Chapter 255: The Other Brother

"Hayden…?" I called his name questioningly.

An angelic face with piercing blue eyes turned in my direction and my blood ran cold.

His blue eyes watched me intently, but he didn’t seem at all surprised that I was there. My lips felt dry, and my words caught in my throat as he continued staring silently at me. My heart beat so hard and fast that I thought that it would pop out of my chest.

"Wait…you’re not Hayden, are you?" I murmured questioningly.

"What are you talking about? I am Hayden…" the man said with a teasing smile.

"No…you’re not…" I said resolutely.

He can’t trick me.

"You’re not making any sense. If you think I’m not Hayden, then who else could I be?" he asked with a smile as his blue eyes watched my every reaction.

Even his voice was very similar. However, something similar would never be the same.

With all the reasons that had just ran through my brain, I finally knew with certainty that no matter how unbelievably similar this man was to Hayden, he wasn’t Hayden.

This man...he’s not Hayden.

What is going on?

I felt so dumb and stupid as I stood there dumbstruck. The truth was supposed to be obvious, but I was too scared and too shock to admit it.

This man can’t be anyone else but…

I think I had my answer to that question, but it was impossible. I mean, he’s supposed to be…

"Could you possibly be…Harvey?" I asked in a whisper.

There was a pause as our eyes met before the man smiled even wider and began to laugh softly. I wasn’t sure what he found so funny about this situation.

"Harvey? My brother’s dead," he said flatly after his laughter died down completely.

No, this man is definitely Harvey. Unless Hayden had another brother or a twin that I didn’t know about, then this man must be Harvey. I frowned as my mind struggled to wrap itself around this thought. How is this possible? Harvey is dead. I stood with Hayden right at his grave.

I saw the sad and hurt on Hayden’s face as he prayed to his dead brother.

How can he be here like this? However…

"You’re Harvey…" I said in a whisper.

It was like I was saying it just to convince myself that that was the truth.

"You must be Hayden’s girlfriend if you can easily tell us apart. Most people can’t if I put in the effort to pretend a little," the man said followed by a laugh.

"Harvey…" I called his name softly.

"Welcome, Malissa…" Harvey said with an amused look on his face.

"Are you…Harvey? Are you really Harvey?" I asked as my voice shook like mad.

I took a step back in fear and it was like I was ready to turn around and run out of the room at any time.

"Haha…you thought that I was Hayden just now, didn’t you?" Harvey asked with a small laugh.

As I stood there with a stunned expression on my face, Harvey continued to laugh softly before turning his attention to the dog on his lap. His smile transformed into a very gentle and caring one as he looked down at Little Hayden’s upturned face. Hayden never looked at Little Hayden like that.

"Little Hayden, what about some more snacks?" Harvey readily offered as his hand grabbed a dog’s snack and began feeding it to Little Hayden.

I get it now. It’s because of this man and the beef jerkies that he’s been feeding Little Hayden that my dog has gained a tremendous amount of weight in such a short time. Just how many times had Little Hayden been here? The two of them seemed to get along famously and they seemed quite close. That made me believe that Little Hayden must have been here many times before.

"I like dogs, you see…especially corgis…" Harvey said it like a confession of a dirty little secret.

But Hayden told me that he got Little Hayden based on Luka’s recommendation…

"Hayden told me that Luka suggested that he get…" I began saying.

"Nope. He lied. He’s a bad liar too, but I guess you can’t see through him. Most people can’t," Harvey said before his eyes shifted to my face and he smiled alluringly at me.

Harvey was a very handsome man and his look closely resembled Hayden. Perhaps since Hayden was born after him, it might be more correct to say that Hayden resembled Harvey quite a lot. I had mistaken Harvey for Hayden before when I saw his photograph in Hayden’s bedroom. However, Harvey now had short hair which was styled the way that Hayden liked to style his hair.

The way he dressed was also similar. And that only made it harder to distinguish between the two. However, I could tell that their characters were vastly different.

"He lied?" I asked, more surprised than shock.

Well, I guess he couldn’t tell me honestly that his dead brother recommended that he should get a Corgi for me.

"Yes. You got this little doggy here because of me. I suggested that he should buy you a dog, specifically a Corgi. I just told you, didn’t I? I like dogs…" Harvey said as his hand petted Little Hayden’s head lovingly.

That was one difference between the two brothers for sure. Harvey loved dogs while Hayden…probably doesn’t like them so much…? Or maybe he just didn’t quite get along with Little Hayden?

I watched as Harvey continued petting an overly obedient Little Hayden. The dog seemed to melt into a pool of pleasure at his playful caress. Even when he was with me, Little Hayden didn’t seem to have such a good time.

"I like dogs…and they like me too," Harvey continued in a pleasant voice as if he could feel my eyes on him.

That’s not what is important right now. According to Hayden and everyone else for that matter, Harvey is dead. He’s supposed to be dead. However, the man who sat in this royal luxurious chair looked very much alive. He looked so fine, so perfectly functioning, and so damn good looking that it was unfair.

--To be continued…