The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

"Where did the fireworks come from? They're so beautiful!"

The crowd outside squealed with delight. Meanwhile, Magnolia was stunned for a moment before her expression darkened.

Nathaniel had quickly left the secret chamber just as he heard the fireworks. He frowned slightly as he stared at the fireworks through the window.

Was this perhaps was some kind of signal?

Nathaniel was deep in thought when Mango woke up.

"Why would someone put fireworks this late at night?"

Mango got out of bed and put on a coat as she said this. However, she didn't think too much about Nathaniel standing in front of the window.

Then, Nathaniel shook his head and replied in a low voice, "I'm afraid that they're trying to communicate with this."

"I'll send someone to find out who has gone out."

Mango instantly understood the situation as she replied.

On the other hand, Nathaniel did not stop her. He felt that the fireworks seemed familiar, but he could not recall why.

When Mango went out to give her orders, she caught a glimpse of Magnolia as the latter was passing by.

She had wanted to go back to inform Nathaniel about this, but Magnolia was walking too fast. Thus, Mango was worried that she would lose Magnolia if she turned back now. Wait... was Magnolia sending a secret message to her contact using these fireworks?

Initially, Mango didn't want to suspect Magnolia. However, ever since they found that Bettany had been up to no good, it was possible that Magnolia was suspicious as well. At that moment, she felt that no one could be trusted.

Thus, Mango quickly caught up to Magnolia and texted Nathaniel on her phone at the same time. She had also shared her live location with him.

Therefore, Nathaniel would be able to accurately pinpoint Mango's location.

Well, Zion had installed the app for Mango, and finally, she could put it to good use.

On the other hand, Magnolia was making her way through the premise swiftly, and Mango almost lost her even though she had been walking briskly

as well.

Thus, she was very surprised as she had never expected Magnolia could move this quickly.

If Magnolia was so skilful, why did she risk her life and come to her and Nathaniel when Bettany had come after her to Ocean City?

This thought flashed through her mind before she came to a realization.

Perhaps Magnolia had been hiding something from them all this while!

Mango felt uneasy when she thought about this, especially because Magnolia was related to her. Furthermore, Magnolia looked exactly like her own mother. At this thought, she felt pressured and suffocated as this incident was troubling her.

On the other hand, Magnolia was cautious as she kept taking little pauses along the way. She was afraid that someone would tail her, so Mango would have been exposed if she had not been alert. Then, Mango broke out in a cold sweat, but deep down, she was extremely shocked.

Given Magnolia's skills, even Bettany would be able to injure her twice! However, when Magnolia had arrived at Ocean City, Mango remembered vividly that Magnolia claimed to have been stabbed by Bettany. The more she thought about it, the more upset she felt.

As Mango continued to follow closely behind, she quickly noticed that Magnolia had led her to the forest.

That should be the forest not far away from Longford County. If she was not mistaken, it could also lead them to the mountain behind Longford County.

So why did Magnolia come here?

Was it because of the gold mine as well?

Mango was clueless about Magnolia's intentions, but she could feel a great pang gripping her heart. Suddenly, her heart tightened as

Magnolia was very familiar with her way around the forest as if it was her home. On the other hand, Mango was having difficulty catching up.

There were several times where she had almost given herself away but had narrowly escaped. Finally, Magnolia came to a stop in the depths of the forest after walking for an hour or so.

Meanwhile, Mango could feel the piercing wind blowing, and she quickly found a shelter to hide.

Then, Magnolia looked around warily before she whistled, and a black hooded figure appeared just then.

However, Mango could not see the person's face clearly as it was dark. Therefore, she kept wondering who Magnolia was meeting up with.

Could it be one of her subordinates?

However, before Mango could make head or tail of the situation, she saw Magnolia kneeling before the person with a panicked expression.

"I didn't expect that you would dare to come here!"

The hooded figure in black sounded vicious and cold.

Mango frowned slightly when she heard this.

Why was Magnolia meeting a man here?

Furthermore, the man sounded quite old too!

What was the relationship between him and Magnolia?

Why was Magnolia so afraid of him?

Then, Magnolia trembled while she answered in a small voice, "Sir, you are my master. You have summoned me, so how would I dare to not come here?" "Hah! Master? Do you still think of me as your master?"

The man in black suddenly kicked Magnolia in the chest as he said these words.

Hence, Magnolia fell to the ground instantly and spat out blood as the man had kicked her hard.

When Mango saw this, her heart skipped a bit.

After all, Magnolia was her aunt by blood, and she felt uncomfortable. Thus, she felt as if she was the one who had been kicked, and she was in pain as well.

Wait... master?

Did Magnolia just address the man as her master?

Mango was very surprised when she heard this.

Magnolia, on the other hand, ignored the pain and got back up to kneel before saying in a low voice, "I was wrong."

"Heh! Now you're confessing your mistakes? Tell me, what have you done wrong? Why did you decide to be a sneaky villain when you can be a missus instead? Besides, you could have helped me fulfil my wish if you've managed your forces well, but you chose to give in to Bettany? What's wrong with you? Do you think it's fun playing tricks like this?"

