The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Chapter 255

"A strange thing, you say?"

Nathaniel turned around abruptly, and the speed was so fast that Henry was startled.

"For your information, we calculate the supply of rations on the ship very carefully so there's enough for everyone. However, after we left the United States, the rations on board started to decrease for no apparent reason, and our first aid kit went missing as well. At first, we thought that we might have had a thief on board, but we couldn't find any evidence of a suspicious individual on the ship. As you might know, we have a set number of crew on cargo ships, but unfortunately, the amount of food we had kept decreasing. In the end, we had no choice but to dock at Parkland City to obtain more food. If we hadn’t done that, I think we wouldn’t have made it back to China."

As Henry spoke, Nathaniel's heart became hopeful once again.

"So, you’re saying that you have a fixed amount of food on board?"

"That’s right.”

"Could anyone have stolen more rations for themselves?"

"That’s impossible! All our sailors are professionally trained. Furthermore, we’ re usually out at sea for extended periods of time, so we will not tolerate anyone disobeying the rules. Everyone knows that food and water are the most crucial things for survival at sea, so I'm positive that none of my crew would do anything stupid like that. Nevertheless, it started to decrease after we left the United States but we couldn’t find the culprit. That's where it gets strange. Everyone is saying that we might have paranormal activity aboard the ship, so naturally, we' re all afraid."

Henry's expression was foul as he said this.

It was not uncommon for sailors to develop superstitious beliefs after a long time at sea. They believed it regardless of whether there was any scientific basis because no one could find a logical explanation for it anyway.

On the contrary, Nathaniel did not share the captain' s beliefs.

In his opinion, food and water would not go missing for no apparent reason. It was plausible for the rations to go missing, but the first aid kit had gone missing as well.

Why would the first aid kit be stolen?

Could it be that someone was injured?

Could that someone be Mango?

"Do you mind if I have look around your ship?"

"Sure!"

Henry knew that Nathaniel, the president of the HY Group, was involved in the shipping industry, so there was no possibility for Nathaniel to tamper with the ship. Furthermore, the officer of the Port Authority had personally brought them here. So, how could a humble ship captain like Henry refuse it?

After that, Nathaniel and Thomas followed Henry onto the cargo ship.

The internal of the cargo ship was large and cavernous. Furthermore, it looked even spacious since all the cargo was unloaded.

After Nathaniel boarded the ship, he asked, "Where does the crew normally get their rest?"

"Each of us has our own rooms. There are slightly more than a dozen crew members on board, and we all sleep in the rooms over there."

Henry pointed to the lounge nearby.

After that, Nathaniel went to inspect the rooms, which were in the style of a dormitory because all the crewmembers were male. It was quite dirty and the smell of unwashed feet permeated the room.

He covered his nose with his hand to avoid the smell as he looked around. After that, he left the room as he was convinced that Mango would not have hidden here.

"Is there any other place on this ship capable of hiding a person?"

"Yeah, there are some other places, but we already checked them several times and confirm no one was there."

As Henry spoke, he pointed to a small storage area beneath the ship's hold and he said, "This is where we usually store the things that we want to bring back to our families. The strange thing is that our rations have decreased but our personal items were left untouched." After Henry said that, Nathaniel intended to go down there to take a look inside the storage space.

However, Thomas hurriedly stopped him.

"Mr. Ye, I think it's better for me to do it instead of you. It's cramped in there and it stinks, so it's a better idea for me to go down there."

"It's fine, I’ll do it.”

Nathaniel obviously did not mind these things at all.

In fact, he would crawl through the fires of hell if it meant that he could find clues on Mango’ s whereabouts.

As Thomas saw Nathaniel's determined look, he did not stop him. Then, Thomas stepped aside to make way for the other man.

Nathaniel passed Thomas as he walked down into the storage space.

The storage space was very cramped, and Nathaniel did not even have the space to stand upright.

There was a musty smell in the storage space. Since all the goods had been unloaded, the area was clear and Nathaniel could see everything at first glance.

This place was completely empty, and it was obvious that nobody was hidden here.

Nathaniel felt a little disappointed.

If she wasn't here, where could Mango be?

Could it be that she had not come aboard the ship alone? Was there someone else with her? Nathaniel had no choice but to make this conclusion.

Meanwhile, Thomas did not find any other clues either. Furthermore, the smell here was very strong and he said in a low voice, "Mr. Ye, I think we’d better go back up to the deck."

However, Nathaniel did not reply as he was unwilling to give up. His eyes swept every corner of the storage space once again and suddenly, he discovered a few strands of hair.

Gosh, these long hairs could have only come from a woman!

Furthermore, these hairs were about the same length as Mango. However, there were only a few strands in the corner of the storage space and they were hard to see because it was so dark in

there. If Nathaniel hadn't taken a closer look at the area, he probably wouldn't have found them.

Then, he quickly picked up the hairs and he kept them away carefully before he said, "Let’s head back."

"Yes, sir."

Thomas helped Nathaniel as they left the storage space.

Henry spoke softly while he saw them exit the storage space as if they found nothing, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ye. I’ve told you everything that I know."

"Thank you very much, Henry."

Nathaniel spoke lightly before they left.

