After leaving Malissa in the room underground, Hayden returned to his room to find a very worried-looking Auntie pacing around his living room. He glanced around at the overly decorated dining table along with the immense amount of untouched food as he wondered what this feast of a party was supposed to be for.
"What’s this?" he asked bluntly.
"Hayden! Why are you back so late?! Where is Malissa? She was supposed to meet me here to check the decoration and everything else. I called her but she didn’t turn up. I called her again and again..." Auntie wailed in panic.
Hayden watched with furrowed brows as the old woman wrung her hands around like she was about to burst out crying. He quickly realized that she had not replied to his question at all and had asked him many more questions in return.
"Answer my question first," Hayden demanded curtly.
"Malissa called me earlier. She said she wanted to have a special dinner with you, so I helped her prepare it. But when I called her to come here, she didn’t turn up. I’ve been waiting all this time. Was she with you? Where is she now?" Auntie asked anxiously.
Hayden glanced over at the overly elaborate effort to set up a special dinner. If Malissa hadn’t wandered into Harvey’s wing and met Harvey, they would probably be having a joyous dinner together right around now. However, he knew well that that wasn’t possible anymore.
"Malissa already left the mansion," Hayden replied flatly.
Auntie gasped in shock and her hands flew to cover her mouth.
"What? That’s impossible. What happened? Why did she leave so suddenly?" Auntie said in shock.
"She’s gone and that is all that you need to know. Please arrange to pack up her things from her room," Hayden said passively.
"You can’t be serious..." Auntie whispered.
"Do as I say," Hayden said firmly before walking away towards his bedroom.
"Hayden! Wait!" Auntie called after him.
Hayden didn’t reply and didn’t look back. The door to his bedroom opened and he disappeared through it before the door closed firmly behind him. Auntie’s sorrowful eyes glanced from the closed door of Hayden’s bedroom to the decorated dining table full of food and flowers.
"Malissa...where did you go?" Auntie whispered regretfully.
...
"Don’t act like you’re not to blame at all for this, Harvey..." Hayden snapped.
"I didn’t do anything. What did I do?" Harvey asked with wide innocent eyes.
Hayden shook his head at his brother before sitting himself down on the sofa opposite from him. Harvey followed his brother’s movement with his eyes as his hand continued to pet Little Hayden. Hayden’s eyes immediately went to the troublesome puppy that had bonded too well with his elder brother.
"Why did that dog run in here?" Hayden asked.
"How am I supposed to know that?" Harvey replied with a careless shrug.
"That dog ran in here to see you. Why? Because you’ve been secretly playing with it every single day for a while now, haven’t you?" Hayden openly accused his brother.
"Not quite every day. Well, most days..." Harvey admitted hesitantly.
Hayden looked at his brother with a look of pure annoyance before clicking his tongue.
"I told you not to cause any trouble..." Hayden growled.
"I didn’t cause any trouble. I was just playing with a dog," Harvey said in his own defense.
"That dog isn’t your dog. It’s Malissa’s dog..." Hayden reminded his brother coldly.
"So what? He likes me more..." Harvey argued.
"You sound like a six-year-old...I can’t believe this..." Hayden snapped at his brother again.
"I mean it. I didn’t do anything..." Harvey continued.
"Really? Then, answer me. How did you first meet that dog?" Hayden asked.
"Hmm...he was wandering around in front of my hallway and so I called out to it. Of course, he came running obediently," Harvey said with a smile.
--To be continued...