Hayden could sense Malissa’s discomfort even before he saw how pale her face was. He cursed Ethan inwardly for the things that he had intentionally said to trigger such a painful reaction from Malissa.
The discussion about the heir of Torex was uncalled for, although his response was truthful and factual. Then all those bullshit questions about Jack and what that dead man wanted. No matter how fond he was of Jack, he had been dead and gone for many years already. It was time that the living moved on with their lives and did what was best for the current times and the current situation.
He did not love or respect Jack any less than before, but things have clearly changed, and he was just trying to keep the fort together while fulfilling the promise that he made to his elder brother. Once again, he wondered why life was so bothersome. Here he was acting like the proper boss-to-be of Torex while Malissa looked like she was about to faint right next to him.
If this wasn’t what a disaster looked like, then he probably had misunderstood the meaning of the word his entire life.
Brining Malissa along wasn’t an error but it was a calculated challenge that his wicked elder brother had talked him into. While his mouth spat out cold and emotionless responses to Ethan’s irrelevant questions, his mind recalled what his brother had told him.
Ultimately, it was Malissa’s desire to join this meeting along with his brother’s somewhat wise words that made Hayden decide to let Malissa come along.
"I don’t want Malissa to be there. She has no reason to be there," Hayden said decisively.
"Have you asked her about it?" Harvey asked.
"No..." Hayden muttered in reply.
"It might be good for her to be there," Harvey suggested brightly.
"How so? She has nothing to gain from meeting him and we don’t have anything to gain either," Hayden replied without hesitation.
Hayden knew that it was rare for Harvey to talk about their deceased mother. From what he knew, Harvey was very close to their mother, and he probably had a lot more memories of her than he did. He decided to remain silent as he waited for Harvey to continue with what he wanted to say.
"I’m not saying that Malissa should be like our mother. In fact, I don’t think any woman should be like her or think like her. Not Amelia and not Malissa. However, what I truly respect about mother is the trust that she has in our dad. Hayden, this is a conveniently good opportunity to put your relationship with Malissa to the test.
If you two can’t get through this together, then it either won’t work between you two or...you have to let go of the gang..." Harvey said as he tried to make his brother understand his point of view.
Hayden’s eyes widened at his brother’s direct words. It wasn’t like he couldn’t see what Harvey was trying to get at. Admittingly, Harvey was probably right. If Malissa couldn’t withstand something like this, then she will forever be a weakness at his side.
"If Malissa can’t toughen up to handle something like this and if she can’t trust you enough, then she’ll always be a weakness to you. It may not matter to you..." Harvey said slowly and clearly.
"But she will get hurt because of it and then she’ll feel guilty about it. Then she will start believing that she isn’t good enough or that she isn’t strong enough..." Hayden completed the remaining part of his brother’s sentence with ease.
"Just like Amelia did..." Harvey whispered sadly.
"It’s still too risky..." Hayden said with a sigh.
"It’s better if she gets hurt now rather than later on. Trust goes both ways. Before she can trust you, you need to trust that she can somehow get through this. It will be hard because Ethan will probably use any weakness that he can sense against you two. Ethan will probably make you say things that will hurt Malissa or things that will make her doubt you.
If Malissa shows weakness, he will use it against you to bend you to his will. This cycle will never end until Malissa realizes that she has to trust you," Harvey pointed out.
--To be continued...