The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Nathaniel felt as if every fiber in his body had lost control as they panicked along with him.

He hoped so much that Mango would recognize him. He even wanted to reunite with her on the spot and bring her home. However, what Madam Ye had done to her and Madam Hans' death had caused Nathaniel's confidence to shrink, and he didn't want to alarm Mango.

If Mango left again this time, would he still be able to find her?

Nathaniel didn't know the answer.

As seconds passed, he could feel Mango walking towards him, closing the gap between them. She was getting so near that he could feel her heartbeat.

Nathaniel took a deep breath and tried his best to suppress his emotions of wanting to reunite with Mango. Then, he stood up abruptly, careful to not face her and left some money on the counter before leaving without raising his head.

Mango was only a few steps away from Nathaniel, but he had suddenly stood up and left.

Looking at Nathaniel's back as he left, she had really wanted to rush up to him. However, it was just a thought in her mind as her legs stayed in place, heavy as lead.

"Mango, do you know him?"

Coming up from behind, Denver asked curiously.

Mango shook her head.

It couldn't be Nathaniel!

Then, she turned and walked towards the car absent-mindedly.

Seeing her like this, Denver didn't dare ask about it further. He quickly followed and got into the car with Mango.

Soon, they reached the Blu family's house.

When Rainie saw them, she asked quickly, "Where have you two been?"

"We went to Pixelpoly Group to get Mango's salary. They made a mistake on the amount."

Denver explained quickly.

Rainie looked at Mango and realized that she seemed to be in a daze.

"Denver, did something happen to Mango?"

"I'm not sure. Mango wanted to treat me to dinner. We were at a diner and she saw a man she might know. She wanted to have a look and went up to him. But the man got up and left, and then she became like this."

Rainie's brows knotted tightly together as she heard Denver's words.

"What did that man look like?"

"I don't know. I didn't see his face."

Rainie's frown deepened.

She turned to Mango and asked, "Mango, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm just tired. Where's Wisdom?"

Mango spoke in sign language.

Rainie said softly, "He's in the room. He just fell asleep."

"I'm going to check up on him."

After that, Mango walked towards Wisdom's room.

Inside, Wisdom was sleeping soundly.

After coming to the Blu family's house, Wisdom's mood had become much better although he still liked to keep to himself. Furthermore, he had also warmed to spending time with Denver.

Mango went to sit beside him. Looking at his face which resembled Nathaniel's, Mango's heart ached all over again.

She thought that she had succeeded in forgetting him, but today, a familiar figure had dug out her half-buried feelings.

It turned out that it was heart-achingly difficult to forget someone you loved entirely.

She gently picked up Wisdom's hand.

At this, Wisdom opened his eyes abruptly and looked at Mango.

Mango smiled apologetically and made a sign to Wisdom that meant 'sorry1.

Then, Wisdom got up and climbed into her arms. He found a comfortable position and laid down with his hands tightly holding onto Mango's own.

Mango's heart softened instantly.

Rita used to be like this as well. As for Zion, he rarely relied on herself like this.

Mango forced herself not to think about Zion and Rita. But now, because of Wisdom's actions, she thought of her children once again.

After changing her phone and social media accounts, she didn't know whether if Rita and Zion had contacted her, let alone if Nathaniel had remarried or not.

She forced herself not to think and ask about anything regarding Nathaniel. She was afraid that she could not bear it. But today, her yearning seemed to increase, and the hole in her chest was getting bigger, and sealing it now seemed impossible.

She missed Nathaniel, Zion, and Rita very terribly, but she couldn't go back!

Mango hugged Wisdom tightly. She felt that this was the only way to remind herself that she was still alive.

Sometimes, merely existing could be painful too.

Wisdom slowly went to sleep again in Mango's embrace.

It was only now that Mango remembered that she had wanted to buy Wisdom a small gift today. However, seeing that familiar figure today made her completely forget about it.

She sighed before she put Wisdom down and pulled the blanket over him. After that, she left the Blu family home alone to the largest mall in town.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel had been following Mango silently. He watched her enter the Blu family home, and she was out and about once again. Then, he trailed behind closely as she went to the mall.

Soon, Mango came to the toy department.

She hadn't bought toys in a very long time.

Zion had never wanted to play with toys that a four-year-old child would like. On the other hand, Rita liked them, but she was only particularly fond of Barbie dolls. Mango really didn't know what she should buy for Wisdom.

When the sales assistant saw Mango walking over, she greeted Mango enthusiastically.

"Welcome, Miss, is there a toy you're looking for in particular?"

Mango looked at the salesperson and panicked.

She didn't know how to express herself. After all, only a few people could understand sign language, and this was why she didn't like to go out.

Usually, she was accompanied by Denver, so she hadn't thought about it that much. All she needed to do was to stand there quietly. Now that she was all alone, looking into the sales assistant's hopeful eyes, Mango could only open her mouth but she could not say anything.

She tried to express herself by using sign language, but the salesperson couldn't understand.

After realizing that Mango couldn't speak, the sales assistant's attitude took a sharp turn.

