what?" I asked, not quite understanding what he was referring to.

"I asked you why you were crying that day…" Hayden reminded me.

"Umm…I…" I mumbled as I hesitated about what to say.

"It doesn’t matter anymore because I think I’ve figured it out," Hayden said before smiling at me.

"Figured what out?" I asked suspiciously.

"I think I’ve figured out why you were crying," Hayden stated before he got up from his seat.

I watched as Hayden walked over to the shelf where the photo was displayed and picked it up in his hand. Wordlessly, Hayden returned to his seat with the photo in his hand. I continued to watch him in confusion as he sat down next to me on the sofa.

"You were crying because you saw this photo, right?" Hayden asked as he shifted his gaze from the photograph in his hand over to me.

Our eyes met and although I was ashamed to admit it, I just nodded my head a little. It was true that I was very disturbed when I saw the photo of them together just sitting in his room right after we just had sex. It made me feel so ashamed and disappointed in myself. Looking back, I was probably very jealous of her and that only made me feel like I was being used as her replacement.

Perhaps, that really was what happened…

"I knew it. So, I moved the photo somewhere else so you wouldn’t have to see it again," Hayden said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

I cocked my head to the side and wondered if he was feeling bashful. Could it be? It did surprise me a little that he had moved the photo because he cared about my feelings.

"Malissa…look here for a second," Hayden said.

I lifted my face to look at him. To my surprise, Hayden had lifted the photo frame and placed it next to his face. I made a confused face because I had no idea what he was trying to get at.

"This is my brother. We look quite alike, don’t you think?" Hayden asked with a teasing smile.

"Huh? What?!" I exclaimed, loudly in shock.

My eyes shifted from Hayden’s face to the face of the man in the photo and then back again. No matter how many times, I did that, I saw the same man.

"I would have told you if you had just asked but you just went and made your own assumptions, didn’t you?" Hayden teased as he shrugged his shoulders as if to show that it wasn’t his fault.

"I’m not following…" I murmured as I furrowed my brows together.

"This guy here in the photo is my elder brother, Harvey. It’s not me," Hayden announced.

"Are you serious? You two look…" I said in disbelief.

"The same. Well, in real life you could probably tell us apart if we stood side by side. But yeah…we do look quite alike. We both take after our mother…fortunately…" Hayden said with a small laugh.

"I…see…" I said slowly as my mind tried to process this new piece of information.

"I’ve never had my hair that long though. It’s annoying to have hair that long and it disturbs me with my work too…" Hayden said as he pointed to Harley’s longer hair style in the photo.

Wait, if it isn’t Hayden in the photo but his brother then that means…

"Does that mean…" I began asking.

"Correct. Amelia isn’t my girlfriend. She was never my girlfriend. She’s my brother’s girlfriend…well, later they became engaged, so I guess it’s more accurate to say that she’s his fiancée," Hayden explained as his blue eyes watched my face closely.

"Really?!" I said in shock.

Is he serious?

But Harvey had passed away…and Amelia is…

For the first time, I was beginning to see what was really going on in this web of very complicated relationships.

--To be continued…