The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)
Chapter 1252

"Aria? Why are you here? Did something happen to Michael?"

It was Mango's first impression towards her.

Aria shook her head and whispered, "Michael asked me to come back and get him something."

"What is it?"

Nathaniel spoke up.

Although Nathaniel was feeling resentful over the fact that Aria had hurt Michael, he didn't want to make things difficult for her after he discovered Aria's identity and got to know about Michael's plan.

After all, she would be Michael's wife soon.

In fact, Aria was truly afraid of Nathaniel.

Nathaniel was different from Michael. She could feel the piercing chillness deep from his body, with a trace of apathy that kept his distance away from others yet making people feel horrified. Michael's chillness was rather direct, which appeared daunting. So, Aria could accept it.

Nathaniel inquired her all of a sudden at the moment. Aria took a step backward subconsciously and whispered, "I don't know. He asked me to return to his bedroom to find a jade with a Comrade Eagle carved on it."

Nathaniel's expression immediately changed and he then spoke in a bad tone.

"Did he ask you to come back and get it for him?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Little did Aria know what had she said wrong. She could only feel that Nathaniel's face took on a ghastly expression, and even his imposing manner terrified her.

She swallowed a mouthful of saliva subconsciously before she quickly hid behind Mango.

Mango was somewhat astonished by Nathaniel's mood change. She asked subconsciously, "What's wrong with you? Isn't it just a jade?"

Nathaniel looked at Aria with slightly changes in his eyes. At last, he said nothing either and left the spot with Mango.

Aria had almost lost her balance as soon as he left.

Nathaniel was simply too scary.

He looked even more terrifying than Michael.

She wished that she would never have the chance to be near him again.

Aria ran inside quickly as she thought about it.

Nathaniel was silent all the way.

Mango could tell that he had something on his mind, but she didn't ask either. Nathaniel was the kind that would utter anything to her whenever he wanted to. If he was not feeling it, he wouldn't say anything even if asked.

Soon, they both arrived at the hospital ward where Michael stayed.

Nathaniel opened the door and went into the room.

The nurses and doctors were changing Michael's dressing.

Mango stood at the door and she didn't enter the ward while Nathaniel said coldly to him, "Just leave the wound be. You'll still be injured after you change it. What's the point of dressing the wound again?" Michael was instantly stunned by Nathaniel's aggressive tone. He looked up into Nathaniel's cold eyes. He could not help but smile bitterly. "What are you doing here? You look as if I owe you plenty of money." "What you owe me isn't money."

Nathaniel spoke in an abrupt tone.

Michael's smile froze on his face. Then he muttered, "Have you seen Aria?"

"Do you still intend to hide it from me? Why did you ask her to take your Comrade Eagle jade? I remember that I once said that the jade plate could grant you a wish. Are you going to use it on her? Don't you know that the jade manage to save your life at a crucial moment as you have been carrying out the task in the teeth of the wind and went through various overt or invert attacks? Well, I can't believe that you're using it on Aria! Do you think that I will definitely take her life? Did you presume me as this type of person to keep her alive? It has been years of our brotherhoods. Do I look like such an unreasonable person to you?"

Nathaniel was somewhat annoyed and upset at the same time.

Michael hurriedly said, "No Boss. I asked her to get the jade not because I want you to let her go. You know me well enough to know what I wanna do. No matter what, Aria is already my woman. This is not something that can be changed, neither would I wanna change that. You're nice to me, so I know you will let her go for the sake of me. But she hurt me, and my close brothers. I need to give a good explanation for this."

Perhaps he had talked too much in one shot, Michael let out a cough.

Nathaniel paused for a moment and handed him a glass of water.

"What are you going to do with the jade then?"

"Everyone knows the significance of the jade to me. Aria has made a mistake and she has to be punished, but she's my woman, and I will certainly take the punishment for her. Well, perhaps my men in the alliance will let go of her on the surface yet make life difficult for her behind. I intend to give her the jade to protect herself."

Michael's words made Nathaniel's expression turn better.

"Great. As long as you're not using it on me."

"Nope, my life is precious in which I have to provide shelter for my wife and children in future. Thus, I have to keep my only chance well."

Michael smiled indifferently, with a trace of vitality in his eyes.

Nathaniel suddenly felt that Michael would gradually return to his old self.

Aria was not Valentina, but she was Valentina's younger sister. The moment when Michael took Aria's virginity, perhaps he had already made his decision.

He must take the woman as his.

This was the Michael with whom Nathaniel was familiar. He would always know what he desired and did his best to achieve his goal.

Nathaniel patted Michael's shoulder and whispered, "Try to be decent and don't go too far. By the way, I'm leaving with Mango while Zion will stay here. You should quickly get yourself cleaned and take good care of my son for me."

"Are you leaving? Where are you going? Didn't you plan not to leave here that early?"

