The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Chapter 362

Nathaniel quickly looked around and anxiety flooded his heart when he couldn't find Rita.

Then, he asked a woman to check if Rita was still inside the bathroom.

After the woman received an exorbitant sum of money from Nathaniel, she tried her best to look high and low for Rita, but to no avail. At that point, Nathaniel completely panicked.

He had actually lost his daughter!

The amusement park was filled with people, so what if Rita met with a human trafficker?

Nathaniel became extremely anxious, but he refused to inform Mango immediately in fear of worrying her as well. Then, he immediately began searching for Rita.

He combed through all the surveillance footage in the park, but there was no sign of her.

Furthermore, there were no cameras in the bathroom, so Nathaniel couldn't pinpoint when she had left or who she left with.

While his chest tightened with worry, Mango just so happened to call him.

"Nathan, where are you? We're going to get some food, so how about you and Rita meet us there?"

On the other side of the call, it was clear that Mango hadn't come down from the rush of the rollercoaster as Zion cheered happily beside her.

Nevertheless, Nathaniel replied sullenly at the sound of his wife and son's cheerful voices, "You two can go first, Rita and I will be there soon."

"Okay, hurry up! I'll be waiting for you!"

Mango was none the wiser about what was going on and she hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel was filled with soulcrushing anxiety.

How could his beloved daughter have disappeared in the blink of an eye?

Then, Nathaniel started asking around if anyone had seen his daughter. Suddenly, the ice cream man called over to him and said, "Hey, are you looking for a adorable little girl? She's wearing a long, flowing dress with a beautiful hairpin, right? She has a cute voice and she's about this tall?"

Nathaniel nodded rapidly at the old man's words.

"Yes, yes! Would you happen to know where she went, kind sir?"

"She walked away with another young boy over there in that direction. Just follow the path and you'll come to a bamboo thicket where pandas are displayed. The area's quite isolated, and both of them might've headed that way."

After that, Nathaniel spared no time as he rushed over to that direction.

After he walked about a hundred meters of so, the melodious sound of a flute filled his ears.

Alas, Nathaniel was not in the mood to admire it and he followed the sound all the way to a small pavilion in the middle of the bamboo thicket. Then, he discovered Rita and the little boy sitting in the pavilion.

Meanwhile, the boy was playing the flute while Rita looked at him with a infatuated expression on her face. The look in her eyes made Nathaniel feel rather uncomfortable.

In the past, this admiring look was only reserved for Nathaniel. So, why was Rita looking at a stranger that way?

"Rita!"

Nathaniel walked over to them quickly.

The boy suddenly stopped playing the flute when he saw Nathaniel rushing over to them. Before he could say anything, Nathaniel picked Rita up in his arms and grumbled, "Why didn't you tell me where you were going, Rita? Do you know how much you scared me? I thought you'd been kidnapped. Your mother and brother would be devastated if that happened."

Only now did Rita remember that she hadn't informed Nathaniel of her departure, so she felt a little guilty.

"I'm sorry, daddy."

"Don't do this again next time, okay?"

After he realised that his daughter had acknowledged her mistake, he couldn't bear to chastise her anymore.

Meanwhile, the little boy couldn't help but speak up after watching them, "I'm sorry, mister. I brought her here."

"Who are you?"

Then, Nathaniel turned to look at the little boy.

The boy's temperament was unusual, and he didn't seem to be an ordinary child.

After that, the boy stood up straight and said, "My name is Mylo Hans. I took Rita here for a walk because she looked quite bored."

"You little rascal, don't you know that taking my daughter away without telling anyone is kidnapping?"

In truth, Nathaniel didn't feel like arguing with a child, but he couldn't help it.

He felt uncomfortable that his daughter was paying so much attention to a rascal like Mylo.

Meanwhile, Mylo was slightly taken aback as he hadn't expected Nathaniel to lay such a serious charge on him. Hence, he lowered his voice and replied, "I'm sorry, this won't happen again next time."

"Next time? There won't be a next time! I'm warning you, you'd better stay away from my daughter."

Nathaniel hugged Rita tightly in his arms, as if he was afraid that someone would take her away from him.

Thus, Rita became rather unhappy.

"Daddy, Mylo is a nice person okay? He bought me ice cream even when he knows I can't have any, and he didn't eat his own so that I won't feel left out. Look, they've all melted already."

Nathaniel felt even more annoyed when he heard his daughter defend a stranger.

"What do you know? There are plenty of evil people in this world. They might have ill intentions even though they look nice. Furthermore, an ice cream all it takes to win your favour? As a girl, you should be more cautious."

Truth be told, Nathaniel rarely ever spoke this way to Rita.

Suddenly, she felt extremely wronged.

"You're being mean, daddy! Mylo is a great guy, so why are you treating him this way? Plus, he can even play the flute well!"

