The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

"What's wrong? Are you guys afraid?"

Mango looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"Just do as you're told. Stop with all your nonsense!"

One of the bodyguards was enraged and he subsequently pushed Mango straight into the room.

A cold wind suddenly blew right against her face.

Mango couldn't help but shiver.

It was freezing cold.

Was this a freezer perhaps?

She looked around, but she couldn't see anything clearly. Although it was daytime now, the room was terribly dark.

Mango stretched out her hand and fumbled along the wall. When she felt the switch on the wall, she quickly turned on the light. At the same time, the door was closed and locked up from the outside. Mango was a little afraid, but she still put up a brave front and glanced around the room.

The whole room was designed as a mourning hall. Marissa's photo was hung on the head of the bed, and her body was placed on the bed.

The windows were tightly shut and they were even covered with a black curtain. The room must've been equipped with cooling facilities to preserve Marissa's dead body.

Mango was quite brave, and she felt that Marissa's corpse wouldn't harm her anyways. After all, they were considered acquaintances and they were never enemies.

After that, she walked slowly towards Marissa's bed. When she saw Marissa's face, she was shocked and she almost passed out on the ground.

Marissa's face was besmeared with blood and it was ghastly pale. It was obvious that she died of poisoning.

But didn't Desmond say that Marissa had passed away because of her disease?

And if she was poisoned, wouldn't Desmond be able to save her using his own blood? Why did he invite Bettany over instead?

Mango couldn't figure it out.

She gulped nervously and gently reached out to hold Marissa's hand.

Marissa's body had already stiffened. Due to the cold temperature, her remains were still intact and in good condition. However, Mango felt that this was the greatest insult to Marissa. Perhaps Isla was involved in Marissa's poisoning?

Mango couldn't figure it out, and she didn't have the time nor the chance to ask.

"Marissa, I didn't expect that we would bid a farewell to each other in the Underground City. Don't worry. I promise that justice is served on behalf of all your grievances. And I will definitely save Desmond so that you can leave this world peacefully."

Mango spoke in a soft voice.

She knew that there would be a hidden device somewhere in the room to monitor her. However, she believed that even Isla couldn't eavesdrop on her words as she whispered them in a low voice. All the necessities were present in the room, but everything belonged to Marissa.

It seemed that Isla was really planning to let her replace Marissa and become a member of the Fang family. Thereafter, Mango was forced to marry Abyss Tang.

Isla was undeniably cruel if she really planned all of this five years ago.

Mango was still the daughter-in-law of the Ye Family back then. At that time, Isla did not intend to let her stay in the Ye Family.

If it wasn't for the fact that Mango came back to find Nathaniel because of Rita, she couldn't imagine what would happen to her right now and she would probably become Isla s puppet.

However, Marissa was the child of the Fang family. Why would she be thrown away like a piece of trash?

Perhaps Marissa's mother could give an answer to this, but it seemed that it was impossible to do that right now.

Due to the cold air from the air conditioner, Mango felt as if she was about to freeze to death.

She kept rubbing her arms as she looked around. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore, so she went to Marissa's closet to find a coat and put it on.

After that, she sat on the carpet and looked around at the magnificent room while she thought about Marissa's fate. She couldn't help but feel a little emotional and sorry for the latter.

Meanwhile, the servants outside were surprised that Mango didn't scream or shout after she was thrown into the room. At the same time, they also admired her courage. Then, one of them approached the door and knocked on it, "Hey, are you still alive?"

Mango gave a faint laugh and replied, "Do you want to come in and take a look?"

"Nope, take care. A ghost might appear in the middle of the night. Good luck."

After that, the people outside turned silent in an instant.

Ghost?

Mango sneered. The living was even more terrifying than ghosts. If this place was really haunted, perhaps she could find out the truth behind Marissa's death.

Time passed by gradually.

Mango was starting to feel a little tired.

She leaned over Marissa's bedside and fell asleep in a daze.

She could feel someone stroking her hair in her sleep and the touch was exceptionally gentle.

Mango couldn't help but think of his mother, Queena Xiao. After such a long time, she wondered if her mother was doing well. Besides, there wasn't any news coming from Merle's side, which made her relatively worried.

"Mom..."

She murmured unconsciously before she slowly fell asleep again.

Mango woke up the next morning. Although the room was still dark, there was still a glimmer of light shining through the window.

