The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

"I will naturally let you know the things that you should know. However, you shouldn't ask about things that have been deliberately kept from you. You should go back to your room now to focus on your

preparation for the competition."

Brantley was obviously avoiding the question.

The doubt in Mango's heart became even more obvious.

"Is there anything wrong with my mother? Or is she sick? I know Bettany's medical skills very well. She is not a person who would treat anyone. I guess that you used your authority to force her to stay with my mother, right? What happened to my mother? Can you tell me the truth?"

Mango tugged at Brantley's sleeve anxiously. She looked like a child when tears were welling up in her eyes.

Brantley felt very upset in his heart.

"I said, don't ask anything now..."

"I'll die in front of you if you don't tell me. I don't believe that Nathaniel will still be able to play along with you when he finds out that something has happened to me in your place."

Mango's words directly frightened Brantley.

"How dare you?!"

"Why don't you give it a try!"

Mango looked exactly like Queena when she was stubborn.

Brantley's stared at Mango with anger. However, Mango wasn't affected by this.

Brantley was defeated at last.

"It's useless for me to tell you that. You can't go there now."

"You can at least let me know what happened to her, okay? I can even video chat with her!"

Mango felt more and more uneasy.

Brantley sighed and sat down in his chair.

He looked at Mango in front of him and stared at her. Although he knew that her current appearance was not how she looked in the past, her eyes still gave him a sense of familiarity.

"Sit down. I'm afraid that you will be too agitated and you would harm your baby. Hey you, go boil some prenatal medicine for her. We have everything at home."

Brantley didn't call Haniya by her name, but she couldn't have bothered at this moment. She could tell that what Brantley was going to say next would be a huge blow to Mango. "Madam, I..."

Haniya looked at Mango uncertainly.

Mango touched her belly. She knew that it would be difficult for her to listen to Brantley calmly once Queena and her family were involved in this issue.

As she thought of this, she nodded to Haniya and said, "Go ahead. I think I may need some medicine to stabilize my fetus."

"Well, Madam, don't be too agitated. There are some things that can't be determined by humans. It's alright as long as you work hard and have a clear conscience."

Haniya didn't know what to say between them, but it was still possible for her to comfort Mango a little.

Mango's heart felt warm as she gently nodded her head.

Only both Brantley and Mango were left in the room after Haniya left. Mango asked in a low voice, "Grandfather, please don't tell me you're the one who made my mother suffer."

"Alas!

Brantley sighed. Then, he had a pained expression when he looked at Mango and the hope within her eyes, "I didn't do this well." "Does it have anything to do with you?" "Maybe. I objected when your mother fell in love with your father. After all, I was born into a military family. I know what it means when a man enters the battlefield. As a woman, it's too difficult to be with such a man. Your grandmother wouldn't have cheated and she wouldn't have an illegitimate daughter if it weren't for my work. How could I not know the Hans family just because Queena doesn't know? I didn't agree with their relationship. But Queena was just like you at that time. She was very stubborn. She even cut ties with me and left abroad just to be with your father. Later, I thought of getting her back when I learned that your father was a soldier and your mother was heart broken. But your mother's self esteem was too great and she did not think that she did anything wrong. She refused to get along with me again and left the city alone. Later, she gave birth to you and gave you away before she enrolled herself in a foreign university. She never came back and never contacted me again since then. I don't know if it was because of your father's affairs." Mango frowned slightly.

"Are you to be blamed? I don't think you're to blame even if you don't agree to my mom and dad's relationship. After all, you're doing this for my mom's own good."

Looking at Mango, Brantley sighed again and said, "I approached your father without letting your mother know when they were in love. I got him to leave your mother, but he didn't agree to it. I told him that Queena would suffer, and I told him that he was bound to serve in the military and work for the country. Your mother's happiness would only be affected and she will not be happy for the rest of her life if they got together. It only then did your father decide to break up with your mother."

Mango didn't expect that Brantley was also the reason why her parents broke up with each other. However, her father did this out of love for her mother. He must have made such a decision for the sake of her mother to have more choices.

However, Queena might not be able to accept it.

She loved a man with all her heart, but this man broke up with her because of the request of joining the army. Anyway, Mango felt that she couldn't get over this.

"You didn't contact my mother at all after she left? After all, you all are family. It's been so many years..."