The man in black sounded cold and harsh, which made Magnolia tremble with fear.

She suddenly bowed to the man in black and sobbed, "Master, I know I brought this upon myself, and I won't complain if I were to die as my punishment. But I have only one wish, which is to see Barack for the last time."

"It seems that you are really in love with that man. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't be willing to follow and serve me, would you?"

The man in black stared at Magnolia coldly like a hawk peering at it's prey, not allowing a single movement under his gaze. Magnolia, on the other hand, readily answered him without any hesitation.

"Yes! Barack is the man I love the most!"

"How dare you!"

The man once again kicked Magnolia to the ground. The kick was so forceful that she could not straighten herself to get up.

Even Mango could sense his anger.

"Love? You're just my lackey, so how dare you fall in love with someone? Magnolia, do you think you could do the same as twenty years ago? At that time, you were all alone, and you were afraid of nothing. Well, I wonder whether you will give up your son, Lebanon, for Barack right now? Hmm?"

"No!"

Magnolia instantly became agitated after hearing this.

She struggled before getting up and grabbing onto the man's ankle tightly. Then, she begged,

"Please... please don't hurt Lebanon! He's got nothing to do with this. Since you don't like him, I'll ask him to leave Angolla and stay away from you. I beg you, please don't hurt him. I swear, I never wanted him to be involved in this power struggle at all!"

Magnolia broke down and sobbed when she heard Lebanon's name.

Alas! She was not a qualified mother!

Ever since the day Lebanon was born, he had been taken care of by the nanny. When Lebanon had grown up and was about to enter school, Magnolia could not personally attend to him due to her status. However, how could the king's wife care about Lebanon sincerely anyways?

Therefore, Lebanon had been bullied since he had been a child. However, as his mother, all she could do was to look at him coldly as she couldn't do anything.

Although she was the king's seventh wife, she was only one of his playthings.

In the past, she had always been afraid that Lebanon would die in the mansion. After Magnolia had watched Lebanon getting in danger over and over again, she felt that perhaps she should not have given birth to him in the first place.

However, she couldn't decide whether to give birth

or now.

However, the man had no sympathy towards Magnolia at all. He squatted down and cupped her chin instead.

He then softened as he saw Magnolia's tears streaming down her face under the moonlight.

"I know what you're thinking. You don't want Lebanon to die in Angolla, so that's why you bullied him and forced him into the slums. From there, he met Alfred, who would eventually take him away from Angolla and lead him to join the entertainment industry. Am I right?"

Magnolia trembled more vigorously at that point.

The man's tenderness disappeared in a flash, and then he cupped her chin viciously as he spoke coldly.

"Then tell me, did you predict that Lebanon would fall in love with a man because of Alfred? Or would you have thought that Alfred would become the reason for Lebanon's desperate revenge? If it wasn't for Alfred, perhaps Lebanon would be living a hard life right now, but he definitely wouldn't be trapped in the fight for power. Heh! You were the one who sent someone to kill Alfred, right?"

Magnolia shuddered at his words. Meanwhile, Mango, who was hiding in the shadows, was stupefied.

Was Alfred murdered by Magnolia?!

Didn't Bernard kill Alfred instead?

At this thought, Mango was shocked, but she quickly pulled herself together.

If what the man said was true, then Magnolia had a solid reason to murder Alfred.

After all, Magnolia had entrusted Lebanon to Alfred, but he was the one who had caused Lebanon to become a homosexual. Alas! How could a mother withstand such agony?

Was that the actual cause of Alfred's death?

No wonder they could only find Bernard's killing motive, but he could never fit into the timeline of the murder.

If Mango had not tailed Magnolia, today she would never know that her aunt was the one who had ordered the murder of Alfred.

Alas! She could not imagine how Lebanon would take this if he found out that his mother had killed the person he loved the most!

Right now, Mango could not help but feel a little sad.

On the other hand, Magnolia did not utter a word after the man had spoken.

He seemed to be a little disappointed with her reaction as he flung her hands away and said coldly, "Don't you ever try to escape from me for the rest of your life. Well, you can enjoy your freedom while I'm still in a good mood. If I change my mind, I can capture you back, no matter where you are! I know that you have powerful people supporting you now. Also, I heard that you went to Ocean City to send Brantley a gift? Have you decided to find your roots now? Besides, I heard that you've gotten quite close to Mango and Nathaniel. Is that your backup plan? Or are you trying to help your son?"

"No, that's not true! I've promised that Lebanon will not fight for power. I will make him give up even if he wants to."

Magnolia replied in a firm voice.

Mango felt upset immediately when she heard this.

After all, Lebanon had already been caught up in this deadly fight the moment he decided to avenge Alfred. Suddenly, Mango realized why Magnolia had refused to help Lebanon, even though she could do so. It turned out that she had never wanted Lebanon to become the new ruler of Angolla in the first place.

However, the man was not intrigued by her reply at all as he said in an unfathomable tone, "Well if he wants to, we can just let him fight then. Haha! I'd like to see how capable he is anyway. If he really succeeds, perhaps he can be the ruler of Angolla after all!"