The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

As expected, the robotic tone asking the caller to leave a message reached her ears. Even so, Mango felt like she'd gone into a trance.

Nathaniel had been on plenty of business trips in the past, and she'd never been this weak without his presence. So, what was happening to her now?

Then, Mango put down the landline and she looked over at her mobile phone. She had used the landline to call Nathaniel, but looking at her mobile caused her to think of the Hans family's torrid affairs which made her irritated.

Ultimately, she decided to just toss her phone far away and Mango snuggled under the covers for more sleep.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Shen was concerned when she saw Mango locking herself up in the room. However, Mr. Shen stopped her when she was about to head upstairs to speak to Mango.

"Our daughter is an adult, and she can handle things by herself. Don't add up her worries."

"I'm just wondering if Nathan is coming for dinner tonight. I'd like to prepare the food for all of us."

Mrs. Shen found a good excuse for herself.

Then, Mr. Shen looked at the tightly shut door and he said, "Let her rest. She hasn't gotten any of it over the past few days, plus you can prepare the food once Nathan arrives. It's not like our larders are empty None of us know what Mango's been through on the outside, and our daughter loves us enough to refrain from telling us what happened with the Hans family. If we hadn't asked around, we would have never known what was going on."

"Ugh, the Hans family is truly something. First, they try to take Mango away from us, and now Madam Hans abuses her. I wonder what the hell is wrong with that old woman. Has she gone senile? Even if I were her age, I would never treat Mango like that."

Heartache wracked Mrs. Shen's body as she thought of what happened to Mango.

"Enough, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Let's go and make something nice for Mango to eat when she wakes up. Just look at how much weight she's lost."

Mr. Shen's words caused Mrs. Shen to sigh deeply before she walked towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Mango had no idea how worried her parents were for her as her stomach ached terribly after a short sleep. Then, she crawled over to the water bottle to have some hot water but found none. Alas, she had no choice but to head downstairs.

Meanwhile, Rita was still asleep while Mr. Shen was in the study. On the other hand, her mother was slaving away in the kitchen.

Thus, Mango couldn't help but form a smile on her lips at the sight of her blissful family.

"What's cooking, Mom?"

Then, Mango entered the kitchen and she started a conversation with her mother.

On the other hand, Mrs. Shen spotted Mango's gray pallor immediately and she asked, "What's wrong? Why do you look so ill?"

"Everything's fine, I just have some period cramps."

Mango's words did not help assuage Mrs. Shen's worries.

"Is this your first period after your miscarriage?"

"Yeah."

"Hurry up and go back to bed. I'll make you some tea, alright? We have to deal with this carefully. If you're still not feeling better after a while, make sure to tell me or your father. We'll go to the hospital and get it checked out."

Clearly, Mrs. Shen was very worried.

"It's fine, Mom. I'm not that fragile. I was just a little thirsty so I came down to have some water."

In truth, Mango's stomach ached terribly, but she had to say she was fine for the sake of Mrs. Shen.

"You really should take better care of yourself. Oh, is Nathan coming back for dinner? Have you told him about it?"

Then, Mango's heart skipped a beat upon hearing Nathaniel's name.

"Um, he went off on a business trip. The venture capital companies overseas have some urgent matter he has to tend to, so he left. Unfortunately, he can't make it for dinner."

"A business trip, you say?"

Mrs. Shen's eyebrows furrowed together deeply in a frown.

"Why would he be on a business trip now?"

"Mom, company emergencies don't wait around until it's convenient for you! If he isn't here to eat your food, then I'll eat it, okay?" Next, Mango looped her arm through Mrs. Shen coyly and it was as if she was transported back to the time Mango was a little girl.

Mrs. Shen's heart softened into a squishy puddle when she saw Mango acting like this.

"Ah, you know exactly how to please me. Hurry on back to your room and rest, I'll bring the tea up to you once it's done. Your body can't be mistreated like it was before, and you can't touch anything cold. You're confined to bed rest for the next few days, okay? Don't think about anything else."

It was obvious that Mrs. Shen was deeply distressed over her daughter.

"I got it, Mom. It's just my period, and yet you're looking at me as if I have some terminal illness. You're going to end up scaring someone to death."

Mango's callous speech made Mrs. Shen hurriedly dismiss her.

"Ugh, children these days will say just about anything. Your father and I only want the best for you, alright? Go back and rest, and stop worrying about Rita. She'll be fine with the both of us here." "Alright, fine! I'll head back and rest."

Hence, Mango failed to fend off her mother's incessant nagging and she walked back upstairs.

Alas, strange dizziness overwhelmed her as she reached the top of the stairs, and her entire being felt weak.

Rarely did she ever have such a high flow for her period, and perhaps the miscarriage added to her discomfort.

Then, Mango headed for the bathroom and she turned on her phone. She fully intended on calling Rainie to ask if she could ask a doctor for advice.

