The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Maverick looked at Lilian, who was unconscious, with a trace of sadness in his eyes. Then, he said in a low voice, "I don't know. Maybe Lilian and Augustus are enemies now because something happened between them. Even if she let him go, she probably wasn't trying to save him. Perhaps she had some other plans in mind?"

Right now, Maverick had no affection and respect for Augustus anymore. Although he swallowed the Golden Lancehead Venom and was unconscious for quite some time, he was still clear about everything that happened. He knew how Augustus treated him then and how the latter had dealt with his injuries. Hence, he lost his trust in Augustus from that moment on. Although Augustus raised him for the past thirty years, it seemed that he had repaid his debt. From now on, they no longer had any relationship with each other.

Meanwhile, Mango glanced at Maverick's cold expression. Maverick looked the same as how Nathaniel did a few years ago.

In fact, both of them were actually quite similar at times. For instance, they looked cold and indifferent after their loved ones had hurt

them. Despite putting on a brave front, she knew that they were actually deeply hurt inside.

Hence, Mango felt that there was something that she had to tell Maverick.

She pondered for a moment and whispered, "Maverick, there is something I think you should know."

"What is it?"

"It's about Augustus."

Mango knew that it was taboo to talk about Augustus right now, but she knew that Maverick had to deal with this problem sooner or later. Even if he wanted to avoid it, he could not escape it forever. Therefore, Maverick was a little surprised. His gaze changed, and he said faintly, "What's the matter with him? Didn't he run away?"

"Do you know about his true identity?"

Maverick was puzzled by Mango's question.

"What do you mean?"

"I sent people to investigate Augustus Abbott's identity. Augustus passed away 30 years ago, and all his relatives disappeared overnight. But the Augustus' that we're familiar with stolen his person's identity and lived around for years. Back

then, the Internet was still not advanced, and it was difficult to track past documents. That's why there was a loophole. Now that Lilian has released Augustus, we still don't know what his real identity is. Alas! I don't have any clues at all!"

Maverick's eyes suddenly narrowed when he heard what Mango had said.

"What did you say? Are you telling to tell me that Augustus is dead?"

"Well, the real Augustus is dead, and we're not sure of the true identity of the current Augustus."

Maverick was stunned right now.

If Augustus had died thirty years ago, then who was his father?

Who was the man who raised him all these years?

Suddenly, Maverick felt that everything was ridiculous!

He had lived for thirty years with this man, but he did not even know who his father was or what the latter's true colours were.

This explained why Augustus was mean and indifferent to him. In fact, he did not care about Maverick! at all. Well, how could a person who could abandon his own identity for thirty years care about a b*stard like Maverick?

Maybe the reason why Augustus and Madeline were together back then was for the mines of Longford County. Thus, it seemed they he was just a result of unintended pregnancy, so he was also an unwanted baby.

It was a pity that Longford County had not told the secret to Augustus, so Maverick had managed to survive till now.

If that was the case, he lived his whole life just for one purpose. All he had done was to create trouble for Nathaniel. Furthermore, he had allowed Augustus to use him to unravel the secret of Longford County! After thinking through the whole picture, Maverick suddenly felt that he was in such a ridiculous situation.

Previously, he had never been an emotional person. However, he couldn't hold it in anymore. After all, the intense pain and sorrow was slowly engulfing his soul and tearing him apart.

Was this why they had chosen to give birth to him?

If a man like Augustus could easily abandon his own child, this meant that he had quite a difficult goal to accomplish!

Well, Augustus was definitely aiming for not just the money in the mine.

Wait, why did he want that money?

Could he buy true love with money?

Nah, he couldn't even buy family relationships!

Maverick was Augustus's only son, but Augustus didn't care about him in the slightest. If he wasn't Augustus favourite child, perhaps Augustus would already have other children before meeting Madeline. These strange thoughts suddenly surfaced into Maverick's mind, so he was stunned.

Then, he quickly suppressed the fumbling thoughts and the pouring emotions that was about to explode.

"Are you all right, Maverick?"

Mango noticed his terrible expression, and she quickly helped him up.

Then, Maverick sneered and replied in a self-deprecating tone, "Maybe all of us have been fooled by Augustus. I think I'm probably I'm not his only child. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so cold to me. Even if my mother wasn't his beloved woman, he shouldn't have treated me like a stranger! He is too mean and ruthless to me!"

"Are you suspecting that he's not your biological father?"

"I hope so. I have done the paternity test with him, had we do have a parent-child relationship. I just think that Augustus may have other sons besides me. Furthermore, I am afraid that he has other plans, so he wants something more than the money in the gold mines."

At this thought, Maverick looked at the sky outside. It was dark and gloomy, and it was going to rain. Well, the stormy weather clearly represented his upset mood at the moment.