"Tsk, so you can't speak! Why would you still come out shopping if you're mute! If you want to buy something, have a look yourself. Just bring it over to the cashier once you're done. Ugh, what bad luck."

The salesperson thought that a mute person must be deaf too. Since Mango was mute, she thought that Mango definitely wouldn't be able to hear what she had said. Thus, she spoke freely without caring in the slightest.

Mango's expression suddenly changed as she heard those nasty words.

It wasn't that Mango hadn't thought of being humiliated in public like this. However, after experiencing it for real, she still felt as if she had been slapped in front of thousands of people. The feeling of embarrassment simply couldn't be put into words.

"Emory, why didn't you attend to her? You haven't been doing very well this month, and someone came to look for a toy today. Why are you back so soon?"

The other sales assistants were confused, so they couldn't help but ask when they saw Emory come back.

Emory laughed mockingly and said, "She's mute. I don't think she's able to afford a toy. The way she dressed fooled me, though. At first, I thought she was rich, but now looking at her, she's probably wearing fakes. Some women just wanna look rich so badly."

Emory proclaimed her own speculations loudly to the other sales assistants around her, completely ignoring Mango's feelings.

Mango suddenly felt extremely unhappy.

It was as if she had just been stripped bare, and this was the first time she had seen such gazes that mock and laugh at her cruelly.

She told herself that it was not a big deal. In fact, she might have to continue to bear such heartless mockery for the rest of her life, but still, the pain in her chest was hard to bear.

She was glad that she had left Ocean City and the Ye Family. Otherwise, how much mockery would Zion and Rita have to endure because of her?

Mango's hands clasped tightly together.

She told herself not to pay any attention to the eyes and words of others. She acted as if she couldn't hear any of them, but every single word uttered by Emory and the others still reached Mango's ears. This place had become suffocating to her, and all she wanted was to escape.

She turned her head quickly and walked towards the ladies' room, but without her realizing, her steps became increasingly quickly...

Meanwhile, Nathaniel's gaze darkened when he saw this.

He hadn't expected that his wife would be bullied by a salesperson!

If this had happened in the past, Mango would definitely not have swallowed her anger and let the salesperson get away with this. But now, she had actually turned and left just like that.

Nathaniel's heart ached terribly.

Then, he took out his phone and called Thomas.

"Immediately acquire the Carnucopia Mall."

"The Carnucopia Mall?"

Thomas was surprised at this sudden request.

The mail's revenue had always been good, and the owner had no intention of selling it. He didn't know why Nathaniel wanted to acquire the Carnucopia Mall.

"Mr. Ye, what's wrong with the mall?"

"The staff here has bullied Mango. Acquire the Carnucopia Mall and put it under Mango's name."

After saying that, Nathaniel hung up the phone.

Thomas was truly exasperated.

It was not an easy matter to acquire such a wellmanaged mall. However, according to Nathaniel's words, he needed Mango to be the head of Carnucopia Mall as soon as possible.

Thomas sighed as he accepted his fate, so he went to work immediately.

Meanwhile, Mango had run into the ladies' room.

Nathaniel wasn't able to follow her in, so he could not help but worry about Mango.

Just then, a lady was about to enter the bathroom.

Nathaniel quickly stopped her.

"Miss, could you do me a favor?"

Nathaniel was very handsome and he dressed well too. The lady stopped in her tracks without hesitation.

"Hi, handsome. What's the matter?"

"Well, one of my friends is in a bad mood in there. She temporarily lost her speech because of an accident and was bullied just now. I'm worried that she may cry. Could you go in and help me take a look? Maybe comfort her as well? Of course, don't tell her that I asked you to do it. Just say that you saw what happened and went in to comfort her. Here's a thousand dollars, to express my gratitude."

Nathaniel took some cash out of his wallet as he spoke.

Naturally, the lady was willing to help when she saw that pile of cash.

She happily accepted the money and said with a smile, "Is the girl inside your girlfriend?"

"She is my wife."

The lady was stunned by Nathaniel's words briefly, but she didn't ask anything else.

After the lady entered the bathroom, she didn't see anyone crying. Inside, Mango was the only one standing in front of the sink, and she was washing her hands.

Her head was lowered and the lady couldn't see her face clearly. So, she didn't know if Mango was crying or not.

The woman walked over quickly and asked, "Hi! Was it you who got bullied just now?"

Mango raised her head abruptly. The shocked expression in her eyes had let the lady know that she had guessed correctly.

Then, she said with a smile, "Life is tough, huh? Why should we care about other people's opinions, right? As long as you think you're capable, you don't have to care about what others are saying. Oh, I don't really know how to comfort people. Anyway, don't be sad."

Mango felt that what the lady in front of her said was a little strange.

She wanted to ask the lady what had she meant. After all, they didn't know each other. But before she could say anything, she saw the lady open her purse and look at the money inside with a pleased

expression.

Mango glanced briefly. There must be at least a

thousand dollars in that stack of cash.

Could it be that someone gave the lady money to comfort her?

Mango became wary immediately. She quickly opened the ladies' room door and looked outside.