Archie gets home, feeling hungry as he walks inside the house. The stillness of the house is what wees him and he sighs in realisation.


    His babysitter has gone to the supposed dinner date with his Uncle and his father is not yet back home.


    “What’s he still doing at the office, by this time?” Archie sneered. He peeks up the stairs to see if he’ll catch the reflection of his father, but he’s sure his father is not back home.


    “Goodness, God! I’m so tired and hungry.” He groans, tossing his backpack on the couch and rushing to the kitchen to prepare something for himself before his father gets back.


    He enters the kitchen and goes straight to the freezer to check what he can cook.


    “Eh, what’re all these anyways?” Heughed at himself when he couldn’t tell what the stuff in the freezer was used for.


    “The heck! I’ll just prepare a cup of milk and have it with pizza.” He chuckles as he closes back the freezer.


    “Aunt is trying. Oh, my God!” He shakes his head and walks away from the freezer.


    Getting out of the kitchen with a cup of milk and a slice of pizza, Archie walks over to the couch and picks up his backpack.


    He flung the backpack over his shoulder and proceeded his walk towards the stairs. He shakes his head and starts singing loudly as he ascends the energy-consuming stairs.


    Getting to his room, he heaves a sigh of relief and walks inside his room.


    He walks towards his study desk and drops his snack on the table.


    He walks to the bathroom to freshen up after dropping his backpack on the bed.


    He whistles loudly as the cold water ssh on his body. He massages his body under the shower.


    He turns off the shower and wraps a towel around his body as he walks out of the bathroom. He walks over to his wardrobe and picks out a blue fur hoodie over ck pants.


    He put on the clothes and dried his hair with the hand dryer.


    “I need to get a haircut,” He says, checking out his grown hair in the mirror. “But this long hair does suit me perfectly.” He mutters as he packs his hair in a messy bun. The band couldn’t hold his whole hair as some strands pulled out from the hold.


    He styles the strands and he smiles at his reflection in the mirror.


    “I’ll ask Aunty when she gets back. I think long hair looks good on me.” He smiles, humming to a song and he walks to his reading desk.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    He took a seat on the single chair and started nibbling on his pizza.


    “I don’t have any assignments. What should I do?” He groans as he picks up his phone, he decides to check his insta ount and a smile forms on his face as hees across the picture of Mnie that he posted weeks ago.


    “Look at thesements and offer?” he giggles happily as he rushes to his inbox.


    No doubt, he has gotten a lot of messages from different organisations asking for him to let thedy in the picture model their brands.


    “Nah, I’m not sure if Aunt will agree with your offer.” Heughs and drops his phone on the table.


    He eats thest bite of the pizza and gulps the remaining milk down his throat.


    “What should I do now that I’m alone?” He put his palm under his chin as a thought crossed his mind.


    “Yay, I’m doing that.” He smiles, rushing to his cab to fetch a neat sketch paper.


    ***


    Mnie stands in front of a hillock, her back pressing against Mr Gordon’s hard chest. She holds the rail with one hand, and her second hand is holding ice Americano in her second hand.


    They’re gazing at the view of the street from up here, and she constantly smiles whenever her eyes catch up with the view that interests her.


    “How did you discover this ce?” Mnie asks, sipping from her drink.


    “I usually visited here when I was ad.” Mr Gordon utters behind her, he sneaks his hand on her waist and pulls her tightly to his body.


    Mnie chuckles, almost forgetting what Drew told her earlier.


    ‘I heard he stabbed his wife to death. Are you not curious to know why?’


    Mnie quivers, recalling what Drew said to her.


    Mr Gordon notices that and he wonders what his uncle must have said to her.


    “Are you okay?” He bent his head and rested his chin on her shoulder. “What is bothering you?” He asks, his breath fan Mnie’s neck and she shakes under his whiff.


    “Nothing,” She tells an untruth as she clears her throat. “It’s something I can handle, you don’t have to worry about it.” Mnie smiles, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.


    “If you hear something about me, you should ask me before you judge me wrongly.” Mr Gordon says, raising his chin from her shoulder.


    Mnie seizes her breath as he releases his grip on her. She wonders if he has a hint of what his uncle told her and the thought of bringing up the conversation puts fear in her heart.


    “Ahh, okay, if I hear any rumours about you, I will ask for your side of the story.” Mnie gulps as she speaks.


    Mr Gordon knows that she heard something about him, from his uncle, which she’s not telling him. He waves it off as he doesn’t want to spoil the mood.


    “Hey, you didn’t ask about my day at the office.” Mr Gordon pulls Mnie to face him.


    “Ahh, I’ve never asked you before so I don’t know that it’s necessary.” Mnie smiles shyly, tucking strands of hair behind her ears.


    Mr Gordon res at her. “We are friends now, you need to know how and where I spent my day.” He fakes a groan and Mnie giggles silently.


    “Sorry about that. How was work today?” She asks, slipping the straw in her mouth, and sipping from the iced americano.


    “Work was extra stressful, I had a lot of patrons all thanks to you.” Mr Gordon beams, ying with her pointed nose as he speaks.


