The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Mango was quite worried when she saw Thomas acting like this.

"He wouldn't really go up against Walter, right? Although what he did was despicable, if Thomas dies, I'm afraid that Charlotte would... Nathan, how about we get involved in this. After all, you're the heir of the Ye Family, so I'm sure Walter wouldn't dare lift a finger against you."

Mango knew it was bad to trouble Nathaniel, but she couldn't think of another way.

Currently, the process of re-establishing her identity in the Hans Family was yet to be completed. Even if it was, it wasn't appropriate for her to reveal that Charlotte had been violated because it would definitely ruin Charlotte's reputation.

However, Nathaniel knew that Mango was concerned about Charlotte and he replied in a distressed tone, "Your confinement period isn't up, and yet you're worrying about this?"

"I can ignore everyone else's problems, but not Charlotte's. She's my best friend, and we've always depended on each other ever since she was orphaned. Now that something like this had happened to her, how can I just turn a blind eye to it?"

In fact, Mango was afraid that Nathaniel would start berating her, so she interrupted him.

Then, Nathaniel sighed and said, "I know that you care about her. To you, she's not only your best friend, but your sister and your family as well. But Mango, it's not my place to do anything about this. Don't underestimate Thomas, we should just let him be since he wants to avenge Charlotte. We'll only step in if he can't handle it, all right?"

"But Thomas is just your personal assistant. Although he's been with you for so many years, ultimately, his status is still no match for Walter. I'm afraid that he'll lose out in the end. After all, not everything can be solved with money."

Mango had only come to realise this fact recently.

Then, Nathaniel held her shoulder and led her to sit on a couch in the living room. After that, he glanced at Charlotte's tightly closed room before he whispered, "Thomas is actually the illegitimate child of the Song Family."

"What?"

Mango was floored.

However, Nathaniel continued to explain.

"Thomas is the son of Walter's father and his current wife. However, Thomas' mother was the cause of Walter's kidnapping, which made the previous Mrs. Song go insane. Thus, Thomas has always felt guilt towards Walter and his mother. In fact, he was abandoned in the cold right after he was born, but he miraculously survived and was picked up by the warden of an orphanage. At the time, he was wearing an amulet with the word 'Song' carved on it, so the warden gave him the name Thomas Song."

"Because of this, the Song Family's current matriarch is hostile towards Walter and his mother. She thinks that Walter's mother is pretending to be insane, and she also suspects that Walter's mother kidnapped Thomas as well. Hence, there's been a lot of internal conflict within the Song Family. After that, Mrs. Song fell pregnant twice, but she miscarried both time for unknown reasons before she became infertile. Some said that Walter was behind all this, but his father quashed all the rumours. However, Walter's father and his wife have never given up hope on finding their missing child."

"Then, Mr. Song had run into some trouble overseas and coincidentally, Thomas donated his blood to save Mr. Song. At the time, Mr. Song said that Thomas looked exactly like his wife, so he had Thomas undergo a paternity test. Perhaps it was fated that Thomas turned out to be Mr. Song's son. However, Thomas had no desire to return to the Song Family after he found out about the truth. He felt like this was the punishment he deserved after his mother ruined the Song Family. Furthermore, he was living a fairly comfortable life out there, so he didn't feel like going back to the Song Family just to get into another fight."

"Although he's my assistant, I've never thought of him as my employee. Thomas could have left the Ye Family years ago, but he was just too lazy to start something up for himself. If not, he wouldn't be like this today. How could I get involved now that his half-brother had violated the woman he loves? This is the Song Family's problem, so there are some things that Thomas must face alone." Mango was shell-shocked after Nathaniel explained everything to her.

She had never imagined that the mischievous, easygoing Thomas would be the son of the Song Family.

"Does Charlotte know about this?"

Mango immediately felt silly after she asked the question.

Sure enough, Nathaniel replied with a smile, saying, "No one besides Thomas, Mr. Song, and I know about this, not even Mrs. Songs. So, do you think that Charlotte would know?" "Then why are you telling me now? Aren't you afraid that I'll tell Charlotte?"

In truth, Mango was secretly delighted that Nathaniel had opted to tell her when so few people knew about this.

Then, Nathaniel patted her head affectionately and said, "Charlotte will find out sooner or later, but I think it's best if Thomas tells her this himself. After all, we're just bystanders in their relationship, so we should try our best to make our friends happy. As for the future of their relationship, I think it's better left to leave it to them."

"Look at you, talking like you're some relationship guru. I remember someone who wasn't even sure about his feelings after three years."

Mango started digging up past events.

Then, Nathaniel immediately gathered her up into his arms.

"Are you complaining about me? Hm?"

"Nope. All right, I'm not going to mess with you anymore because I'm going to check on Charlotte. I'm afraid she needs some reassurance since such a huge thing has happened. Thomas was right, Charlotte may look strong, but she's actually quite fragile on the inside."

