Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 246 - 245 Sheltering Her from the Rain: With Forethought, Rushing with Fluttering Hearts (3 updates)

Chapter 246: 245 Sheltering Her from the Rain: With Forethought, Rushing with Fluttering Hearts (3 updates)

Zoe Bell ultimately didn’t take the umbrella, using her bag to shield her head as she dashed into the rain. Her slender figure was soon swallowed by the downpour, and William Hale chuckled as he watched her retreating back.

"This temperament of hers will lead to trouble sooner or later."

William Hale was on sick leave at home, with nothing particular on his mind, yet for some reason, he made several trips to the grand theater.

There weren’t many people watching the ballet, so he always managed to get a front-row seat.

Not every day did that girl take the stage.

Four days later, after the final performance ended, he saw a group of girls, laughing and cheerful, getting into several luxury cars that had been waiting at the theater’s entrance. It seemed they were heading to a dinner party, as nearly everyone joined.

Naturally, Zoe went too.

On the way home, the driver glanced at the person in the back seat.

"What’s got into Young Master lately?"

"Have you fallen in love with ballet?"

"Keep my business to yourself, don’t tell the family," William Hale instructed.

"Understood," the driver said with a chuckle.

He was just making conversation, "Today is their last performance, wrapping up nicely. They’re probably going to dinner."

William Hale remained silent, feeling inexplicably...

Empty inside.

Because he knew that the girl would be returning to Greenland tomorrow, and he probably wouldn’t see her again.

"Looks like the cars belong to the Wells Family."

"Which Wells Family?" There were several Wells in the Circle of Capital City.

"The one with a son named Ryan Wells, quite the troublemaker. Those girls got into his car, I’m afraid it’s nothing good. But with so many of them, they should be fine, probably just an ordinary dinner."

William Hale stayed quiet.

He had reached home and then called a friend to inquire about Ryan Wells.

But his friend just laughed, "What do you want with that bastard? He’s been ruining young girls for years, targeting the inexperienced ones. The Wells Family has smoothed over many incidents for him. But the way he’s acting, he’s bound to run into big trouble."

William Hale’s breath tightened, he turned around, grabbed the car keys, and left the house.

When he arrived at the hotel, Ryan Wells’s men were escorting several girls back to their rooms.

Conflict—

Was on the brink of erupting.

"Mr. Hale, if you’re up for it, we could share the fun. Whoever catches your eye, I’ll let you pick first," Ryan Wells, with his girlfriend Pearl Lopez by his side, grinned smugly.

Everyone in society said William Hale was like the clear and peaceful moonlight; they never expected...

He knew how to enjoy himself in private.

"Let them go."

Ryan Wells had been drinking and was reckless to boot; after all, if anything went wrong, his family would bail him out. At hearing those words, he snickered, "Mr. Hale, what are you talking about? Let them go?"

The spoils were in his mouth, there was no way he’d spit them out.

Especially in front of his girlfriend—if he really listened to William Hale, where would he put his pride? So he commanded, "Carry them all into the room."

That was when William Hale made his move.

Ryan Wells’s subordinates knew his identity and did not dare to overstep.

Yet they couldn’t disobey Ryan Wells’s orders either.

William Hale had rushed over in haste, alone and outnumbered, but he knew well, to catch the thief, first catch the king. He fought his way to Ryan Wells, grabbed him by the collar, and landed a heavy punch.

Pearl Lopez screamed and hid to one side.

"Damn it, William Hale, have you gone mad? We have no quarrel, why are you hitting me?"

"What’s wrong with hitting a piece of trash like you?"

"Don’t think the Hale Family is so powerful that I wouldn’t dare touch you."

Ryan Wells, after a night of heavy drinking and wild partying, was physically drained and no match for William Hale. Taking several punches and unable to tolerate it anymore, he picked up a steel fork that had been on the table for dining and stabbed it towards William Hale.

Pearl Lopez let out a terrified scream.

Ryan Wells was already slow to react and was startled by her scream. The steel fork didn’t reach William Hale’s hand before it was snatched away by him.

He was enraged,

Having already thrown punches, he wanted to see what kind of fighting style this haughty young lord had!

After several exchanges,

William Hale realized he was striking to kill,

Even,

Wanting to take his opponent’s life.

When his punch landed on Ryan Wells’s eye, inflicting pain on the eyeball itself, Ryan Wells howled in pain, and blood began to flow from the eyelid area. His subordinates, terrified, rushed to help and grabbed William Hale!

Ryan Wells’s gaze shifted to the glass shards scattered on the floor.

He snatched one and stabbed at William Hale’s face!

He was a complete madman.

Right then, the friend William Hale had initially called, arrived at the hotel with reinforcements, having heard there was a fight upstairs. He swore under his breath.

"Darn it—

William Hale, you haven’t gone head-to-head with that madman Ryan Wells, have you? That’s a real nutcase."

He knew as soon as William Hale called him to suddenly ask about Ryan Wells that trouble was about to unfold.

When he burst into the private room, he found a crowd gathered outside, prevented by the hotel staff from getting in. As he pushed through, he saw William Hale pinning Ryan Wells to the table...

