Chapter 256
Chapter 256
Nathaniel did not speak until he heard Madam Hans say that.
"Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Mango’s parents. Right now, the most important thing is that Mango is still alive, but her identity issue is not settled yet. Her parents have deleted her identity registration here and Abyss withdrew her substitute identity back in the United States. Right now, Mango is an illegal immigrant and we have to solve this problem first before we can look for her. I’m sure the Shen family will understand."
Madam Hans became anxious as she heard this.
"Do you have any updates on Mango’ s whereabouts?"
"No, but I'm sure that she will contact us at the earliest opportunity.”
Nathaniel’s words made everyone fall silent for a moment.
Queena said softly, "I’m actually working on the issue of her identity. So, I’ve already told my superiors about her problem, and I really want to give my daughter a legitimate identity. However, my question is, will Mango register as her current identity of Mango Shen, or will she change her name so that she can be part of the Hans family?"
This question made Madam Hans a little flustered.
If Madam Hans had it her way, of course, she would want Mango to carry the surname of Hans, but now Mango was nowhere to be found and Mango had no idea about her real identity. Furthermore, Madam Hans didn't know how the Shen family would react to this. Thus, no one had any idea how to deal with this as there were too many unknown variables.
"I think the best course of action now is for me to talk to the Shen family first before we discuss this question any further. Plus, it’ll take a few days for the authorities to finish their investigation into this,
so we need to work together to get the best possible result for Mango. Other than that, I will expedite the search for her, because Mango deserves to know what's going on."
Nathaniel’s words made both parties nod in agreement.
After the meeting, Madam Hans insisted for Queena to stay with her at the Hans family mansion. In the end, Queena could not refuse her request and she followed Madam Hans back home.
Terrance and Nathaniel walked behind the two women. Then, Terrance said with a wry smile," I can' t believe that the first woman I was attracted to in my entire life turns out to be my niece!"
"This just means that you're destined to be nothing more than just her uncle."
Nathaniel was obviously in a good mood.
Coincidentally, he had managed to get rid of another rival for Mango's love and he subsequently felt relieved.
Terrance did not have much of a reaction to Nathaniel's teasing, but he muttered softly, "Anyway, I am more reasonable than my brother Walter. He's been in a very bad mood recently, and he hasn't had the opportunity to meet you. If he knew that you came back alone and Mango is in trouble, I reckon he's going to be very cross with you."
"Speaking of Walter, I don’t understand why he's so obsessed with Mango. Isn’t he a playboy? He could have any woman he wanted."
Nathaniel had never thought of Walter as a rival nor did he think that Walter would have anything but fleeting feelings towards Mango. However, he still noticed every single thing that Walter had done for Mango throughout the years.
Terrance replied in a subdued voice, "He told me that he had an interaction with Mango when he was younger and that she actually saved his life."
"Is that so?"
To be honest, this surprised Nathaniel.
After they walked out of the Hillion Hotel, Terrance asked Nathaniel another question. “Do you need me to go with you to meet Mango's parents?"
"There is no need for that. Plus, you' re from the Hans family so your presence might make matters worse for me. If you have the time, please see Master Mo at Santell Capital so that he can have the authorities finish their investigation quicker, because the most important thing right now is to restore Mango's identity to her."
Unfortunately, Nathaniel's attention was needed elsewhere so the only thing he could do right now was to let Terrance handle this. Furthermore, the Hans family had more influence than the Ye family, so it was easier for Terrance to make requests of them.
Too many people in the Hans family had sacrificed themselves for the country, and so far Mango and Terrance were the only ones left in this generation. Regardless, Nathaniel believed that the authorities would give Mango an identity as a sign of respect to the Hans family.
Terrance nodded. Then, the two of them went their separate ways.
After that, Nathaniel met with Mango’s parents at the Shen family household.
After Nanny Zhang’ s escape and their return to Ocean City, Terrance had wished for the Shen family' s parents to stay with the Hans family. However, they still felt more comfortable in their own home so they returned there instead.
Usually, they would go to the Ye family's mansion to see Rita whenever they missed her, and Madam Ye would occasionally have someone send Rita to the Shen household to spend the night there. So, it could be said that the old couple lived a rather blissful life.
When Mango’s parents realized that Nathaniel had come to visit them, they went outside to greet him personally.
Mrs. Shen looked forward to seeing Mango, but when she couldn’t find her, she asked Nathaniel, "Didn't Mango come with you?"
Nathaniel’s voice was full of guilt as he looked into Mrs. Shen’ s worried gaze. "Something has happened to Mango." These words nearly caused the old lady to collapse on the floor.
"What happened? Oh no, I knew I had a bad feeling about this before we left! Nathaniel, what happened to my daughter?"
Mrs. Shen started to sob.
Mr. Shen held her as he sighed, "How about we talk about this after Nathan has come inside the house? Please don't stress yourself out, if he is here then it means that there's still hope for Mango."
Nathaniel nodded at Mr. Shen's words and he said, "Mom, let’s discuss this inside." NôvelDrama.Org © content.
After that, Mrs. Shen followed Nathaniel and Mr. Shen into the house.
Then, Nathaniel told them about everything that happened in the United States, including the truth about Mango’s identity and the problems that she was facing.
