The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Then, Charlotte's sobs came to an abrupt end.

She looked at Mango and she looked as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed her words in the end.

"Aren't you going to tell me? Are we keeping secrets now? Charlotte, you need to know that Walter was my friend first, and he knows that you're my best friend. No matter what problems you two have with each other, he knows that he can't go overboard with you. I know your character that you're not the type to go chasing after money, so Walter doesn't have any reason to ask for your presence. So, he must have said something or threatened you in order to get you to go to the Evergrande Bay Club, right? Furthermore, I heard the manager say that you went inside the club in a rage. What happened between you two?"

Clearly, Mango was very confused.

However, Charlotte just gritted her teeth and said nothing else. Hence, this caused Mango to become quite nervous.

"What's wrong? Can't you talk to me about it? You should know Thomas won't give up on you! He'll definitely investigate what happened, so you might as well tell me now before he finds out." By now, Mango was extremely anxious.

Alas, Charlotte just shook her head and said, "It's nothing. He just rubbed me the wrong way and I just had to get him back after he abandoned me in the cemetery, so that's why I went to see him." "Charlotte! Since when did we start keeping secrets from each other?"

Of course Mango knew that Charlotte was lying.

She knew Charlotte better than anyone else, so she was well-versed with Charlotte's temperament.

Hence, Charlotte would never meet Walter recklessly, even if she wanted revenge on him for what he did previously.

Alas, Charlotte had already decided that she would not say explain further about it, which made Mango feel helpless.

"I know that you have your own grievances, so I won't force you to tell me. However, you have to slowly work your way through what happened, okay? I know that it's hard, but you still have to persevere no matter what."

"Don't worry, I won't end my life over something like this. Although I'm an orphan, fate has allowed me to live my life, so I will definitely appreciate it."

Then, Charlotte smiled, but Mango's heart ached terribly when she saw the pain in Charlotte's eyes.

After that, Mango patted her shoulder and said, "I won't make you tell me if you don't want to, but don't hesitate to ask me for help. Even though Nathan and I aren't the heads of the Ye Family anymore, we can still help you."

"I know, I'll definitely ask you guys if I need it. Don't worry. You know, I think I might have frightened Rita earlier when I came home, so you should go spend sometime with her."

Conversely, Mango shook her head at Charlotte and said, "Nathan's spending time with the children, so I'm not worried about them. Right now, the person I'm most worried about is you, got it?"

"I finally know why you insisted on staying together with Nathaniel despite having been through so much."

Truth be told, Charlotte's words surprised Mango.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, really. I've always thought that I would never find a pure and sincere love in my life, but ever since I got together with Thomas, I realised that there were still good men in this world. Ever since I fell for him, I was no longer attracted to anyone else regardless of how much better they were. Apparently, there's no more room in your heart for anyone else after you fall for someone."

Charlotte's eyes started to fill with tears once more.

Meanwhile, Mango felt uncomfortable as she watched her friend's heartbreaking expression.

"Thomas isn't a shallow man. He won't give you up just because of what happened to you."

"But that's unfair to him, isn't it? Why should a perfect man like him accept me?"

In the end, Charlotte still couldn't get past her psychological barrier.

Then, Mango consoled her in a gentle voice, "There are plenty of obstacles in life, and both of you are meant to spend the rest of your lives together. If you can't get past this, how will you navigate the rest of your marriage?"

"It's not the same, Mango. Our situations are different."

With that, Charlotte mood worsened once more.

Despite Mango's best efforts at consoling Charlotte, it wasn't very effective. Frankly, it wasn't easy to comfort someone who had gone through the things that Charlotte had endured.

Then, Mango sighed when she saw that Charlotte was a little worn out and she said, "Go and take a nap. Everything will be better after that. Don't worry, Thomas will never let what happened get out, nor will Walter's friends breathe a word of this. Just treat whatever that happened today as a bad dream, and you'll be good as new once you wake up."

Mango's words reassured Charlotte somewhat.

In fact, she still believed in the Ye Family's power and influence.

Hence, it wasn't difficult for the Ye Family to make sure this incident wouldn't be leaked to the public.

Moreover, she was indeed exhausted from crying and she fell asleep, albeit fitfully, in Mango's arms.

Then, Mango covered Charlotte with a blanket, but she didn't dare to leave Charlotte alone.

Only when Thomas returned did Mango transfer Charlotte into his arms.

"She hasn't been asleep for long. Unfortunately, she's still traumatised by the incident, so I'm afraid she won't be able to accept you into her life anytime soon." Mango didn't want them to split up, so she explained briefly to Thomas.

Then, Thomas looked at Charlotte's eyes, which were puffy and red from crying, before he muttered, "I understand. Don't worry, Mrs. Ye, I won't marry anyone else." "Do you feel forced into this?"

"If anything, she should be the one feeling that way."