After that, Mango glanced at Charlotte's room door with concern.

Nathaniel knew that he wouldn't be able to stop Mango, but his tone was distressed when he said, "Perhaps I shouldn't have let you leave the house today. You're not even out of your confinement period, yet you're still worried about these irrelevant things. If it was anyone else but Charlotte, I wouldn't have let you get involved."

"Okay, I know that you're concerned about me, but I think that all of this seems a tad bit too coincidental for me. Newell got into a car crash, and now Charlotte nearly got taken advantage of. Newell's been you subordinate for a long time, and he'd undergone training from the Ye Family, so how could he just get into a car accident so easily? Charlotte too, she's been with me the whole time in the villa, but she gets summoned by Walter the second I leave?"

Mango's words made Nathaniel frown slightly.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I don't know, it all just feels way too coincidental for me. But since Nanny Zhang has been arrested, who else could do this?"

Then, Mango fell into deep thought.

However, Nathaniel quickly flicked Mango in the forehead upon seeing her like this, which caused her to cry out in pain.

"What are you doing? Ow, it hurts!"

"So you can still feel pain, huh? Your confinement period isn't over, so why are you worrying over these things? Now that we're free of our responsibilities, we can deal with whatever comes our way on our own terms. As long as I'm here, you have nothing to fear."

Nathaniel's confident words gave Mango a sense of security.

"All right, I'll do as you say. I'll be off to check on Charlotte, so you'd better look after the children. Don't let what happened today affect them, and don't let them bother her. I reckon she's not in the mood to play with them either."

"Got it, honey."

Obviously, Mango was very pleased to hear Nathaniel call her that.

Nevertheless, she suddenly felt a little guilty for enjoying her husband's affection while Charlotte was in pain.

"Alright, behave yourself. I'm going to check on Charlotte now. Also, don't be so loving towards me over the next few days, I'm afraid that it'll just make her feel worse."

"You're kidding, right?"

With that, Nathaniel felt that Mango had gone too far.

"I'm completely serious. I'm sure that Charlotte wouldn't want to meet anyone after what happened. She'll get sad if you're too loving towards me."

Mango's talked as if it made perfect sense, but Nathaniel felt that it was all nonsense.

"Does that mean that I can't be affectionate with you as long as she doesn't get over this?"

"That's right!"

"That's too much, Mango!"

Nathaniel felt that Mango was being quite unreasonable.

However, Mango just smiled and ignored Nathaniel's protests. Then, she got up and walked towards Charlotte's room.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel knew that Mango was only worried about Charlotte, so he couldn't do anything but shake his head and let her be. After that, he got up and walked over to Zion's room. Next, Mango knocked on Charlotte's door only to receive a hoarse reply.

"Who is it?"

"Charlotte, it's me, Mango. Let me in, I'm worried about you."

Mango said in a low voice.

Charlotte opened the door and let Mango in when she realised that her best friend was at the door.

Charlotte's eyes were puffy and she was curled up on the corner of the bed like a pitiful child.

It was the same way Mango had met Charlotte when they met for the first time ten years ago.

Back then, Charlotte had been bullied as well, but she looked far better than she did now. At least her eyes still had a glimmer of hope.

Now, Charlotte seemed to have lost every ounce of her usual radiance, and this distressed Mango greatly.

Then, she quickly stepped forward to hug Charlotte and said, "This isn't your fault! Charlotte, don't blame yourself for other people's mistakes. Do you know that you're just making me worried?" "Sorry, I've never intended to make you worry. I know that you haven't finished your confinement period, and you won't be able to finish it peacefully after this happened. It's okay, you don't have to worry about me, I'm tough. As long as I'm alive, I won't do anything stupid to myself. However, I may need a long time before I can pick myself up again."

Charlotte's words caused Mango's heart to ache even more.

"Silly girl, you're allowed to be weak. Even if you've lost everyone, you'll still have me. Didn't I tell you that you'd have nothing to be afraid of as long as I'm here?"

When Charlotte heard Mango's words, she immediately burst into tears in her arms.

"I know. I know that no matter what I become and no matter what others say about me, you'll accept me wholeheartedly. But Mango, I can't bring myself to face Thomas. He's good, kind, and perfect, so how can I taint him with my stained body?"

Thomas was still firmly rooted in Charlotte's mind and that was why she was in so much pain.

Truth be told, Mango wanted to console her best friend when she saw Charlotte in the depths of despair. However, she knew that Charlotte would just be more upset the more she tried to comfort her. So, Mango decided to change the topic.

"Charlotte, I want to know the reason why you went to the Evergrande Bay Club to see Walter when you were just fine staying at home? What did he say to you? Did he threaten you?"