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"I’m not sure…" Hayden replied.

"Amelia believed in peace. She believed in it so much that it started rubbing off on me," Harvey said before laughing softly.

His eyes travelled to the various portraits of Amelia that hung from the walls as if he was recalling memories of her. Hayden followed his brother’s gaze as his blue eyes passively took in Amelia’s beauty.

"That was my fault…" Hayden whispered, his tone heavy with regret.

Harvey’s eyes returned to his brother before he shook his head slowly from side to side.

"Maybe it was or maybe it wasn’t. No one knows and it’s up to you what you want to believe," Harvey replied calmly.

"I shouldn’t have told her anything…" Hayden muttered.

Harvey smiled sadly at his brother before his gaze shifted to a portrait of Amelia. After a while of staring silently at it, Harvey turned to look directly at Hayden.

"I got this painting commissioned when I made up my mind to marry Amelia. She probably thought that I proposed to her on a whim but that wasn’t the case at all. I thought long and hard about it. I even consulted our old man about it. She wouldn’t believe me if I told her that, though…" Harvey said casually.

Hayden’s eyes travelled to the painting that his brother was referring to. Much to his surprise, the painting depicted Amelia with her eyes closed with a serene smile on her face while her hands were bounded together by deep green vines of red roses with sharp thorns.

"I guess this was after you locked her up in one of the rooms underground for a few days and she survived?" Hayden asked mockingly.

"Correct. Sometimes, I think you’re being too nice to Malissa but then I’m not so sure," Harvey said, only half-jokingly.

"So, why are you telling me all this?" Hayden asked.

After seeing that his brother had taken a look at the painting, Harvey decided to continue with what he wanted to say.

"It’s not easy being a mafia’s woman and our dead mother is great proof of that. Casual dating is fine, and all good but serious relationships and marriage is difficult. Then there’s the whole issue on producing the heir to take over the gang," Harvey said with a sigh.

Hayden’s eyes rested on the small trickles of blood oozing out from the wounds on Amelia’s arms in the painting. He imagined her pain and recognized the contrast of that against the peaceful and serene smile that Amelia has on her lips.

"Content and willing to bear the pain…" Hayden surmised softly with his eyes still resting on Amelia’s face in the painting.

"Correct," Harvey reaffirmed.

"Is that what you’re worried about? The succession line?" Hayden said as he started to frown.

"Partly. I would be lying if I told you that I don’t worry about that at all. I’m not like you. I completely side with our father on this one. This gang needs an heir to properly secure the future for the gang and all its members," Harvey said as his eyes narrowed at Hayden.

"I see…" Hayden murmured.

"I know we were not raised the same but trust me when I say this. I’m very worried about you and Malissa…" Harvey said solemnly.

"She won’t…end up like Amelia. I won’t end up making the same mistakes," Hayden stated resolutely.

"Don’t blame yourself too much. Amelia wouldn’t like that," Harvey said quickly.

"My beliefs almost got her killed…" Hayden said before closing his eyes in pain.

"Don’t overestimate yourself. It wasn’t your beliefs; it was her own beliefs. Amelia has her own beliefs and things that she wanted to fight for…" Harvey replied with a faraway look in his eyes.

"But if I didn’t talk to her about bringing about peace between the gangs, she may not have gotten so involved," Hayden murmured sadly.

"She was engaged to the heir of Silva. It doesn’t matter what you said or didn’t say, she was already involved. Amelia and I, we both knew that it wouldn’t be easy to cut her ties with Silva. Both Ethan and his father are hard to deal with," Harvey stated matter-of-factly.

"But still…" Hayden murmured, still not completely convinced.

"We knew that our decision came with a price, and we were willing to pay it," Harvey said decisively.

"Amelia never should have ended up like this…" Hayden muttered as he looked away.

"But she did. It’s not your fault," Harvey said sadly.

"I don’t know what I should do anymore…" Hayden admitted with a loud sigh.

"I don’t know what you should do either but what about what you want to do?" Harvey asked.

"What I want to do…" Hayden said softly as if thinking to himself.

Harvey watched his younger brother as he seemed to struggle with his own thoughts. If anything, Harvey wanted Hayden to understand what he wanted even if it was different from what he should do.

"I know that I’m running out of time," Harvey spoke up after a while.

"She might wake up so please don’t give up on her," Hayden said in an attempt to comfort his brother.

"I won’t ever give up on her. I can’t…but you don’t need to lie to me. You’re a doctor after all. You don’t think that she’ll wake up, right?" Harvey said knowingly.

"I don’t know…" Hayden mumbled.

"We’ll stick to the same deadline. If Amelia doesn’t regain her consciousness by then, I’ll let her go," Harvey said flatly.

"Harvey…" Hayden whispered in shock.

"It’s fine. Amelia’s been officially dead for a long time now. We’re just going to make reality match the papers," Harvey said before smiling sadly at his brother.

"You’ll be forced to marry someone else if you decide to take over. The old man isn’t going to give up on securing an heir," Hayden reminded his brother.

--To be continued…