With glass shards in his hand,

One end embedded close to Ryan Wells’s heart.

Ryan Wells’s shirt was torn by the shards, half of his body covered in blood, his face twisted in pain, as he screamed pleas for help.

William Hale, drenched in blood, had a look of murderous intent, none daring to approach.

In the winter season, it felt as if the cold had invaded the room.

Everyone fell as silent as cicadas in winter, too afraid to even breathe.

"Hale—" he rushed forward to stop him, "That’s enough!"

If this keeps up,

someone’s going to die!

William Hale was always levelheaded, so why did he suddenly go mad? In that instant, he felt as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had sunk, and his breathing became rapid.

"Ryan Wells, the next time you see me, walk the other way!" William Hale finally released his grip, the shattered glass leaving his hands covered in blood, while Ryan Wells screamed in pain and was rushed to the hospital.

The wound inflicted by William Hale was less than half an inch from the heart.

He really...

almost took Ryan’s life.

Seeing the blood, the police got involved, and the Wells Family did not dare to pursue it; after all, digging further into the matter would backfire on Ryan, who had struck first, while William acted in self-defense and was not prosecuted.

However, after that night, his ruthlessness became well-known within the Circle of Capital City.

They say kill one to warn a hundred,

Ryan Wells was that sacrificial chicken; from then on, no one in the entire Circle of Capital City dared underestimate the successor personally chosen by Old Sir Hale.

Many girls were involved that night, including some minors; the ballet troupe’s manager, acting as their temporary guardian, didn’t want to escalate the issue and refrained from telling them the truth.

The Wells Family was very powerful at the time, and kept the incident tightly under wraps; many people didn’t even know there had been bloodshed in the hotel that night.

So, before Ryan Wells showed up...

Zoe Bell had no idea that at that seemingly ordinary celebration,

someone had nearly killed for her.

That someone had shielded her from the biggest storm of her life up until then.

William Hale was also injured and spent some time in the hospital. By the time he was discharged, Zoe had already returned to Greenland, and he continued to don armor and engage in business battles.

Only after smoothly taking over the company from his uncle did he have the chance to visit Greenland.

By then...

she had someone else beside her.

So this was her "boyfriend"?

That man would pick her up and drop her off regardless of the weather; dance with her, prepare various surprises for her; he was ardently pursuing her, always able to touch people’s hearts easily.

Later, she injured her leg.

William Hale had initially wanted to send Peter Lewis to Greenland to treat her but then heard that she was getting engaged, so he didn’t send Peter after all.

Late into the night, William Hale stood outside the hospital for a long time.

He smoked a whole pack of cigarettes;

before returning to the Capital City, he sent a basket of flowers with the message:

"Wishing you a speedy recovery, a carefree life, and a bright future."

There was no signature.

The basket of flowers was lost among many others.

Just like him,

he was merely one of the many passersby in Zoe Bell’s life.

The ripples of attraction he felt were always accompanied by a sense of unwillingness; after that, he never experienced the same feeling again, so he kept track of her news over the years, until he heard the Bell Family had found their biological daughter...

His heart suddenly trembled violently.

He felt:

his chance might have come.

He made thorough preparations, and a premeditated act of deliberate love-snatching finally unfolded.

**

William Hale had slept deeply, and when he woke up, it was already past eight in the morning local time. The doctor came to do rounds; he frowned and picked up his phone, only to find out the call from last night had never been disconnected...

He frowned.

He fell asleep without hanging up the phone last night?

He picked it up, tentatively saying hello.

Unexpectedly, he heard a familiar laugh from the other end, "Are you awake?"

William’s heart raced, "Why didn’t you hang up?"

"Didn’t you say you wanted to hear my voice? I thought... you’d be happy if the first thing you heard when you opened your eyes was my voice."

Zoe Bell was always a bit shy, embarrassed to express her feelings. She mustered up the courage to say these words, but before William could reply, she quickly changed the subject.

"Lucas’s surgery went well, and he’ll be discharged in a couple of days. When are you coming back to the Capital City?"

"In the next few days, I suppose."

"Alright, I’m going to sleep now."

Back in her country, it was turning night...

Zoe hung up the phone, only to notice many missed calls from unknown numbers.

She frowned; if she guessed correctly, it must have been the Wells Famly.

With Ryan Wells missing, his family was in frenzy.

At that moment, there came noisy sounds from outside and, without Zoe even getting up, someone knocked at the door. Lily Lott appeared at the doorway, "Don’t come out."

"What’s happened?"

"The Wells Family has come demanding someone."

—

William Hale was unaware of the situation back home and was getting ready early in the morning. Looking at his reflection in the mirror and thinking of Zoe’s words, he chuckled softly, reminiscing.

The ultimate truth was:

He had won this long-premeditated rush of affection.

The girl who had caught his eye had eventually become his wife.

Lucas Bell lay in the hospital bed receiving an IV, frowning:

This brother-in-law of mine... what is he laughing about so early in the morning?

Hiding in the bathroom.

It’s eerily strange.