Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 117: Do your best and leave the rest to karma.

Chapter 117: Do your best and leave the rest to karma.

Family?

Zoe Bell was taken aback for a few seconds upon hearing these words, then she smiled and said, "The noodles will not taste good if we don’t eat them now."

"But..." Zac Cruz wanted to speak again, but was stopped by a look from William Hale, so he tactfully left. It was a long while before Zoe put down her chopsticks and said, "Director Hall once told me that I was an orphan with no parents and no relatives."

"Therefore, I’ve never thought about looking for my relatives over the years."

"Someone who beats around the bush like that, how credible can they really be?"

She laughed at herself mockingly.

Laughing at how she had been deceived for so long and had such poor judgment of character.

"Relatives? They’re probably just trying to control me so that I’d help her, or help her children through tough times." She understood Director Hall’s intentions.

"Could you tell me why you began to suspect Director Hall?"

Zoe never wanted to believe that Director Hall could embezzle donations or use her for personal gain.

Even holding evidence, she wanted to dig out the truth for herself.

William Hale pinched food for the fish, and several little fish swam over as if they knew, scrambling to eat.

"At the time, I had Zac Cruz deliver a cheque written in your name as the donor, but she was only interested in what kind of person Zac Cruz was and what his relationship was with you."

She didn’t even care in the slightest about how Zoe was doing!

Or where she got so much money from!

William continued, "Of course, Zac didn’t tell her, but he made it a point to inform her that he needed an itemized expenditure for every donation."

"He said that Director Hall acted a bit strange at that time."

"Also, he asked to review the expenditure details of donations from previous years, which should be made public every year. Over the years, the Bell Family apparently only donated without delving into where the money went, but Zac spotted issues just from a cursory glance."

Zoe nodded.

No wonder she felt that William and Zac were not to be trifled with.

They had spotted something amiss after just one meeting.

"Then why didn’t you tell me?" Zoe looked at him.

"I was afraid... you would react the way you are now."

Her breathing tightened.

William cared about her feelings, but Director Hall, whom she had known for years, only thought about how to use her for maximising her own interests.

She had only eaten a few bites of noodles before she said she was tired and went back to her room to rest early.

Wrapped in her blanket, the emotions she had been suppressing exploded in an instant.

Tears quickly soaked through the blanket.

William Hale didn’t go in. He stood in the hallway for a long time, his silhouette gradually engulfed by darkness as the sunset slanted down.

Time seemed to move extremely slowly until his phone vibrated. It was a call from Lucas Bell, "Hello, brother-in-law, I just found out something happened, and I haven’t been able to contact my sister. How is she?"

"It would be false to say she’s fine, but don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her."

"Thanks, brother-in-law."

"It’s what I should do."

"Are you and my sister... coming back to Capital City for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"Yeah."

"When are you leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Okay, then I’ll come to see you off."

Kevin Bell was in the hospital for surgery, and Vivi Lange was not in good health. Although Lucas was young, he had to take charge of the family at this time.

Therefore, William directly told him, "Just tell me if you need any help."

Lucas hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "If possible, could you help me find someone experienced to deal with the company’s affairs? I’m thinking..."

"About filing for bankruptcy."

But he didn’t know anything about it and needed to find someone trustworthy and dependable.

"Does your father agree?" William asked bluntly.

"He doesn’t have a choice."

"I’ll arrange it for you."

Then, William let Zac deal with the Bell Family’s affairs.

"Handle the Bell Family’s matters well, and I naturally won’t let you down. Do a good job, and I’ll add a bonus for you this month."

Zac smiled on the surface, but internally he was complaining:

Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching and he hadn’t even had a single mooncake, yet his boss was already enticing him with promises.

——

It was only after night had fallen that William Hale returned to his room; Zoe hadn’t eaten, nor had she fallen asleep.

When he climbed into bed and lifted the covers, a long arm stretched out, and he pulled Zoe Bell into his embrace. Zoe had just cried for a while, so her eyes must have been red and swollen and unattractive. She bit her lip and buried her head completely in William Hale’s chest.

Their bodies instantly clung tightly to one another.

His body temperature was scorching, and he held her so tight...

Soon, Zoe felt uncomfortable. She wriggled, trying to break free.

The light rubbing was akin to a form of implicit seduction.

"Not sleeping yet?" He lowered his head slightly, looking at the person resting on his arm.

"It’s a bit hot."

"The more you rub, the hotter it gets."

"..."

His voice, roughened and husky from her rubbing, made Zoe feel like she had fallen into a blaze, her entire skin burning hot.

"I haven’t congratulated you on winning the competition," William Hale said deeply, "Zoe, congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Do you want any reward?"

She really wasn’t in the mood to talk about rewards at that moment and simply shook her head.

But William Hale said, "However, I do want to reward you."

As he spoke, he lifted her chin and bent down to kiss her.

His lips, thin and soft...

But burning hot.

Her breath was stolen, her consciousness invaded.

He kissed her urgently, and Zoe felt like she was running out of air. Her palm pushed against his chest, trying to put some distance between them, but William Hale’s hand on her waist tightened further.

The distance was closed once again.

With a roll, he pressed her beneath him.

Very heavy.

The silence around them was too profound, so quiet that she could hear her own heartbeat, pounding and noisy.

His breath was fiery hot, falling on her face like spreading wildfire.

The so-called reward...

Was it this kiss, or was it him?

As his kiss descended again, her breath turned feverish. The moon was nearly full, with moonlight flowing into the room, blurring her vision.

"Zoe..." he breathed shallowly against her, "you’ve done nothing wrong, don’t beat yourself up."

"Don’t look back, don’t think about it."

"Just be yourself, leave the rest to karma."

Zoe paused and then stretched out her arms to hold William Hale tightly.

"Have a good night’s sleep," William Hale turned his head and kissed her cheek, "I’ll stay with you."

I won’t leave you,

I’ll always be by your side.

**

Two big events occurred in Greenland that day.

One was that Kevin Bell and the orphanage director got into a fight and were injured. Kevin was hospitalized, and Director Hall was under investigation for embezzlement of donations, reportedly involving amounts up to ten million.

It was said that Kevin had injured his thigh, and even with surgery, he would likely be left with a disability.

People could only remark:

What goes around comes around; the cover-up of Zoe’s illness back in the day had finally come to fruition upon himself.

The second event was the official bankruptcy and liquidation filing of Bell Group.

Both related to Zoe, they naturally implicated William Hale.

Both matters drew significant attention.

Perhaps because someone was with her, Zoe slept soundly. When she awoke and went downstairs, she found a two or three-year-old boy in the living room.

William Hale was reviewing documents beside him, while the child sat quietly on the sofa watching television. Nanny Parker had prepared fruit and snacks for him, but he clung to a small slice of apple, nibbling on it for ages.

"Hello, Auntie," he hastily got up when he saw Zoe.

"Who is this...?"

Zoe didn’t recognize him.

William Hale walked over, his voice low, "Director Hall’s grandson."

She paused.

"His son was summoned for detention, and his daughter-in-law came looking. I had Nanny Parker send her away, but she wouldn’t leave and kept waiting outside with the child, so I let the child in first."