Before Ariana could respond, Melon grabbed Mitchel's hand with his other hand and fluttered his eyelashes, acting cute and lovely.

Ariana and Mitchel exchanged a knowing glance, and both grabbed one of Melon's hands and lifted him up. Melon immediately screamed with joy, shouting, "More swinging, more swinging!"

Both of them laughed helplessly. Holding one of Melon's arms, they started swinging him and headed into the mall.

Laughter and joy filled the air around the three of them. Indeed, they were happy and completely unaware of a luxury car behind them.

The car window was lowered slowly, and the cold face of Holden was revealed. He stared at the figure of Mitchel. As far as he could remember, the man who was holding Melon's hand was the famous medical genius from the Jovanni family.

Holden's reasonable thoughts told himself that he had no right to interfere with Ariana's personal life. However, an inexplicable sense of anger welled up inside him, and he couldn't suppress it.

All he could do was grit his teeth and watch the three enter the mall.

Holden stared at them for a long time and only turned away when they disappeared from his sight. He couldn't help letting out a cold snort.

This woman.. He had been concerned about her, for she might be upset over the show's issues, but she had left the work and gone on a date with another man and even brought Melon along.

After a patient wait in the car, Holden ultimately chose not to follow them upstairs. With a slow retraction of his gaze, he wound up the car window and had Shawn drive away.

On the third floor in the restaurant quarters, Melon abruptly felt the urge to visit the restroom. Consequently, Ariana and Mitchel remained outside, waiting for him.

During this time, Mitchel asked, "Melon did bring up his dad's calls earlier, didn't he?"

Ariana responded wryly, “He was insistent on conversing with his father. I handed him Theodore's contact number but never anticipated his sly maneuver to make the call. When he later discovered it was disconnected, I had no choice but to turn to an online acquaintance I'm acquainted with. Presently, he's convinced it's his father."

Mitchel fell into a brief silence before articulating, “But falsehoods have a limited shelf life. Sooner or later, Melon will learn the entire truth."

Ariana wore a rueful smile as she voiced her concern, her tone tinged with melancholy.

“I understand, but I cannot break the news to him. Given his tender age, perhaps he isn't equipped to grasp the notion of death fully. For now, let's take this step by step."

Hearing her words, Mitchel didn't say anything more.

When he glanced at Ariana's sad countenance, he felt a confusing combination of emotions.

Over the past half-decade, every instance where he watched her wrestling with her grief, every moment she bore her burdens in solitude, he yearned to divulge the fact that Theodore still lived, particularly after confirming the truth of the matter. He was none other than Holden!

Mitchel grappled with this decision for an extended duration.