"You don't understand your mother. She thinks that I have ruined her happiness. She is not comfortable and unhappy abroad. After getting drunk, she gave birth to another daughter. She might be the only one who understands this pain and she might hate me even more.

Otherwise, why didn't she tell you that I am still alive? Why didn't she tell you that I was in Ocean City? Why didn't she even come back to see me once?"

Brantley gave a bitter smile, but it made Mango feel a little sad.

"Grandpa, my mom will accept it."

"It's up to her. I only have one daughter in my life. I don't care how she lives and how happy she is. But this time, it's not up to her."

When Brantley said this, tears welled up in his eyes.

"What happened to my mother?"

Mango became more and more uneasy as they went back to the previous issue.

Brantley looked at Mango and pondered for a moment before saying, "Your mother is terminally ill."

"What is it?"

Mango almost fainted. She would probably have fallen to the ground by now if Brantley hadn't allowed her to sit down in the first place.

"What disease does she have?"

Mango asked in a trembling voice and her hands were already clenched into fists.

Brantley only had one daughter in his life. How could he not feel sorry for her? He painfully shed a few drops of tears when this topic touched his soft spots.

"She has the last stage of stomach cancer. When your mother left the Hans family, she was ashamed to stay in the Hans family because of the matter about your illegitimate sister. On the other hand, your mother found out that she was suffering from stomach cancer, so she decided to leave this place and find an isolated place to die. She didn't want you to know her condition as she was afraid that you couldn't bear the pain of losing a mother. She didn't want her other daughter to know about her condition too because she didn't raise her well. She felt that she was not responsible for her children, so there was no need to let them suffer with her."

Brantley wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and whispered, "Your mother has been a strong woman all her life. She loved a man but she never got what she wanted. She didn't even see him for the last time and she lived a lifetime with a man that she didn't love. She gave birth to you out of love, but got rid of you and gave birth to another daughter with another guy that she did not love. She looked bright and beautiful in her whole life, but in fact, she suffered more than anyone. She had enough of suffering. When she saw that your marriage was perfect with the love of Nathaniel and your children, she felt that she could reunite with your father and leave this world. She still didn't contact me even at the end of her life. It could be seen how hurt she was after I caused her to break up with your father. She would have died by now if I did not find someone to follow her and rescue her on time. I could only get Bettany to accompany her now and let her live longer. However, she has always been unwilling to cooperate. She wanted to escape, so I put her under house arrest."

Mango couldn't believe that this was the real reason why Brantley placed Queena under house arrest. Then, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat and burst into tears.

"Grandpa, why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you find me earlier? Can you imagine how lonely and helpless my mother would feel after such a long time?! She left home alone. She is still lonely now even when her life was going to end. How can you be so cruel?"

Brantley quickly stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders when he saw Mango crying so hard. Then, he patted her shoulders gently and said, "Don't cry, your mother doesn't want you to be sad so she didn' want to tell you. It's not that I don't want you to have a video call with her, but she won't answer it now even if you call her. The chemotherapy has changed her original appearance, so how could she let you see her like this? I only hope now that I can get acquainted with Isla, so I openly can bring her back. Otherwise, I'm afraid that she will die on the road before she comes back."

Mango cried her heart out after hearing what Brantley had said.

"Grandpa, I miss her, I really do. I had been looking for her since the moment I knew that Sophia was my aunt, but I couldn't find her. I sent people to find her, but there was still no news. I was afraid that something would happen to her, and I was afraid that Isla would hit her. However, I didn't expect that it turned out to be like this."

"Silly girl, of course, Isla will not let her go. Isla can only threaten you and force you to do anything with her around, but I hid your mother first. When Bettany was sent by Isla to Estania to negotiate with you, I secretly found Bettany and gave her a bright future in return. I asked her to leave the Fang family to cure your mother. Otherwise, do you think that such a capable lady like Bettany can disappear from the Fang family?"

Mango did not feel relaxed at all after she learned the reason for Bettany's disappearance. On the contrary, her heart was so heavy that she could hardly breathe. However, she still remembered the words that Desmond had once said.

Marissa's death was not normal.

Mango wanted to get in touch with Bettany urgently to know the real cause of Marissa's death. Why did Marissa die?