Next, Thomas tucked a lock of Charlotte's hair behind her ear with a heartbroken look on his face.

On the other hand, Mango was relieved to see him like this.

"Take good care of Charlotte. Although she might not be able to accept you anytime soon, don't give up on her if you're really sincere about spending the rest of your life with her. If you can't accept what happened today, I'd advise you to leave Charlotte immediately, for both of your sakes."

Mango didn't want Thomas to feel tied down because of what happened today and he shouldn't need to pay for someone else's mistake.

What Charlotte said was right. More often than not, no one can use morals grounds to force a man into taking responsibility, especially when he was a very successful individual.

However, Thomas shook his head and said, "I love her. Although we haven't spent much time together, I love her anyway. No other woman has made me feel this way before. I'm anxious when I can't see her, and I feel overjoyed when she's happy. Whenever she's mad, I can't help but feel like I want to beat up whoever's pissed her off. This is the first time that I've felt as if my heart isn't just my own, and now my emotions are tied to another person. I used to be confused as to why Mr. Ye couldn't get you off his mind, but I finally understand, now that I've fallen in love with Charlotte. There really is something called destiny in this world, and mine is intertwined with hers. So, it's not up to her to quit right now."

Then, Thomas gazed at Charlotte with a deep affection in his eyes.

Of course, Mango also knew the feeling of falling in love at first sight.

Perhaps this was Thomas and Charlotte's fate.

Thus, Mango didn't say anything to Thomas after that.

"I'm going to check on the children and Nathan."

After that, Mango decided to leave so that she wouldn't bother them.

However, Thomas didn't seem to have heard whatever Mango had said as he was so caught up with his feelings for Charlotte. Right now, the only person that mattered to him was her.

Then, Mango silently retreated from the room only to find that Nathaniel was on the sofa, and he was waiting for her with a cup of warm milk.

"Have some of this. You must be tired after being on your feet the whole morning."

After that, Nathaniel passed the cup of milk into Mango's hands.

Then, Mango asked with worry in her voice, "About the children..." "Mom and dad are looking after them, so they're fine. Rita did ask about Charlotte, but I just told her that Auntie Blu was sick and she needs to rest peacefully for a few days. Rita didn't ask anything else after that, and Zion's there with her. Everything will be fine, don't worry."

Nathaniel knew that Mango was worried about the children, so he quickly explained to her.

Finally, Mango's mind was at ease.

After that, she leaned into Nathaniel's body and sighed, "Why do you think everyone's journey through life is so hard?"

"It's never easy to navigate through life. As long as a couple is willing to work together, there is no storm that they can't weather."

Nathaniel replied faintly.

Then, Mango nodded and said, "Do you think that our two babies will face such hardships in the future?"

"It doesn't matter how many ups and downs that brat Zion faces. He's a man, so he should learn how to take responsibility. As for Rita, I would never allow anyone to hurt her. My daughter can hurt someone else, but I won't forgive anyone breaks her heart!"

"How can you even call yourself a father?"

Mango felt that Nathaniel doted on his daughter way too much.

Honestly, she was actually somewhat jealous of it.

However, Nathaniel said with a smile, "If I don't love our daughter, who will?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Right now, Mango felt that Nathaniel was completely focused on their family. Although she had said that earlier, she was still very happy about it.

"Go and take a nap, you've worn yourself out today. How about I rest with you?"

In fact, Nathaniel cared not whether Mango agreed or disagreed as he carried her directly into the bedroom.

"But it's almost lunch time."

Mango felt that it wasn't the best idea to take a nap with Nathaniel right now in the middle of the day. Although they wouldn't be able to do anything remotely suggestive, she was still slightly embarrassed. However, Nathaniel didn't seem to care at all as he replied, "We still have some time. Let's rest first and wait until lunch is ready. Be quiet and sleep."

As he spoke, he put Mango down onto the bed.

Truth be told, Mango had already gotten used to Nathaniel being so overbearing towards her, and she even felt the faint sense of bliss surrounding her.

Then, Mango gradually fell into a deep sleep as Nathaniel's scent lingered around her.

Because of what happened to Newell and Charlotte, Nathaniel forbade Mango from leaving the house over the next few days. Although he said that it was because of her incomplete confinement period, Mango knew the real reason behind his actions.

Nevertheless, Mango didn't object and she spent her days playing with the children inside the villa.

Meanwhile, Charlotte still refused to accept Thomas and both of them bickered every day. Furthermore, Rita and Zion seemed to be busy with something, but they mysteriously kept it from Mango. This caused her to be quite curious, but her quick-witted son managed to evade her attempts at finding out each time.

Ultimately, she couldn't do much other than have Nathaniel pester her every day about her well-being.

In fact, Mango thought that her peaceful days would last this time. However, a sudden phone call shattered their temporary bliss.