The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

As if the phone could sense his worries, Nathaniel's phone suddenly rang.

He subconsciously glanced at his phone and it was the Shen family's phone number. Anticipation and fear flooded his heart.

Was Mango calling?

How was he going to answer if she asked where he was?

Then, Nathaniel quickly retrieved his laptop and he pretended to be busy. Furthermore, he even turned on the recording on his computer before taking a deep breath to answer the call.

"Hello?"

There was a slight tremor and a cautious tone to Nathaniel's voice as he spoke.

"Daddy!"

Rita's sweet voice rang out, which disappointed Nathaniel a little. Nevertheless, he still laughed before saying, "How are you, honey? Do you miss Daddy?"

"Yeah, Mommy told me that you'd gone abroad. Didn't you promise to take us overseas with you? Why did you leave without us? You're going back on your word, Daddy."

Rita sounded like she was complaining as she spoke.

Then, Nathaniel teared up as he laughed in reply.

If possible, he would never have left the country. Alas, he couldn't say any of this to his daughter.

"I left because I had something urgent to handle, but I'll be back soon okay? After that, I promise to take all of you out on a vacation."

"Daddy's a liar! You said that before, and you never fulfilled your promise. You're a liar and a cheat!"

Obviously, Rita wasn't having any of Nathaniel's explanation at the moment.

At the same time, Nathaniel felt extremely helpless.

"All right, all right, it's all my fault. I'm sorry okay? Are you being a good girl over at your grandmother's house?"

"Of course, I've been a very good girl. I didn't even bother Mommy after she fell sick."

Rita replied in a very sensible manner.

"Is Mommy ill?"

"Yeah, there was a woman in a big white coat that came to our house and she gave Mommy an IV drip. Auntie Blu is also here taking care of Mommy. Plus, Grandma told me that Mommy is sick and that I shouldn't bother her. Daddy, do you think Mommy's caught a cold? When will you be back? When you're not around, Mommy and I miss you terribly."

Rita's words caused Nathaniel to become concerned.

"Mommy has an IV drip? Did you get a look at it?"

"How could I be wrong? I heard Auntie Blu say that Mommy needs three drips. The doctor lady just left the house, but she said she'll be back soon. Daddy, Mommy looks really pitiful. Her face is pale, and she keeps sleeping all the time."

Nathaniel became anxious when Rita explained what was going on.

"What's Mommy doing now?"

"She should still be resting right now. Plus, Grandma is making something nice to eat. Also, the doctor mentioned something about Mommy's special medical diet. What is that, Daddy? Can I have some? It looks really good."

The foodie in Rita was always interested in eating.

However, Nathaniel's focus was only fixated on the words 'medical diet'.

Didn't Noah say that Mango was just on her period?

Why did she need an IV drip?

Anxiety gnawed away at Nathaniel's heart.

"Rita, I'm going to hang up now if there's nothing else you want to tell me. I'm going to call Mommy now, okay?"

"All right, since Mommy is sick, I'm not gonna monopolise your time."

Rita replied very sensibly before she hung up the phone.

Then, Nathaniel quickly called Mango, but before he could get through he ended the call.

What was he going to say to Mango now?

He couldn't promise her anything right now, nor could he return home at this time. Plus, Nathaniel wasn't sure if he could hold back if he heard Mango's voice.

This was the first time that Nathaniel found it hard to make a phone call.

After a long moment of thought, Nathaniel decided to call Rainie instead.

When Rainie heard the phone ring, she was deeply afraid that it would wake Mango up so she hurriedly took the phone to the balcony before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Rainie, it's me, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel got right to the point.

Then, Rainie was slightly taken aback by his statement and she asked, "Why are you calling me? Aren't you supposed to be calling Mango instead?"

"I heard from Rita that she was asleep, so I didn't want to wake her with the call. What's going on? I heard that she got an IV drip? Is she ill?" Nathaniel's worry was easily conveyed to Rainie over the phone.

When Rainie realized how concerned he was for Mango, she muttered, "Oh, so now you're worried about your wife? If you were truly worried, why did you leave the country then? Is your company that important? Can't someone else replace you? This is a horrible time to choose to go overseas."

Meanwhile, Nathaniel didn't have any defence to offer when faced with Rainie's chastising words.

"What's going on with Mango?"

"It's no big deal, she's just having a heavier flow than normal for her period and her stomach hurts. However, Dr. Bay said that it's just a side effect of her miscarriage, and her body is having an inflammatory response. So, she administered two drips to Mango to stop the inflammation and the bleeding. But to tell you the truth, Mango hasn't been in the best of spirits and she keeps wanting to sleep. In fact, Dr. Bay says that this is caused by how weak she is, and she gave Mrs. Shen some instructions to adjust Mango's diet to help her recover. Either way, I think it's best if you return as soon as possible as she needs you by her side. Although she doesn't say it, I can tell that she really misses you."

So far, Rainie was the second person to tell Nathaniel that Mango missed him.

In the past, Nathaniel didn't know what it was like to miss somebody, but now he knew how heart-wrenching it was. Missing someone caused him to suffer from sleepless nights and lack of appetite. "Please take good care of her for me. After I'm done with my problems here, I'll be back as soon as I can."