In fact, the Shen's family parents always had a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong when Mango’s DNA did not match theirs in the genetics test. However, they only realized the extent of the
situation after Nathaniel told them the true story.
"Are you saying that our child died immediately after birth?"
Frankly, Mrs. Shen could not accept this fact no matter how hard she tried.
On the other hand, Nathaniel had no idea how to comfort her.
Mrs. Shen sobbed forlornly as Mr. Shen tried his best to soothe her.
"We've raised Mango for more than twenty years! How can the Hans family just take her away from us? We’ ve always thought of Mango as our biological daughter, so do you know how much this is hurting us? When we were in America, we only signed the document that Yetta gave us because she said it was to help Mango restore her identity. We wouldn’t have signed it at all if we knew that it would be used to hurt Mango! Oh, my dear, what can we do to help our daughter now?"
Mr. Shen was obviously distressed when he heard his wife's pitiful cries.
"Regardless of what you’re saying, Mango became part of the Shen family the moment she took our surname! She has been our daughter since we first laid eyes on her at the hospital, so I won’t object if Mango wants to reapply to restore her identity. But if you want her to carry the Hans surname, then we..."
Mr. Shen's words trailed off.
Of course, Nathaniel understood that Mango’s parents would be in a very bad mood after they heard this, but he wasn't sure what to do with them.
Just then, Nathaniel’s phone rang.
The phone call was from Madam Hans.
Nathaniel didn't know why Madam Hans had called him, and he was afraid that the two families would be at odds over the issue of Mango’s surname. However, Nathaniel had no choice but to answer the call.
"Madam Hans." "Nathan, I’ve discussed with Queena about the issue. In the end, we’ve agreed that we don't have the right to make this decision for Mango as she still doesn't know her true identity. For now, her application would still be under the name of Mango Shen, and Mango is free to decide whether she wants to keep that name or change it to Hans after she comes back. As long as she can be part of our family again, it doesn’t matter what surname she carries. After all, we can’t neglect the fact that the Shen family’s taken great care of our Mango for the past twenty years."
Nathaniel became extremely relieved after he heard Madam Hans' words.
"All right, Madam Hans. I understand."
After he hung up, Nathaniel relayed Madam Hans' words to Mr. and Mrs. Shen.
At first, they were stunned by the news before they embraced and burst into tears of joy.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"
Nathaniel comforted them for a while more before he left the Shen family's home.
Meanwhile, there was still no news from Thomas, which meant that he had not discovered Mango's whereabouts.
Nathaniel was very perturbed at that.
Could it be that Mango did not board the ship alone?
Was it possible that she was kidnapped?
If not, why hadn't she contacted them at all? It had been several days since she was dumped into the ocean. No matter how serious her injuries were, Mango would have found an opportunity to contact them, right?
Nathaniel' s phone number had never changed and Mango was familiar with the Ye Family's contact numbers as well. Also, Mango could have called Rainie or her parents to let them know that she was safe and sound, but why was there no news from her?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. In fact, Nathaniel was willing to search every corner of Ocean City and the nearby ports for any sign of Mango.
It was at this moment that Madam Ye called Nathaniel.
"Nathan, I know that Mango’s disappearance has affected you greatly, but you must come home now to visit Rita. She has been very sick for the past two days. Even Wisdom is by her side, she still keeps calling out for her mother. Please hurry home, Rita needs you."
Nathaniel felt even more upset when he heard Madam Ye's words.
Could it be that Rita was sick because she sensed that her mother was in dire straits?
In any case, Nathaniel rushed back to the Ye Family' s mansion.
By then, Rita was already unconscious.
On her journey back to the mainland, Rita had been unwell. She felt incredibly seasick owing to the fact that she had never been on a boat. This caused her to have a high fever immediately after they arrived.
Thus, Madam Ye wasted no time in sending Rita to the hospital. After the doctor examined Rita and her past medical records, he concluded that Rita's kidneys were deteriorating fast and she needed
to have surgery as soon as possible.
However, Rita adamantly refused to stay in the hospital, so Madam Ye had no choice but to take her home. After that, Madam Ye hired the best doctors to administer home treatment to Rita.
Nathaniel's heart ached as he saw that Rita had lost the weight that she so painstakingly tried to gain.
Then, he sat next to Rita as he stroked her head, "My darling little girl, you need to be strong okay? Your mommy is very worried about you, so if you become strong and healthy again, I'm sure mommy will be very happy when she comes back to see you."
Meanwhile, Wisdom stood next to Rita’s bed as he listened to Nathaniel. Then, he said, "Daddy, Rita is looking for Zion ever since the moment she came home, but we told her that he has gone for a holiday camp. Please make sure that you don't contradict our story, okay?"
Nathaniel observed Wisdom and he was impressed to note that the child had really matured since the last time they met. Surprisingly, Wisdom knew how to allay Nathaniel's fears over Rita's sickness.
"Okay, sorry to trouble you with that."
"It's no trouble. After all, I am Rita's elder brother."
Wisdom smiled bashfully and he was pleased to receive Nathaniel's praise. However, Rita had no idea that Nathaniel had returned because she was still unconscious. Instead, she just kept crying out for her mother which upset Nathaniel greatly.
After he got up and left Rita’s room, the house landline suddenly rang.
Who could that be?
Was Mango finally calling them?
Nathaniel's heart quickened in his chest and he quickly walked towards the phone.