The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Chapter 254

"I’ll have someone look into it right away."

Nathaniel immediately spurred into action.

Queena was right.

Even after so many days, they had not found Mango' s body nor did they see a body float out of the ocean. Furthermore, there was no news of anyone discovering a body in the area, so where could Mango have gone?

No one could just disappear from this planet without a reason. So, if she wasn’t dead, then would she have been rescued by someone else?

Nathaniel quickly called Thomas.

Thomas was still bleary-eyed from sleep as he had fallen asleep shortly before Nathaniel awoke him with his phone call. However, he did not complain and he became alert immediately.

"Mr. Ye, what is it?"

"Go and investigate right now if there were any boats passing by the area the night Mango disappeared."

Nathaniel’s voice carried a hint of excitement.

Thomas immediately understood what Nathaniel meant. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

"Noted, I’ll check it out right away."

As she saw Nathaniel's speedy actions, Queena' s soul seemed to return to her body. "How long will it take for him to get the information?"

"I'm not sure, but I do know that it’s bad for you to stand outside in the cold like this. Let's wait for news in the car."

Nathaniel looked at Queena's lips, which were turning purple as time passed. He was afraid that something might happen to her.

This time, Queena did not refuse him.

She was stiff from the cold, and it was particularly obvious when she walked.

Without another word, Nathaniel hoisted Queena onto his back and he brought her aboard his car.

Fortunately, there was a heater in the car and Nathaniel handed Queena a thermos flask.

"Have something hot to stave off the cold. If there’s any news about Mango, we need to be there immediately."

"Alright."

Queena took the flask from Nathaniel.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Queena barely glanced at it before she immediately threw the phone out of the window.

Nathaniel frowned slightly at that, but he did not ask any questions.

Then, Queena said with a bitter smile, "Lawrence is indeed a good man and he treats me very well.”

"It's a pity that you don't have room for him in your heart." Nathaniel's words made Queena smile bitterly once again.

"Yeah, unfortunately, I do not love him. All my life, I’ ve only ever loved one man, but he left me too soon. All these years in the United States, I felt like I lived as a zombie until I met Mango. That girl made me feel so comfortable the moment I laid eyes on her, so I brought her back to my villa even though she was a total stranger. I could’ve never imagined that she would be my long lost daughter for more than twenty years ago."

"Sometimes fate is an amazing thing."

After that, Queen looked at the darkness outside and her thoughts were a mystery. Perhaps she thought of Dennis or Mango. Either way, she fell silent and she did not say anything else.

At the same time, Nathaniel did not make a sound as he gazed at the ocean in silence. However, his heart was in turmoil.

Mango was certainly still alive.

She had to be!

This was the hope that had kept Nathaniel going all this time.

Time passed, but Nathaniel felt like it had been years since going into the car.

He kept looking at the clock, and he realized that the needle of the clock passed by very slowly.

There was no news from Thomas at all.

Queena must have been out in the cold for far too long because after she returned to the warm interior of the car, she fell asleep without even realized it. Perhaps she never had a good night's sleep ever since Mango’s incident happened. Now Queena still didn't sleep too soundly, but she was indeed asleep.

Then, Nathaniel took the blanket from the back seat and covered Queena with it.

In fact, he had specially prepared this blanket for Mango.

Mango had always liked to sleep in the car and Nathaniel was afraid that she would get cold. Thus, he had Thomas prepare a thin blanket in the car for her.

But now...

A dull ache throbbed in Nathaniel's heart.

It was morning when Thomas finally called Nathaniel with the news.

"Mr. Ye, I found out that there was a cargo ship passed this area of the ocean that day, but I’m not sure if they found Mango. For now, I’ve discovered that the cargo ship is from China. It’s registered to the Port Authority from Colliqer County in Ocean City. Anyway, they just arrived at the port yesterday."

Nathaniel's heart fluttered with excitement.

"Go back to China immediately and contact the Port Authority there. No matter what, you have to make the captain of the cargo ship stay. Tell them that all costs will be borne by the Ye family."

"Right away, sir!”

After that, Thomas hurriedly went to carry out his orders.

Nathaniel wasn’t sure when Queena had woken up, but after she heard his words, she asked, "Is there news about Mango?"

"So far, what I know is that a cargo ship passed the area at the time. However, the ship is back in China and no one knows if they found Mango or not.”

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go back to China!”

Clearly, Queena was quite anxious.

Nathaniel looked at her and he said, "Aren't you going to pack your things before you leave?"

"What's there to pack? Through the years, there’s nothing valuable enough for me to pack except for myself and my paintings. I can buy clothes from anywhere, so we better head back quickly."

Nathaniel did not hesitate any longer after he heard Queena’s words.

The two drove back to the hospital. After they met up with Thomas, they grabbed their luggage before they immediately headed to the airport.

Originally, Nathaniel had planned to take a commercial flight, but now Thomas had chartered a private jet so they could immediately return to Ocean City without delay.

Due to Queena’s haste, she did not manage to book a hotel here. So, Nathaniel had her live in Mango's house for the time being.

After advanced training, Rainie returned to the apartment only to learn that Mango and Nathaniel had reconciled. She didn’t know how to express it, but she would support Mango's decision no matter what, even if she had a bad impression of Nathaniel.

