The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)
Chapter 1015

"Grandpa, how dare I break the law? By the way, how did you know I've caught Laney?"

After she finished speaking, Mango realized that Carmel was the bodyguard that Brantley had given to her.

Well, she couldn't hide the truth from her grandfather anymore. Thus, she was in a dilemma right now.

Brantley actually hoped that she could hand over Laney to the police, but they probably couldn't get any useful information from her even if Mango did so. Moreover, there was a lot of risks in this plan. If she ran away from them, it would be difficult to catch her again in the future.

However, she was unable to answer Brantley if she didn't hand Laney over to the police.

She was in such a difficult situation right now, wasn't she?

"Grandpa, stop worrying about these things, okay? By the way, you have yet to tell me the story behind the shoes with the tiger head design left by grandma. Did they belong to my mother?" Mango quickly changed the topic.

Brantley's expression abruptly froze for a moment when he heard her question.

"Huh? Why did you bring up this matter suddenly?" "I'm way too curious because I found that box in my bedroom! Wait, to be exact, I found it in my mother's bedroom. Who else could they belong to other than my mom? Well, why did grandma need to lock it if they belong to my mom? Also, how was grandma like? Why do you rarely talk about her?"

Mango asked a series of questions continuously.

Thus, Brantley didn't know how to react right now.

"You've asked so many questions. Which one should I answer first?"

"You can start from any question that you want to answer."

Mango handed the nicely peeled apple over to Brantley as she answered him.

Brantley felt delighted when he saw this. He actually felt that the apple he had eaten on that day was the sweetest apple that he had ever had." "You're such a smarty- pants! I'm sure that Rita inherited this witty personality from you!"

"Of course! After all, she is my daughter!"

Mango felt honoured that her daughter took after her.

When Brantley heard this, he sighed with a reminiscent gaze in his eyes.

He whispered, "Those shoes don't belong to your mother indeed."

"Huh? Who was the owner of the shoes then?"

"They belonged to your aunt."

"

"What?"

Mango was stunned when she heard what Brantley had replied.

"I thought I only had one aunt, and she's Walter's mother, Sophia! Why did I suddenly get a new aunt?"

Brantley put the apple on the coffee table, and a trace of sorrow flashed across his eyes when she heard this question.

"Back then, your grandmother actually conceived twins. When she just gave birth to your aunt, the terrorist groups found them and threatened me with my child so that I would let their leader go. I was in a dilemma at that time. After all, I was a father, and she was my first child. I didn't want her to get hurt, but at the same time, I had to fulfil my duties as a soldier. Thus, I couldn't prioritise the nation's safety over my child. However, when I hesitated, the terrorist shot at my newborn child."

While Brantley was saying this, he had already feared up.

"She was just a tiny baby! Before I had a chance to look, my eyes filled with a gut-wrenching bloody fog. Your grandma passed out right away, and the sniper from the army seized the opportunity to kill the terrorist. The medical staff began to carry out the operation to save her. Then, your grandma gave birth to your mother fifteen minutes later while the other child had to stay in the operating room."

"The doctor said that there was only a slim possibility of the child surviving, but they would try their best to rescue her. The operation lasted around eleven hours. When the child was being pushed out, her face was pale. The doctor said that if she could survive the night, there would still be hope for the child to stay alive. At that time, I sat in front of her. She could not even cry or smile, and she was barely breathing. She was merely a tiny little ball that was soft but frail. Your grandma suffered a haemorrhage at midnight and had to be sent into the emergency room for rescue again. I quickly rushed over upon hearing the news. I vowed that I just wanted to take a glance at your grandma. However, after I went to take a glance, my eldest daughter went missing."

Brantley bit his lower lip sadly while trying to hold his grief as he said this.

Even though so many years had passed, he still remembered that incident clearly. Thus, he felt suffocated whenever he thought about this. Mango immediately reached out and gently patted Brantley's back to comfort him, "Grandpa, don't be upset."

Brantley swayed his hand and continued, "Perhaps the relationship between your grandma and I started becoming more terrible from that moment. After all, I lost the baby that she gave birth to with her life. My eldest daughter didn't die in the hands of terrorists, but she went missing in my hands instead. I wondered if she was alive or dead and where she was. During that period, your grandma went completely insane. As long as she was physically better, she would go out to look for our eldest daughter. However, the child disappeared in the air without leaving any traces. We even searched over all the dead babies in the hospital, but there was still no news regarding her. A year later, while Queena celebrated her one-year-old birthday, your grandma had made two pairs of tiger-headed shoes and locked a pair of them in the cabinet. Since then, she never mentioned our missing eldest daughter, and it was as if she had never given birth to this child. I thought she would slowly recover, but I was obviously wrong."

Thus, Brantley started feeling upset when he recalled how cold his wife was whenever he returned home during vacation.

He was also feeling upset about losing his child. However, he was too young at that time, so he felt even more reluctant to return home whenever he saw his wife's rude attitude. Therefore, whenever there was a mission, he would volunteer to participate in it to stay away from the house.

When he received the news that his wife was pregnant again, he realized that his wife had betrayed him, but he was in no position to blame his wife.