    “My help?” Mnie questioned with her brows raised. “How is that any of my help?” She says, peeking into his eyes for her answer.


    “My uncle decided to help me after I took you to the get-together at the organisation.” He says, tucking Mnie’s hair behind her ear.


    “Can I ask you why?” Mnie asks, staring at his hands on her hair.


    “You just did,” heughs, letting his hand slide down from her hair. “After the death of my wife…”


    Mr Gordon stops talking when he sees Mnie cringing at the mention of his dead wife, he scoffs when he finally earns his answer. His uncle fucking told her about his dead wife, that is the reason for Mnie’s sudden scared stiff.


    “What did my uncle tell you?” He asks, moving away from her to stand far away from her.


    “He told me that you… Kill… That you killed your wife.” Mnie stuttered fearfully.


    “Did you believe him?” Mr Gordon asks, crossing his arms over his chest.


    “A part of me wanted to believe that it is a lie, but a part of me can’t seem to understand why your uncle would want to lie to me,” Mnie gobbled. She holds the drink with both hands as she is already shaking.


    “Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t me?” Mr Gordon asks, resting his elbows on the rail.


    Mnie shook her head positively. “If you tell me that you didn’t kill her I will believe you. If you tell me that what your uncle said was a lie, I will also believe you. If you tell me that your son’s view of you is also a lie, I will believe you. If you go ahead and tell me that what your cousin said about you was nothing but a fib, I will still believe you. All I need to hear from you is to say to me that all the things they talk about you are not true.” Mnie croaked as she took a few steps closer to Mr Gordon.


    Mr Gordon pulls out his hand from the rail. He stares at Mnie in surprise. He never knew a day woulde when someone would want to know about his wife’s death without them pointing their fingers at him, that he killed his dead wife without hearing his side of the story.


    He exhales deeply and closes his eyes. “Your answer will determine my next action. So please think before you’ll give out your answer,” Mr Gordon says with his eyes closed.


    Mnie nods her head even though she knows that he can’t see her.


    “I didn’t kill my wife. I didn’t kill Selena.” Mr Gordon says and opens his eyes slightly. “Do you believe me?” He asks, staring at her and suddenly getting confused seeing Mnie beaming with a smile.


    “I believe you,” She paused, staring at his confused gaze at her. “I believe everything you said.” She smiles, closing the gap between them.


    Mr Gordon couldn’t believe the woman he is getting a bit attracted to is telling him that she believes him, even when he hasn’t exined things in detail she still believes him.


    “Why did you believe me?” He asks, he’s not doubting her honesty, he just wants to know why.


    “Why did you trust me, even without understanding a shit about the incident?” He asks, settling down his hand on her waist.


    “Because her death caused you a great loss. You act as though you’re seeing an illusion of her. You lose your mind at times which makes you act without realising. It’s time you stop believing what people want you to believe about yourself, I believe you’re the only one that knows the truth about this, and I believe your mind knows it wasn’t you that killed her. So, please free your mind and do things that’ll bring joy to your heart.” Mnie conceded.


    Mnie lifts her gaze to meet with Mr Gordon, she smiles when she sees that he has been in tears all along. She ces her hand on both sides of his waist.


    “Your son looks up to you, you need to be happy before you can take care of the boy. There are a lot of things that he needs to discuss with you, but since you’re not happy with yourself there’s no way he could bring it to the table. He’s keeping a lot of things to himself that he needs someone to talk to. Please, you have to free your mind for the sake of your son.” Mnie fretted. She lifts her hand to his face, ready to wipe out his tears.


    Mr Gordon holds her hand in his palm and shoots her a charming smile.


    “Why are you saying all this to me?” Mr Gordon asks, any more words from her and he’s going to sweep her off her feet.


    “Because you’re a nice person.” Mnie smiles, looking away from him.


    “No, no I’m not a nice person. I’m not nice to you, Mel.” Mr Gordon blurted out, moving her head to stare at him.


    “Why did you say I’m a nice person? Tell me I want to hear you say it.” Mr Gordon begs her with his face. He wants her to say it out without hiding it from him.


    “Because a part of you is nice.” Mnie clears her throat. She dropped her gaze to the floor, hiding her flushed cheeks from him.


    “Is that all you think about me?” Mr Gordon asks with a grin on his face.


    Mnie nods her head, even though a part of her knows that she’s leaving a word behind unsaid.


    “Yes, that’s all I think about you.” She smiles, lifting her head from the ground.


    “Thank you!” Mr Gordon smiles, he pulls Mnie to himself and kisses the side of her cheek.


    “Even though I know that’s not all, you have already given me a hint and I’ll take it from there.” He says, sniffing her hair as he caresses her back with his palm.


    “I forgot to tell you this and I hope it’s not toote.” Mr Gordon chuckles, he pulls out from the hug to stare at Mnie’s face.


    “You look beautiful in whatever you put on.” He smiles broadly and Mnie tries to hide her cheeks with her hair.


    “Hide those cuties and I’ll kiss you.” Mr Gordon threatens and Mnieughs, hiding her face in his chest.