Michael had initially thought that he would have some getaways for few days with the presence of Nathaniel. After all, he was still a patient, wasn't he?

However, he was feeling somewhat depressed subconsciously as he had never thought that Nathaniel would leave that early.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel felt also slightly embarrassed, but he couldn't help saying upon thinking about his stuff over there, "I appreciate your hard work. If you're short-handed, you can ask someone for help."

"Who else can I look for?"

"The men of Master Mo."

Nathaniel's remarks caused Michael to be completely stunned.

"Sorry? Come again."

"Carlson. He has given me a call. He mentioned that we can work for him in secret. He can deal with some affairs."

Nathaniel had brought a rather obscure message in his words, but Michael somehow understood.

Was he tempted with the offer?

He had no idea, but he did feel a minor tingling pain in his heart.

After being banished for so many years, he had suddenly found an organization and his capability was very likely to be recognized. Even his personal files would be encrypted. It sounded quite familiar and exhilarating. It was as though he could see Valentina smiling's expression again.

She looked at him tenderly and said, "Michael, welcome home."

Tears had somehow welled up in Michael's eyes.

He abruptly pulled the quilt over his face and said gloomily, "I will think about it. Have a safe trip. I won't be seeing you off."

"Get yourself healed well. Send me a message when you get married. I will come back no matter how far I am."

Nathaniel was aware that Michael was feeling uneasy, hence he didn't force him either. He patted his shoulder before he left the ward.

Mango said nothing throughout their conversation but she whispered to him right after she walked out of the ward with Nathaniel, "Michael seems to be very triggered."

"Well, he has always wished to pay a visit to Valentina over these years, but he was not qualified to do so. As long as he agrees now, his routines will not be changed. He'll be qualified and own the identity to enter the Martyrs Cemetery to pay his homage to Valentina. It's a rare opportunity to him."

Nathaniel gripped Mango's hand tightly.

It was a bliss that he managed to hold Mango's hands right at the moment. Compared with Michael, Nathaniel felt that he had to tightly grasped his happiness and could not let her slip from his hands. Mango could feel Nathaniel's exertion but she didn't say anything and simply allowed him to hold her hands.

The two of them walked along the road hand in hand. Mango intended to return to the Veronne Courtyard to have a look on it out of the blue.

"Let's go back to the Veronne Courtyard. I like the place quite a lot."

"Alright."

Nathaniel would not reject his wife's request.

When they both held hands and returned to the Veronne Courtyard, there was a melodious sound of the violin. Mango could not help but stop in her tracks. "Huh? I can't believe that there's still somebody who can play the violin so well here."

Nathaniel knew that Mango liked to play the violin.

He stood next to Mango and listened to the melodious violin tune. He had to admit that the person was indeed good at playing it.

Mango was seemingly immersed in the rhythms, and her expressions followed the beat.

Nathaniel adored Mango like this, who was just like the year which they first met in university. Simple and pure.

After a song had finished, the other party stopped playing.

Mango suddenly had an urge to take a look at the player.

"Nathan, do you think the player is a man or a woman?"

"A man, and he's young."

Nathaniel's words made Mango slightly stunned.

"Why?"

"It's nothing wrong with the timbre, but the strength is not that strong which indicates that the player is not physically strong."

Mango's lips curled up slightly. Again she asked, "How do you know that he's young?"

"I guessed."

Mango was stunned. Then, she let out a laugh.

"Mr. Ye, I can't believe that you're actually guessing?"

"Of course, I'm just an ordinary person. Why? Do you want to check on him?"

Nathaniel seemed to be able to read Mango's mind.

Although Mango did not have much contact or pursuit with music over the years, Nathaniel knew that Mango had always fond of wonderful things.

Upon hearing Nathaniel's inquiry, Mango couldn't help but nod.

"Let's go then."

Nathaniel held Mango's hand and walked towards the opposite of their courtyard.

There was only an old butler in the house. He was somewhat taken aback when both Nathaniel and Mango came over to their house. When he learned that they were there to visit the violin player, the butler couldn't help but say, "It's our sir who played the violin. The owner isn't around while sir is here to practice the violin. He plans to participate in the youth violin competition a month later, thus he literally doesn't have much time to meet you. I'm sorry."

The butler wasn't from Ocean City and he didn't pay attention to the fame of the business circle, hence he was certainly unfamiliar with Nathaniel. For the safety of his sir, he politely rejected both Nathaniel and Mango's offer.

Mango was slightly disappointed, but she didn't push it.

Only when Nathaniel was about to say something, Mango tugged his sleeve and shook her head at him.

Seeing that Mango didn't want to cause any trouble, Nathaniel could only leave with Mango even though he was not happy.

"Wait a minute!"

Just then, a young voice of a kid came from inside which instantly stopped the paces of both Mango and Nathaniel.