She resigned from her job in kindergarten, and she decided to further her education in order to obtain a better job. So, Rainie had been studying all the while.

Rainie was surprised when Nathaniel suddenly brought Queena with him to Rainie's house.

"What brings you here to my humble abode, Mr. Ye?”

Rainie did not intend to let Nathaniel in at all.

Although Mango forgave Nathaniel long ago, Rainie was not so forgiving as he was the one that made Mango suffer for five years. Now that Zion had disappeared, Rainie was having full of resentment towards Nathaniel.

Nevertheless, Nathaniel ignored Rainie's attitude and he said in a low voice, "This is Minister Xiao, Mango's best friend. She has just come back from the United States, so Mango decided to let her live here temporarily."

"Why didn't Mango tell me about this herself?"

Rainie felt that something was wrong.

Then, Nathaniel said in a low voice, "Mango has other matters to attend to. So, it’s not convenient for her to contact you now."

"What happened?"

"There are some instances where it's better to not ask questions."

Nathaniel became a little impatient.

If Rainie continued to ask about it, he didn't know whether he could cope with it any longer.

Rainie opened the door because she saw that Nathaniel was in a bad mood and she figured that Queena did not look like someone who had malicious intentions.

"Well, come in then."

In fact, Queena felt out of place in the house, but after Rainie took her to Mango’s previous room, her eyes filled with tears as she saw an old photo of Mango before the surgery.

Except for her eyes, Mango looked exactly the same as Queena.

Mango was really her daughter!

Queena had missed more than 20 years of Mango's life. If Mango was found again this time, Queena hoped that she could spend the rest of her life with Mango. However, she was unsure whether this wish of hers could be fulfilled.

Rainie noticed Queena’s eyes were filled with tears as she looked at Mango's photo. Then, Raine asked in confusion, "Did something happen to Mango?"

"Are you her friend?"

Queena did not answer Rainie's question, but she asked rhetorically.

Rainie nodded and she said, "Yeah, we’re the best friends."

"Tell me more about her."

Queena’s sudden request surprised Rainie, but she did not refuse to answer it.

After that, the two of them began to chat in Mango's room.

Nathaniel left the apartment after he saw that they were getting along quite well together.

Then, he immediately went to Colliqer County immediately. He didn't even have time to go home except for a phone call with Madam Ye.

When Thomas and Nathaniel arrived at Colliqer County, the commanding officer of the Port Authority was already waiting for him.

"Mr. Ye, it's an honor. I didn't expect you to come here personally, so what can I do for you?"

The commanding officer of the Port Authority greeted them personally.

Nathaniel was well known for his contributions during the construction of Ocean City. Furthermore, everyone here was familiar with Nathaniel’s family history.

However, Nathaniel had no time to respond to the officer's compliment.

"Officer, may I know if the captain of the cargo ship that returned from the United States yesterday is still here?"

"Yeah, he’s still here. I had him wait after Mr. Ye called me. I’ll take you to him now.”

The officer of the Port Authority quickly took Nathaniel to the back of the building.

Nathaniel was nervous and excited, but he kept all emotion off his face.

The officer quickly brought both of them to the captain. The captain was a burly middle-aged man. His face was deeply tanned because of sailing on the open sea for an extended period of time.

"Mr. Ye, this is Henry Zhang, the captain of the USS Ayres. Henry, this is Nathaniel Ye, president of the HY Group.”

The officer quickly introduced them to each other.

Henry never expected that the president of the HY Group would come to see him personally, so he was somewhat confused.

"Mr. Ye, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Did you recently return from the United States?"

At that moment, Nathaniel was filled with anticipation.

Henry nodded and he said, "Yeah, I came back yesterday."

"Did you happen to see an unconscious woman in the water while you passed by the area just off the American coast? If so, did you rescue her?”

Nathaniel knew that he was being overly anxious, but he couldn't help himself as he was so impatient for information on Mango.

Henry was stunned for a moment before he shook his head and said, "No, we only stayed there for about five minutes because a batch of goods was scheduled to be unloaded off the boat. It happened that there is someone there to receive in the Hind Sea, and it wasn't a very big shipment of goods as it was just a few cases of wine. We left right after we unloaded them, and no one saw any sign of a woman floating in the water.” Nathaniel's expectant heart sank like a stone.

No one?

Apparently, no one saw her at all!

So where on Earth was Mango?

Was it really possible for her to just disappear off the face of the Earth?

Thomas understood the weight of Nathaniel's loneliness, but he was at a loss for words. The tiny sliver of hope that they had earlier was completely crushed. Hence, Thomas was certain that no one would be able to cope with that devastating loss.

Thomas sighed before he spoke to Henry. "Thank you very much for your time."

"Don't mention it."

After that, Nathaniel turned around and left with a dejected expression on his face.

The pain in his chest was sharp and crippling, but there was no way to soothe it.

Perhaps did something really happen to Mango?

At first, he had not wanted to accept this conclusion, but what other explanation could there be for this situation?

Just as Nathaniel was about to walk out of the meeting room, Henry suddenly stopped him.

"Mr. Ye, although I didn’t see nor save any woman from the ocean, something strange happened on my ship that day. However, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the woman that you’re looking for."