He only gave a simple, stingy compliment for the first time, yet he managed to receive a heartfelt, radiant smile from Finn Osborn.
He said "Happy Birthday" to Finn Osborn.
Then, as if unable to control himself, Finn turned to him with a stiff, cold, mocking expression, as if he felt that he shouldn't be wishing him a happy birthday, as if he felt that his own brother did not like his existence. Then the topic circled back to that inheritance dispute they could never get past, as if he alone was the only one who could never move past it.
How strong the sense of fragmentation felt in that moment.
The pain Harry feels at this moment is just as strong.
Do you feel regret every single day—
Each of Noah Hart's words struck heavily against Harry Osborn's trembling heart.
“Did I miss his final cry for help time and time again?”
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Don't worry, there will be two updates today. Finn will wake up once this plotline ends.
Chapter 44: Liar · Truth
“Will you spend every day in regret—”
That I missed his final cry for help over and over again?
At this point, Noah could no longer bear it and was held tightly in Elias's arms.
Harry felt a sudden, cold sense of suffocation wrap around him, spreading from his fingertips to his heart. A person like him shouldn't have been able to empathize, yet he could clearly feel that bone-deep collapse and despair from Noah.
—If Finn Osborn really died, Harry Osborn wouldn't even dare to imagine such a possibility.
Finn is fine." Harry forcibly suppressed the violent, uncontrollable trembling of his body, his teeth clenched tight, his voice extremely hoarse yet exceptionally firm, "And he will be fine too.
"A wonderful family? Peter, is that really what you think?" Noah looked up from Elias's arms and forced a faint smile, a smile filled with mockery.
"Finn said you are the most hardworking, most self-disciplined, smartest person he has ever met. He could say that on a stage watched by the entire world. What about you? Have you ever praised him?" Noah asked Harry in return.
He said you deserve all the applause and glory?" After the complete outburst, Noah's tone sounded less intense, yet it carried a sense of powerless desolation, "What about Finn? Is he only worthy of being called useless and overambitious by you?
You blame him for intruding into the Osborn Group, thinking he's an eyesore and a nuisance, casually assigned him to an unimportant workstation. But besides catching you within the Osborn Group, where else could he possibly see you?
Yes, he kept asking you for shares, fighting for shares, you thought he was greedy and foolish. But besides using shares as his bargaining chip, he simply couldn't find any other way to make you look at him, or to make you value him even a little bit.
You've been completely ignoring him, haven't you?
Harry stood there dazed, listening to the crimes he had committed against his younger brother due to his cold arrogance and habitual selfishness—crimes he had never realized before.
“Do you think Finn hates you?” Noah Hart continued to ask, “You should realize by now that he is very smart, he is no less capable than you, right? If he truly wanted to do something, it would be enough to turn the entire Osborn Group upside down.”
Then what did Finn do to you?
Go to work at the Osborn Group? Draw those emojis with little crowns for you? Even though he has claustrophobia, he still ran to the morgue just to settle those matters for you? Regarding the Max Dillon incident, doesn't the Osborn Group really need to take responsibility? He took the fall for everything on your behalf." Noah listed these things he already knew, "He even stepped up to shoulder all the pressure for you during your absence from the press conference, even doing perfectly what you never expected him to be able to do.
Noah stared fixedly at Harry, his tone filled with a sense of utter helplessness, resentment, anger.
What else do you want to demand of him?
You were the one who was always cold, disdainful, mocking toward him," Noah's voice carried a hint of irony. "Do you expect him to be a perfect younger brother, to constantly act subserviently just to please you?
Harry fought hard to suppress the manic desire within his heart.
It turned out that what he envied others for receiving from Finn was, in the eyes of others, something he had possessed all along.
Finn can't control his emotions and behavior at all right now.
"He likes you, he admires you, yet he can't help but hate you; he wants to help you, but feels he shouldn't, that he must maintain an opposition against you; he can't control the urge to be close to you, to earn your praise, but once your attitude softens even slightly, he becomes afraid—afraid of your subsequent coldness, afraid of your disparagement, afraid of your sarcasm, even more afraid that you will still abandon him and hurt him." Noah's voice carried exhaustion and deep heartache.
"I won't abandon him." Harry immediately countered sharply, though his voice trembled.
"After the inheritance was divided, didn't you just kick Finn Osborn aside?" Noah sneered.
"I didn't!" Harry's voice rose sharply, but the words of defense that instinctively wanted to slip out got stuck in his throat.
He just..
He simply had too much to deal with—the entire Osborn Group was waiting for him, the hidden dangers left behind by his father, those predatory, greedy gazes.. He simply had no time to think about anything else, no time to consider Finn's feelings.
"It's just that, in your heart, interests are the most important thing," Noah said bluntly.
Harry's body stiffened.
Interests above all else, yes, that is what he had always said before.
If Finn stood before you at that moment and told you honestly that he had lost his father, that he was in immense pain, that he wanted a family, that he needed your company," Noah looked up and stared directly at Harry, "would you stay with him? Would you comfort him? Or would you find him laughable?
You would coldly tell him to process it on his own as quickly as possible, that the Osborn family has no need for such fragile emotions.
Harry stared blankly at Finn at this moment, unable to refute him.
Because he knew that his former self truly would have done so.
I have no right to blame you, because I have already lost my brother." Noah's voice gradually calmed, yet it carried a deathly heaviness, "You did the right thing from your position, while I was merely standing on Finn's side.
Being able to control the entire Osborn Group.. indeed, I am not as capable as you.
But, is the inheritance you're meant to take over just the Osborn Group?
Noah's sharp questions pierced directly at Harry one after another—
Do you really hold Finn Osborn in such low regard?