Mango was adamant to not let her parents worry about her.

As soon as her phone turned on, it chimed with a text from Terrance.

He informed her that Andrea had drugged Madam Hans, and she was currently in the Hans family's custody. Furthermore, he told her that Andrea had never kidnapped Rita, so he was worried about the little girl's wellbeing. Finally, he told Mango that Madam Hans was unwell and that the old lady wanted to see her before she left for the rehabilitation center.

Mango hesitated as she perused the messages before answering, "Oh, alright. I hope that Madam Hans recovers soon."

As soon as Terrance received the message, he knew that Mango wouldn't be coming at all.

Although she didn't state it explicitly, it was obvious for all to see that she wasn't coming.

Meanwhile, Madam Hans had waited a long time to see Mango, and every minute was like torture for her. Everything she'd done to Mango replayed in her head, and frankly speaking, all of her actions were unforgivable, which shook her confidence.

Thus, she gazed up at Terrance like an expectant puppy when the message chime on his phone went off. It was clear that she expected good news, but she knew that it wasn't when she saw Terrance's expression.

"Is she not coming?"

"Mom, let's head over to the rehabilitation center. We can't wait any longer to treat you. Furthermore, Mango needs time to adjust to what happened."

Terrance was very careful with his words to Madam Hans as she was very old. Perhaps it was better to leave a ray of hope for her.

However, Madam Hans was a very perceptive person and she chuckled bitterly before saying, "There's no need for you to comfort me, I know I did a lot of despicable things. Truth be told, I wouldn't even forgive myself, let alone Mango. I don't think we could ever be a family again in this lifetime."

"Mom..."

However, Madam Hans waved her hand and she replied, "There's no need for you to say anything else. I know I screwed up, and I have to pay the price for what happened. This entire situation was my doing alone, and I neglected her in favor of an outsider when she needed our love and support. Not only did I not help her, but I also hurt her deeply. I must have gone senile, and I personally shoved her out of this family. It's too late now, and I only hope for good things in the future."

"All right, Mom. I understand."

At this point, Madam Hans finally understood everything that was going on.

"Terrance, make sure you help Mango find Rita. That little girl is everything to her. She's already lost one child because of me, and I won't be the reason she loses another. Hence, I'm handing over everything in the Hans family to you, but you need to promise me you'll keep Mango's part of the inheritance for her. If the Ye family refuses to forgive us, then tell them that we're willingly giving everything the Hans family owns to her."

Madam Hans's words sounded emotional and raw to Terrance.

Then, he hurriedly nodded his head in reply.

"Well, I'm exhausted. I'm going to rest before we head over to the rehabilitation center. In fact, I want to pray in the ancestral hall. I need to repent for what I did as I've brought shame to the Hans family." At that moment, all the spirit seemed to drain out of Madam Hans and she looked extremely pitiful.

Then, Terrance had someone push Madam Hans into the house. However, he refused to give up on contacting Mango but her line was always engaged.

"Mr. Hans, perhaps Miss Shen really doesn't want to pick up the phone."

The servants beside Terrance conveyed Mango's exact thoughts to him.

After that, Terrance looked over at Madam Hans's tightly shut door and he replied, "Take care of my mother for me. I'm going to go over to the Ye's Mansion."

Next, he left the Hans family mansion with a few of his men.

Terrance knew that he was coercing Mango into meeting him, but his mother was old and no one knew if she would survive the stint at the rehabilitation center. Honestly, this could be the last time for Mango to meet Madam Hans.

Despite all that happened, Terrance didn't want Madam Hans to leave this world with regrets.

He hurried over to the Ye's Mansion, but Terrance received word that Mango wasn't there.

More of the same happened when he arrived at the Ye family's seaside villa.

In the end, Terrance finally found out that Mango had gone to the Shen family and he quickly drove there.

When he arrived at the house, Terrance ran into Rainie and the director of the military hospital, Genevieve Bay, who he'd met earlier.

A crushing sensation clamped around Terrance's heart.

"What's wrong? Did someone fall ill? Why is Director Bay here?"

Genevieve was Noah's wife, and she hadn't been out seeing patients for a long time. Noah loved and cherished her so much that he was willing to take on most of her workload, so her sudden appearance here shocked Terrance.

When Rainie spotted Terrance, she quickly stopped in front of Genevieve and she asked,

"Mr. Hans, what are you doing here?"

Meanwhile, Terrance was somewhat familiar with who Rainie was. With her unpleasant expression, Rainie was clearly defending Mango.

Then, he replied calmly, "I need to discuss something with Mango."

"Sorry, but Mango has nothing to do with the Hans family anymore. Now that Nathaniel is out on a business trip, it's better if you don't harass Mango at all."

Rainie's words astonished Terrance.

"Nathaniel's gone on a business trip at this time? How is that possible?"