Rainie had started off calm, but she couldn't help but raise her voice when she heard Nathaniel's reply.

"Nathaniel, are you out of your mind? I told you that Mango is in a poor mental state, so can't you just drop whatever it is at the company and come home? Is money that important to you? Even if you can't step away, couldn't you ask Thomas to fix it for you while you come home? Mango is as pale as a sheet right now. I've never seen her this weak, and she even needs me to help her to the bathroom. Do you understand how severe this is? Thomas has told me stories of how much you love and care for Mango, but I guess it's all talk. If you cared about Mango, you'll buy a plane ticket and come home now." Rainie's words left Nathaniel no room to argue.

God knew how much he wanted to go home, but alas he could not.

"I promise I'll return home after I've settled my problems over here. Please take care of Mango for me in the meantime."

After that, Nathaniel directly hung up the phone without bothering to listen to what Rainie had to say.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with Nathaniel? He cut the call before I was finished. Is he having an affair? Ugh, how could he say he cares about Mango when he doesn't even bother to come home? What bullsh*t!"

Rainie was so angry that she nearly cursed out loud before she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Who are you yelling at?"

Mango's voice startled Rainie.

"Gosh! Are you a ghost? Why do you walk so silently? Also, what are you doing down here?"

Rainie watched as Mango held the IV drip in her hand as she glanced at her. Then, Rainie quickly stepped forward to take her drip.

However, Mango's gaze remained fixed on her and she asked, "Who was calling you just now? Was it Nathan?"

Meanwhile, Rainie felt apologetic as she looked at Mango's expectant expression.

"There must have been some mistake."

"It was him, right? I saw him calling me, and when I called back the line was engaged. Surely he must be calling you, right? What did he say?" Mango then looked at Rainie anxiously. In fact, she was so anxious that she accidentally pulled on her drip, and blood was drawn out.

"Oh dear! Look at you, you're bleeding. Won't you listen to me when I tell you to go back and rest?"

Rainie had no idea what to do with this version of Mango.

It honestly felt like the Mango from five years ago was staring right back at her.

Thus, Rainie could only hope that Nathaniel wouldn't neglect Mango this time. But she was still angry when she thought of what Nathaniel said to her just now.

"All you ever care about is him, but do you know whether or not he cares about you?"

Rainie replied with some anger in her voice.

After that, Mango obediently returned to bed, but she couldn't help but ask when she saw Rainie so irritated, "What did he say?"

"What else could he say? He asked me to take good care of you, and he said that he'd come home once he'd taken care of everything there. I asked him to replace himself with Thomas and come home, but

he refused. If the Ye family is so rich, why would they care about that measly bit of cash? If he really cares about you, he'd be on the first plane home by now."

Truth be told, Mango was rather disappointed to hear Rainie's complaints.

Nevertheless, she replied in a soft tone, "Perhaps it's not a problem that Thomas can solve." "You're always defending him. What's so serious that Thomas can't solve? He's worked for Nathaniel for so long and he's literally a walking representation of him. I'll say, I have no idea what Nathaniel is doing out there but I think he's hiding something from you."

"No, Nathan isn't like that. Plus, don't you think it's a little bit dramatic for him to come back from overseas just because I have my period?"

Thus, Mango couldn't help but start defending Nathaniel's actions.

Seeing her like this age, Rainie couldn't help but retort, "Look at what you're doing now. You miss him like all hell, so can't you just convince him to come home? The Ye family is comprised of so many members, so I don't believe that he has to do everything by himself. Moreover, I heard that nothing is wrong with the company overseas, so God knows what he's up to out there."

"Ah, stop being ridiculous."

Mango quickly replied to Rainie's statement.

However, Rainie retorted when she saw how stubborn Mango was, "Why not you call your brother-in-law to ask him if something's up?"

"Hey, I trust Nathan, all right? Enough, I know you're upset for my sake, but he would never lie to me."

Just as she was speaking, Mango's phone suddenly rang.

"Look, he's calling me now."

Then, Mango smiled as she picked up the phone. She was excited as she assumed that Nathaniel was calling her, but when Mango saw the number, her excitement turned into disappointment. Instead, it was Nick calling her.

As she spotted the caller ID, Rainie snorted coldly and she couldn't be bothered to say anything else.

At that moment, Mango couldn't continue her argument with Rainie and she decided to pick up the phone.

"Hello, Nick. What's going on?"

Mango tried her best to keep her voice even and steady like before.

However, Nick replied to her question anxiously, "Mango, do you have any idea where my brother is? Why can't I reach him on the phone? I need to see him urgently."

"Didn't he tell you that he went overseas to deal with some company issues?"

Mango was shocked for a moment as she asked him another question.

Next, Nick quickly replied, "Overseas? I don't think so as the venture capital companies aren't having any problems. Earlier, all the executives at the company reported to me and I wanted to consult Nathaniel on our next step. Alas, I can't seem to reach him at all."

With that, Mango's expression shifted instantly.