Ariana gazed at Melon, her heart weighed down by guilt. It dawned on her: hiring someone to pretend to be Theodore had been a grave mistake. Perhaps honesty from the start would have spared Melon the heartbreak.

Mitchel, seeing Ariana's distress, gently guided her head to his shoulder. “You acted out of love, trying to give Melon a complete childhood," he whispered.

His hand reached out to smooth Melon's hair. “Melon, your dad is still with you, just in a unique way. He was there when you both needed him most. His love remains."

Melon nodded as tears continued, but as they flowed, exhaustion took over, and he drifted to sleep. Ariana, eyes still swollen, looked at him and then slowly regained her composure.

She turned to Mitchel, her voice hesitant. "The man I hired to play Melon's dad is Holden."