Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 276 - 275 Formidable Aunt Payne, What Kind of Brother-in-law (3rd Update)

Chapter 276: 275 Formidable Aunt Payne, What Kind of Brother-in-law (3rd Update)

Against Mario Payne?

If that was the case, it seemed justifiable.

After all, the event was hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Payne.

Mrs. Hale had had an incident, and if the Hale Family sought to assign responsibility, they would likely blame their inadequate security measures.

In this situation, Iva Payne would definitely become the biggest beneficiary.

Had the Payne Family’s infighting escalated from covert to overt battles?

Upon hearing these words, Celine Payne instantly became anxious, "Uncle, I didn’t mean to target the Hale Family."

"So, it was targeted at me then? This is the first event my wife and I have organized since returning to the capital, and it turned out like this. Are you happy about that?"

"No, that’s not it..."

Celine was just harboring resentment, annoyed by the attention Zoe Bell was getting and wanted to embarrass her.

She wouldn’t dare target her uncle.

"Uncle, please listen to me explain, I really didn’t intend to sabotage the event."

Mario Payne snorted coldly, "Then it was aimed at Mrs. Hale."

"I..."

At this point, everyone could see.

Kevin Bell was brought in by Celine Payne.

Yet she stood aside, watching the chaos unfold.

Clearly, she had targeted Zoe Bell.

The two hadn’t had a conflict; they were even pleasantly chatting last night. How had Mrs. Hale offended Celine Payne?

Her intentions exposed and ridiculed by those around her, Celine’s eyes welled up with tears of frustration as she looked for her aunt to come to her rescue.

Because her aunt was known to have a good temper.

But to her surprise, Julia Yates walked directly over to Zoe Bell, asking softly, "Are you alright?"

Zoe shook her head.

"I’m sorry for alarming you; it was our lapse in security that allowed undesirables to slip through."

"It’s okay."

Celine stomped her feet in anger. With today’s events, no explanation would suffice.

Her uncle’s family obviously didn’t believe her.

She had wanted to see Zoe’s embarrassment.

Why then did she herself become the laughingstock?

At that moment, she glimpsed her mother approaching quickly and desperately ran over to her.

Her eyes brimming with tears, she felt extremely wronged.

"Mom—"

Iva Payne could guess what had happened just by looking at her brother and sister-in-law’s expressions.

Foolish girl!

"Mom, I really didn’t do it on purpose, please explain to uncle, auntie, I..." Celine had just reached her mother before she could finish speaking.

A sharp "slap—" resonated.

A hand fiercely struck her face.

The slap was so hard and unexpected that Celine staggered, almost falling over.

Zoe herself was startled by the smack, and Celine was incredulous, covering her face, "Mom? What are you doing?"

"You foolish girl!"

"I’ve told you time and again to think things through before you act. You let your guard down and allowed someone in. He caused trouble and you must’ve been terrified, after all, you’re young and haven’t faced many hardships."

"You’re just too kind-hearted, feeling pity for him because he looked pathetic."

"Look at what you’ve done; you’ve caused misunderstandings with Mrs. Hale and your uncle."

Zoe bit her lip.

This aunt...

Such skillful deflection.

In a few sentences, she had absolved her daughter of all blame.

After Iva Payne finished speaking, she turned to Zoe, "Mrs. Hale, Celine is naive; I have already reprimanded her. I will bring her by another day to apologize."

The apology from Celine already came with a slap.

If Zoe were to press the issue, it would seem as though she was the one being petty.

"What are you standing around for? Apologize to Mrs. Hale right now."

Celine was naturally reluctant.

But her mother had provided her with an out, and despite the fierce sting on her face, she held back and said to Zoe, "Mrs. Hale, I’m sorry."

Zoe just smiled, "It’s okay."

"Someone call the police! Say there’s been a disturbance." Iva Payne said, glancing indifferently at Kevin Bell.

A piece of trash,

she wouldn’t even spare an extra glance.

Kevin Bell had finally seen Zoe Bell and naturally didn’t want to leave.

"Zoe Bell, I am your father, you can’t do this. After raising you for so many years, can you simply disown me? You heartless wretch... Mmm—"

But Iva Payne’s people were forceful.

They covered his mouth and dragged him away forcibly.

"Brother, sister-in-law, today’s incident is just a misunderstanding. Celine grew up under your watch; don’t you know her temperament by now? How could she intentionally cause a disturbance."

"This child just has a heart too kind, but sometimes too simple, that’s how she unintentionally does the wrong thing for the right reasons."

With Iva Payne smoothing things over, Mario Payne frowned deeply, "Keep her under control."

"I know."

Seeing the uncle no longer pressing the issue,

Celine Payne finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Little did she expect she would be the one to get hurt by her own schemes.

Turning her head,

she suddenly collided with a pair of piercing eyes.

It was William Hale!

Silent and restrained, his presence as intimidating as a wolf,

scaring her to the point of her heart racing.

Hannah Johnson and Isaac Shea were there too; they quickly walked over to Zoe Bell’s side.

Clearly, they were all on her side.

"Mr. Payne, work is important, but parenting is even more so. If you can’t control your child, there will be others willing to step in," William Hale said, looking at Iva Payne.

Iva Payne just smiled, inwardly displeased.

After all, how could she accept being lectured by a younger man?

But since her own daughter had made a mistake and offended someone’s wife, she had no choice but to take whatever William Hale said.

When Iva Payne left with Celine, Zoe Bell accidentally caught sight of someone.

A man in his fifties, dressed in a suit, with striking features. Celine, looking aggrieved, walked towards him, calling out, "Dad—"

The man just nodded his head.

His gaze, however, fell on Zoe Bell.

Their eyes met, and in his, there was an inexplicable emotion.

He better not be thinking of taking revenge on behalf of his daughter and bearing a grudge against me.

Zoe Bell sighed inwardly:

She had never provoked Celine; why was she suddenly targeting her?

"Zoe, are you really okay?" Hannah examined her.

Zoe Bell withdrew her gaze and shook her head, "It’s nothing."

"Next time something like this happens, don’t run out by yourself. You should call me, and I’ll deal with that trash. He even had the audacity to come to you; such shamelessness."

"I didn’t know you got up so early; I didn’t want to disturb you and your brother-in-law."

"Brother-in-law? I..." Hannah unexpectedly showed a look of embarrassment.

Isaac Shea just smiled.

Clearly, he was quite pleased with the title.

William Hale took a deep breath:

If it were Michale Shaw who called him that, he would have surely kicked him, but it was his own wife.

They were just dating, with nothing official, what brother-in-law!

When Mr. and Mrs. Payne heard this, they were flustered for a while, not knowing about the previous night’s events.

Brother-in-law?

Who?

The Shea kid?

When did these two get together?

And they pretended not to know each other at last night’s banquet, having likely never spoken a word.

The actions of young people today really are baffling.

"Let’s go. I’ll walk you back to your room," Hannah said, supporting Zoe Bell, turned around, and saw Mrs. and Mr. Shea standing not far away, smiling amiably at her.

Mrs. Shea had been so excited since learning that her blockhead had charmed Hannah Johnson that she barely slept all night.

She could hardly stop herself from waking up laughing.

Hannah went rigid.

Quite obviously out of her element.