Each time Brantley recalled his past, he felt as if his heart was about to shatter into pieces.

Mango had never expected to hear such an incident from Brantley's mouth.

She comforted Brantley and asked, "Did you look for my aunt over these years?"

"Yeah, I did, but where do I even start looking for her? After all, we had limited technology back then, and we never had security or surveillance cameras! In fact, there was nothing at that time, so we didn't even know who took away the child. At that time, she was in such a critical situation, and we didn't know whether she could survive or not. I used a lot of connections, but there was no news. I thought your grandma stopped mentioning that child because she was in despair.

Thus, even your mom didn't know that she had a twin sister."

Suddenly, Brantley looked like he had aged when he brought up this matter.

After all, he had managed to live through this pain when he was younger. However, now that he was older, he couldn't help but feel devastated whenever he remembered this incident.

Mango didn't know what to say either. So, she could only pour a glass of water for Brantley.

As a woman, she certainly knew the pain of giving birth to a baby.

After all, her grandma had given birth to a baby after ten months. The terrorists did not kill her child, but she had lost her child in the hospital! Thus, it was impossible for her to not a grudge against them. At that time, her grandmother probably hated how her husband was a soldier.

However, she had already married him, so she could not blame anyone. Thus, she could only hope that she could get her child back. However, the disappointment had accumulated gradually, and she fell into despair in the end. Perhaps after that, she had also given up on grandpa at that time.

Suddenly, Mango felt sorry for her grandmother.

She had never seen her grandmother before, so she never knew how the latter looked like. Suddenly, she felt really curious about her grandmother's appearance. "Grandpa, do you have any photos of grandma at home?"

"Nope. When she took Sophia away back then, she took away all the things and photos of her. Not only that, she tore all our wedding photos in half and took them away. After all, she was determined to break up with me. Alas! Perhaps she didn't want me in her life anymore!"

In the past, he always felt that his wife had done something wrong. However, whenever he thought about it again, he thought that he was the one who had disappointed his wife.

When Mango heard Brantley's answer, she was somewhat disappointed, but she stopped being pushy.

After all, she knew that only fate could bring two people together, so no one could force them to be affectionate towards each other as well.

Suddenly, both Mango and Brantley stopped talking.

Brantley felt exhausted after recalling the past. With the help of Toby, he returned to his room and get some rest. On the other hand, Mango sat in the living room and couldn't help but sigh in relief. She was lucky that she got married to Nathaniel only after he retired from the army. Otherwise, would she have to face the same decisions that her grandma once did?

When Mango imagined terrorists holding her child as a hostage, Mango felt uneasy.

Suddenly, she thought about Zion.

That brat wanted to develop himself in the army. So, did that mean that he would have to face such a problem one day?

Mango felt that she was thinking too much about this. Thus, she quickly shook her head to forget about those messy thoughts.

Meanwhile, Carmel caught sight of Mango sitting on the sofa with an upset expression when she went inside. So, she couldn't help but ask, "Madam, what's wrong with you?" Mango was slightly stunned when she heard this. However, she remembered something and quickly said, "You're not allowed to tell my grandpa about my affairs in the future." "Well, he's my ex-commander after all."

"I'm your direct superior now, though."

Mango couldn't help but wonder was everyone in the army this stubborn?

Carmel was slightly in a dilemma, but she still nodded under Mango's threatening gaze.

"Well, let me warn you, I have a lot of subordinates working for me. However, I kept you by my side because my grandpa was the one who introduced you. Also, I agreed to his request because I thought that he was worried about me. However, if you're going to pass on any messages to him when you're working for me, I refuse to keep you by my side. So, you should think about it carefully, and you have to agree to my conditions if you want to keep working for me. After all, if you refuse, you can get my grandpa to introduce you to another job. After all, I don't dare to keep unloyal people by my side."

Mango's words weren't pleasant to hear. In fact, she knew that her words were slightly harsh. However, if Carmel could tell her grandpa about how she had subdued Laney today, Carmel could report all her actions to Brantley in the future.

There were still many things she had to do in future, and not all her deeds would be legal. After all, Brantley was getting older. Thus, Mango did not want to ruin their relationship because she did not want to argue with him about any future problems. Hence, it was better not to let him know about those incidents.

On the other hand, Carmel did not expect Mango to be such a strict employer, nor did she think that Mango would think of her this way. Thus, she knew that she had to decide at this moment. Who should she choose between Brantley and Mango?

Then, she said without a thought, "Madam, I understand. I'll only listen to you from now onwards."

"Alright. If my grandpa asks you for an update, you can say that you don't know what's happening, or you can try to evade his question. My grandpa is not a fool after all. He will know your attitude and standpoint after several times. Thus, he will not continue to make things difficult for you."

"Got it."

Carmel nodded in reply after hearing Mango's orders.

"What did you want to tell me just now?"

Mango rubbed her temples and asked.

Then, Carmel suddenly recalled what she wanted to said.

"Oh, right. Ned called me to tell me that the people in Angolla have already sent Gisella on the plane, so we can pick her up when she arrives. But, I think that we will face a lot of difficulties along the way."