The bandages on Harry's hands had been completely soaked through by the blood from his torn wounds, the pain in his body, mind, soul was steadily escalating.
If you don't want to be his brother.
Noah's eyes were red, he spoke in an extremely determined tone—
I will be his brother.
Finn will find ways to make me happy. He can bring me so much pure joy. He will draw all sorts of pictures for me, he will think of anything fun to share with me. He will excitedly put on every piece of clothing I design for him.." Noah said through sobs, "He is like summer, always shining on me with brightness and heat.
Then, I will give him everything he wants.
Harry felt as if his head were splitting open, a ball of fire seemed to be lodged in his chest, burning so intensely that he could barely breathe. He gasped for air, one hand pressing tightly against his forehead, as he turned unsteadily and rushed into the hospital room's bathroom.
"Harry!" Peter immediately chased after him in an anxious state.
"Let me calm down." Harry shut Peter out with a cold and decisive tone.
Peter looked helplessly at the closed door, when he turned around, everyone was immersed in an extremely oppressive and deathly silence.
"Is there any way now?" Peter could only walk up to Dr. Thomas and ask, placing his hopes in the only psychiatrist present.
Dr. Thomas: ".." I am just a doctor; I am not a god.
This ward was so lively, it was like a blind box of mental illnesses; no matter who you opened, you'd get a prize.
"When Harry comes out, you should take a look at him too." Peter also knew that Dr. Thomas had no better solution, so he could only concede and say.
Looking around, Dr. Thomas: ".." He could tell; this was a high-level game played against him.
Harry stayed in the restroom for a long time. By the time the young man emerged again, his surging, uncontrollable emotions seemed to have calmed down, his expression had returned to a cold, quiet composure, though Harry's hair and collar were soaked with water, the bandages on his hands were saturated with damp, bloody stains.
"I will transfer half of my shares to Finn Osborn," Harry announced.
"What did you say?" Peter asked in disbelief; he hadn't expected Harry's calm conclusion to be this.
"Isn't this what Finn has always wanted? I'll give it to him," Harry said calmly. Since this was the crux of the long-standing dispute between him and Finn, he would resolve it.
You're being completely irrational right now," Peter said with a frown, "Don't make such a major decision while you're being irrational.
Isn't this exactly what you want me to do?" Harry asked back calmly, "To fulfill Finn's wish.
Hearing this, Noah let out a mocking smile and lowered his head, saying nothing more.
Is this what Finn wants?" Peter urged, stepping in front of Harry to try and dissuade him further, "What he truly wants isn't the shares at all.
What else do you want to say? That all he wants is my concern?" The irritation and anxiety that Harry had been suppressing once again surfaced on his expression. "Anyone, any one of you, could do better than me.
Peter wanted to argue further.
Peter, don't you understand? I can't do it." Harry, who had always been able to do anything, finally admitted his helplessness at this moment. He admitted that he possessed some kind of deficiency, whether in acquiring emotions or expressing them. "I can't be like you guys. I have no way to care about his emotions, to care about what he's thinking in his heart, I also have no way to find the time to go out and play with him everywhere.
For Harry, there was no similarity between him and Finn. Even if he could change, he would never be able to be like Peter, enthusiastically and vibrantly integrating into Finn's social circle and accompanying him wherever he pleased.
He couldn't manage to be a good family member.
I am his older brother, I will do my best to fulfill my duties as an older brother in the future." After a moment of deep thought, Harry gave the only promise he could make, "If he wants shares, fine, I'll give them to him.
Harry said rationally and bluntly—
Isn't profit the most direct manifestation?
This was already the optimal solution Harry could think of.
Peter stared at Harry in silence, he could naturally see the solemnity and that sense of paranoia in Harry's eyes. Since Harry had made this decision, he would not waver.
The legal team from the Osborn Group arrived extremely quickly, including the lawyer whom Norman Osborn trusted most and who had personally handled all of his estate matters, who also rushed over. Because it concerned Finn, the group only allowed the renowned Mr. Cross Winner, whose hair had already turned white and who was highly prestigious in the industry, to enter the ward, when the lawyer Cross saw Finn, who lay sleeping on the hospital bed with a deathly pale complexion, a look of disbelief suddenly appeared on his aged face.
How could Young Master Finn??
"You don't need to worry about this," Harry said coldly, unwilling to explain.
"Are you asking to transfer half of your shares to Young Master Finn?" Attorney Cross frowned, as he naturally knew why Harry had specifically sought him out.
"Correct." Harry nodded with a cold expression.
"Mr. Osborn, I'm afraid this isn't what Young Master Finn truly wants." Cross spoke hesitantly, his tone carrying a hint of persuasion.
[This is not what Finn wants.]
That same sentence again.
Harry felt a surge of intense anger suddenly rise in his heart, almost driven to madness by this repetitive sentence.
It seemed as if everyone in the world knew exactly what Finn Osborn wanted, yet he was the only one who knew nothing at all.
"I said I'll give it to him, so I'll give it to him!" Harry shouted in a desperate frenzy, his chest heaving violently, his fingertips turning white from the force of his grip, his eyes filled with an impulse swept up by uncontrollable emotions.
This gentleman's current emotional state is not suitable for making any major decisions," Dr. Thomas spoke up opportunistically from the side, his tone objective and firm. "A promise made while one is unconscious or when cognition is influenced by emotions lacks full legal validity. You need to calm down first.
Cross Winner's brow was furrowed; after Norman's death, these two Osborn brothers had not had any contact with him.
Although he had also kept an eye on them, on the surface, it seemed that the two brothers were each doing quite well.