The more Rita defended Mylo, the more uncomfortable Nathaniel felt and he started to increasingly dislike Mylo. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

"What I say, goes. Okay then, we're leaving now. Your mom and brother are waiting for us."

As Nathaniel spoke, he was about to carry Rita away.

Then, Rita struggled to free herself from Nathaniel's arms before she gifted her hairpin to Mylo.

"Mylo, this is my favorite hairclip, but I'm giving it to you now. Thank you for buying me ice cream and playing the flute for me. If there's any chance for us to meet again, I'll be sure to return the favor."

Nathaniel's mouth twitched in annoyance after Rita gave away her hair clip.

What was going on here?

"Rita!"

At that moment, Nathaniel wanted to say something else, but Rita ran away right after she shoved the hair clip into Mylo's hands.

She ran away with a spring in her step. The little girl was like a bright ray of happiness that brought joy and smiles to everyone around her.

Mylo just smiled softly at her retreating figure.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel just gave Mylo an annoyed looked before he went after his daughter.

After Rita ran a few more steps, she suddenly screeched to a halt and turned to Mylo. Then, she grinned and said, "Hey Mylo, I like you!"

This sentence nearly made Nathaniel lose his footing and he stumbled.

"What nonsense is this? You have no sense of danger at all! How old are you? How would you know what love means? Hurry up! Let's go home!"

After that, Nathaniel didn't give Rita any more opportunities to speak and immediately carried her away. Moreover, he even glared at Mylo fiercely as if he was placing all the blame on Mylo.

Meanwhile, Mylo couldn't help but laugh when Rita kept waving at him and he felt the hair clip in his hand become undoubtedly precious to him.

After Nathaniel carried Rita out of the bamboo thicket, the little girl pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and said, "Daddy, you suck!" "I suck? Do you know who he is? How could you just follow a stranger like that? You naughty girl, don't you know how much you scared me? How dare you insult me on behalf of that brat?"

Nathaniel suddenly felt quite aggrieved.

He loved his little girl like she was the most precious treasure in the world, but she was giving him the cold shoulder now!

Rita was irritated with him because of a boy that she'd just met!

He was so pissed off!

However, Rita still pursed her lips and replied, "Mylo isn't some villain."

"It's not like their status is displayed on their faces, Rita. How would you know the difference between a good and bad person when you've never left the house?"

"In any case, Mylo isn't a bad person! In fact, you're the bad person for not allowing me to talk to him! Hmph!"

Rita's childish logic rendered Nathaniel speechless, and he was very upset.

How old was his beloved daughter?

Had she been bewitched by some rascal that she even called him a bad person?

Then, Nathaniel replied sadly, "Rita, you'll hurt me if you say that."

"Well, you've hurt me too, daddy."

Then, Rita turned away from Nathaniel adamantly.

At that moment, Mango called Nathaniel once again.

"Where are you? We're over at KFC, so you two can just come over right now."

As soon as Rita heard that they were getting food, her mood immediately improved.

"Are Mommy and Zion at KFC? Is that where they sell that delicious fried chicken?"

However, Nathaniel became extremely irritated when he saw Rita's eyes light up at the prospect of food.

"Rita Shen, I'm still very upset with you!"

"Oh come on, stop being mad. Let's go have something nice to eat, daddy!"

Rita swung Nathaniel's hand in small arcs as she pulled him along, which made Nathaniel feel both angry and amused.

Honestly, he felt quite speechless after he realised that he had gotten mad at a child. Nevertheless, he was still quite unsettled by the fact that Rita would be so defensive over a boy that she'd just met.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere with strangers in the future, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it!"

Rita would agree to anything just for the sake of food.

On the other hand, Nathaniel failed to stay angry with his daughter.

He picked up Rita in his arms somewhat helplessly before they made their way to the address that Mango had given them.

"Mommy, Zion!"

Rita immediately abandoned her earlier displeasure at the sight of Mango and Zion. Furthermore, she started drooling the second she laid eyes on the food that was displayed in front of her.

Meanwhile, Mango couldn't help but smile affectionately when she saw Rita acting like a glutton.

"Don't worry, all of it is yours!"

Next, Zion placed a large set meal in front of Rita.

"Wow! You're the best! Thank you, Zion!"

Rita exclaimed as she placed a peck on Zion's cheek.

However, Nathaniel expression remained stoic the whole time, which made Mango puzzled.

She touched Nathaniel's hand and asked, "What's wrong? Did you fight with Rita?"

That was impossible in Mango's opinion, but there didn't seem to be any other explanation.

When Nathaniel saw Mango's concerned expression, he had to swallow his anger in the end.

"It's nothing, I just received a call from the office, so I'm not too happy about that."

"Oh, okay!"

Mango didn't ask anything more after she heard that it concerned the company. Then, she was amused when she turned back to see Rita stuffing her face as if she'd been starved for days.