The Port Authority officer looked sheepish as he knew Nathaniel had not found the clues that he was looking for. "Mr. Ye, I'm so sorry about this, you see..."

"It’s okay. Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome. It's the least we can do for you."

After Nathaniel left the port, he spoke to Thomas who stood beside him, "Thomas, go and investigate the places that the cargo ship docked at along the way. See if you can find any record of someone that went ashore."

"Right away sir!"

After that, Daniel immediately returned to Ocean City and he gave the hairs in his possession to a genetics lab. The lab compared the DNA in the hair to samples of Mango's DNA that was on the record.

The results came out quickly and they confirmed that the long hair really belonged to Mango.

Nathaniel suddenly became very excited.

Mango was still alive!

She wasn't dead!

The results confirmed that Mango was aboard the cargo ship.

But where was she now?

Nathaniel did not have an answer to that question and he felt that the clue he found just led him to a dead end.

Nevertheless, he told Queena the good news.

Naturally, Queena was also very excited.

When the Hans family found out that Queena had returned, they contacted her to arrange a meeting between them. So, Queena asked Nathaniel to accompany her and he agreed to her request.

After that, both groups of people met at the Hilton Hotel.

Both Terrance and Madame Hans were shocked when they saw Queena after so many years had passed.

Although the passage of time had made Queena look older, they could immediately recognize her as the woman from the photo in Dennis's gallery.

"Minister Xiao."

Terrance greeted Queena politely.

However, Queena spoke faintly, "I' ve already submitted my resignation, so I'm no longer a minister. You can call me Queena."

Madam Hans, who had been looking at Queena the whole time, suddenly asked, "Were you the girlfriend of my eldest son Dennis?"

"Yes, that's me.”

Then, Queena calmly faced Madam Hans and she told her about everything that happened.

After she finished listening to the story, Madam Hans' sigh was filled with emotion.

"If I knew you were pregnant back then, I would have accepted you into the Hans family regardless of the consequences."

"Madam Hans, this was fated to happen."

Queena felt pain as she said that.

If she hadn't been desperate in the first place, how could she have left her child behind?

At the time, Dennis had already gone to war and she was pressured by her family to take the ministerial exam. However, she did not expect that she would pass it.

Unfortunately, she could not further her studies because she was pregnant. Back then, the terms and conditions were very strict and it required every applicant to have a pristine family background. It took a lot of effort for Queena to successfully hide her relationship with Dennis from the government review board. When she found out she was pregnant, she had to apply for leave and

she told everyone that she had caught a rare disease and she needed treatment. Furthermore, she hired someone to forge a fake medical report.

At the time, Queena’s plan was very simple. Dennis had left to join the military without informing her and it was clear that he did not care about her feelings. So, she wanted to become an excellent foreign ambassador to the country. Queena wanted to prove to him that she was good at something other than painting and that she was not a burden to him.

However, Queena did not expect that they would be separated forever.

Madam Hans felt extremely distressed after she heard all this.

"Before he joined the military, Dennis told me that he had a girlfriend whom he loved very much. However, his days in the military were hard, and if one did not have any rank or achievements, he would not be allowed to have a romantic relationship for the first three years. At the time, Dennis told me that if he survived those first three years, he would come back and propose to you. Unfortunately, you disappeared when he wanted to propose. Dennis was very frustrated, and he regretted that he did not leave a contact number for you. After that, he hired someone to look for you but there was no news at all.1'

"At the time, I was already assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry is an important part of our country’s government so all of our actions were confidential, no wonder he couldn't find me.”

Queena had no idea that Dennis was looking for her back then. If she knew, then maybe they would’ve met one last time.

When Madam Hans talked about her eldest son, she felt very sad.

“The only woman that my son ever loved was you. He told me that if he couldn't find you, then he would give everything he had in the service of the country. Back then, most of his leave was spent looking for you but unfortunately, there were no signs of you, and he went back to the military with disappointment. After that, we rarely heard from Dennis until the news of his death reached us. Most of his final possessions were drawings of you. Even if I've never met you in person, I feel like I've known you since twenty years ago when I first saw your portrait.” Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.

Madam Hans' eyes were red with unshed tears.

At the same time, Queena was unsettled by this information. After that, Terrance gave Queena whatever remained of his final possessions.

"Dennis told us to give this to you if we ever saw you again."

Queena took the objects from Terrance and she looked them over. Aside from a portrait of her, there was an old watch.

The watch was vintage, and Queena had personally bought it for Dennis when they had just started dating.

At the time, Dennis had joked that the only time he wouldn't be wearing this watch was when he was dead. In fact, Queena recalled that she had gotten angry with him at this inauspicious remark.

Now that the watch was here in front of her, Queena could not stop the tears from running down her face.

Dennis was dead, and he no longer wore the watch.

Queena held the watch tightly in her hands as she cried, 'T m sorry...I was the one who caused the Hans family to lose a grandchild because I abandoned Mango. I'm so sorry..."

Madam Hans held Queena’s hand as she said, "Fortunately, we now know that Mango is a part of our family, but the Shen family still has no idea about it so we still have to discuss this issue. The Shen family have raised Mango as their own daughter for over 20 years, how do you expect them to cope when we suddenly tell them that Mango is actually part of the Hans family?"