"There's something that both of you don't know, but I do. Augustus has been going all over the world to earn money. In fact, I think he is obsessed with money. He does all kinds of businesses, jobs, and he's super proficient when it comes to murder. As long as someone can afford to pay him, he will do whatever it takes to make it work for them, including murder. He also used his profession as a geologist to hunt for mineral veins. To get the ownership of those mines, he did anything you could imagine. He would force people to listen to him and sign the contract. Therefore, he has been desperately earning money all the time. Although he lived a luxurious life, he could always earn back the money that he had spent a lot quicker. However, I don't know where all the money went."

Meanwhile, Maverick stared fixedly at Mango as he spoke.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" "I don't quite get it. Maybe Augustus has a secret

account/"

Maverick shook his head after hearing Mango's guess.

"Nah, I've checked all of his bank accounts. His assets are only worth a few million, so that doesn't explain his high income at all. In the past, I suspected that he might have transferred the money through another account. But I'm his only son. If he doesn't leave the money to me, who else would he be giving to? Also, who the hell needs so much money?"

Maverick suddenly thought of the missing puzzle pieces that he had been ignoring all this time.

After all, he had doubts about Augustus, but there was no evidence. However, Augustus had definitely done some suspicious activities that no one knew about.

Mango frowned slightly after hearing this.

"Do you think Augustus transferred the money to Benny Powell?"

"No, Benny is already dead."

Mango was shocked by this news.

She and Nathaniel had just got some news about Benny. Therefore, she never expected Maverick to tell her such shocking news!

"Dead? How is that possible?"

If Benny was dead, then who was the one instructed those people in the city? Wasn't the Powell Family behind this?

If the Powell Family were the mastermind, who would they be working for after Benny's death?

Suddenly, Mango was once again confused and lost when she thought about these matters.

However, Maverick didn't seem to notice her reaction, so he continued in a low voice, "To be exact, Benny died after Longford County was destroyed. I once heard Augustus mention that Benny got into trouble and was targeted because he failed in carrying out some sort of mission in Longford County. Therefore, Augustus helped him to hide abroad. However, their negotiation fell apart after he went abroad. Therefore, Augustus killed Benny without hesitation. Well, he had also killed all of Benny's men!"

Mango felt that Augustus was too terrifying and cold-blooded.

After all, Benny had escaped abroad with his entire family, and his wife had just given birth back then. Wouldn't that mean that even the child was...

"Did Augustus really leave no one alive? I heard that Benny's wife just gave birth to a baby back then."

"The baby you mentioned was probably the first person Augustus killed, and Augustus had even killed him in front of Benny. The Powell couple was extremely mad. Benny fought desperately with Augustus out of anger, but in the end, he still lost to August and died. After that, Augustus concealed this matter for years. Thus, no one had managed to find Benny. This happened not because they were incompetent, but because Benny had died a long time ago."

Maverick was very young at that time. Hence, he had overheard Augustus telling a woman about this because the latter was drunk.

Furthermore, he still remembered who that woman was. The Santell Capital had sent this woman to Augustus so that she could find out Benny's whereabouts. Unfortunately, Augustus discovered her real intentions. Therefore, Augustus told her all the information she wanted to know and subsequently killed her in bed. However, no one thought that Maverick would overhear these things while he was chasing after a vermin that had gone into Augustus' room. Since he failed to escape, he could only hide under the bed and listen to them.

Maverick was only nine years old at that time, and he didn't know who Benny was. However, he was afraid that Augustus would discover him.

Therefore, he hid until the woman's corpse had been taken away. Then, he climbed out of the door and ran away after Augustus left.

In the following years, a few other women came to Augustus to investigate Benny's whereabouts. Unfortunately, none of them had a good ending, and no one survived.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps those women were sent by Santell Capital. However, Augustus was a cunning man, so he did not trust any of those women at all.

At that time, Maverick always thought that Augustus only had feelings for Madeline. He even thought that Augustus hung out with those woman just to forget about his sadness. However, he finally discovered that Augustus didn't care about those woman around him. Besides, he never allowed anyone to have his children, and Maverick was an exception. Therefore, it seemed that Augustus really had no other children other than him.

Maverick still remembered that a woman had once gotten pregnant with Augustus' child, and she thought that she could be his legitimate wife by doing so. However, Augustus had beaten her to death instead! Therefore, she suffered a miscarriage and excessive bleeding. Despite that, Augustus didn't even look at her and threw her out cruelly.

Alas! How could a man not want his own child?

Besides, Maverick once thought that although Augustus was strict with him, it was his way of showing love. Now, it seemed that he had been stupid and whimsical. Well, perhaps Augustus had never wanted a child at all!"

Suddenly, Maverick became interested in Augustus's true identity.

If the person in front of him wasn't Augustus, if the latter didn't allow any of his children to be born, then who was he? Did he have other children in this world?