Mango took a glance at Marissa and the latter still looked the same as last night. It seemed that it was really a dream.

She went to the bathroom to wash up before she waited for Isla to come to her.

However, Mrs. Fang was the first one to come.

When she entered the room, she saw Mango sitting next to Marissa's bed while her daughter's position remained the same. Only then did Mrs. Fang's expression become much better. "Don't lay your hands on my daughter, do you understand? You are just a substitute, and you will never be my daughter in this life! I have only one daughter, and that's Marissa!"

Mrs. Fang's eyes were red and swollen. It seemed that she had been crying her eyes out the entire night. Perhaps she never had a good sleep since Marissa passed away. "Don't you think that Marissa will blame you? You are a mother, but you failed at protecting your own child."

Mrs. Fang paused for a moment when she heard this before she said, "What do you know about it? Isla has the final say in the household! She's the matriarch of our family!"

"And you're willing to sacrifice your daughter for the sake of that? You and I both know that

Marissa didn't die of disease. As a mother, don't you want your daughter to rest in peace?"

Mango's words made Mrs. Fang cry out tearfully.

"Of course I do! She's my daughter! I gave birth to her! Of course, I wish to see her grow up happily. But she is lying there and she can't listen to my voice anymore. I really hope that I'm the one who died instead."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Admit it, you just stood by and watched Isla kill her. I really don't get it, what did Isla do that made you willing to give up your daughter's life?"

"Why? Isn't it because the lives of our family are in her hands? Where else can we go? We were born in the Fang family. The rules state that we have to obey Islas words. Although my husband is a professor, he is nothing in front of Isla. We can't bear to lose our daughter, but the lives of all the other family members were at stake. We are helpless. We also thought about seeking ways to avoid this tragedy. We even invited Bettany over, but she eventually ran away out of fear for Isla. Who else can we depend on? How are we supposed to choose between the lives of so many people and our daughter?"

Mrs. Fang was already crying her heart out when she said this.

Upon hearing this, Mango suddenly thought of something and her face turned a little pale.

"Tell me, both of you killed Marissa with your own hands!"

She looked straight at Mrs. Fang.

And because of that, Mrs. Fang trembled in fear.

"We didn't mean to do it. But if we didn't, Isla will find someone else to kill her and she will suffer even more!"

"Is that what parents are supposed to do? You guys are cruel and inhuman! Marissa trusted you so much. How can you do this?"

Mango was shocked.

She always thought that Isla was the one who killed Marissa, but she didn't expect that it was Professor Fang and his wife.

Mrs. Fang fell to the ground and she sobbed uncontrollably. She cried and said while she looked at Marissa's corpse, "We didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean? You gave birth to her, yet you ended her life so cruelly. You are merciless!"

"I didn't mean to, but Marissa was already weak and sick. She was born with disabilities. If it weren't for Desmond's blood, she might have died long ago! Desmond was the experiment object we made to extend Marissa's life. If we didn't have him, she would have been executed shortly after she was born. We have been taking care of her for so many years, but I didn't expect that she would die in the end." Upon hearing Mrs. Fang's words, Mango's brows knitted together.

"Wait a minute. You said that Desmond appeared to save Marissa's life. So what was Marissa's illness?"

"It's a rare disease. When she was born, the doctor said that she couldn't live past three. But with Desmond's blood, she lived till her twenties. However, she should not have fallen in love with him. Isla had arranged her marriage five years ago, but Marissa has been aggressively opposing it this year. She even wanted to run away from home to be with him, which caused a great disaster. If one disobeyed the family's instructions, they would only end up dead. When we learned that Isla had found you as her substitute five years ago, we really hoped that you could die instead of Marissa!"

There was a hint of madness in Mrs. Fang's eyes and Mango felt she had gone insane.

Perhaps it was because she had stayed in such a family for too long, and she had been suppressing herself all this time.

"At that time, I didn't know anything and I was set up by you guys. How could you do this to me? I despised you and your entire family, except for Marissa!"

"Do you think that we are all like you? If it weren't for you, Marissa might not have died! You're the one who killed her indirectly, but you're marrying Abyss in her place. Mango, do you think you can leave this place alive? Even if you marry into the Tang family, you will still end up with the same fate as Marissa! Otherwise, how can Marissa pass away in peace?"

Upon hearing Mrs. Fang's words, Mango immediately understood. No matter what kind of schemes she had up her sleeve, Isla had never intended to let her off!