Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 288 - 287 Zoe Targeted by Malicious Acts by Unscrupulous Shaw Family (2 Updates)

Chapter 288: 287 Zoe Targeted by Malicious Acts by Unscrupulous Shaw Family (2 Updates)

"Mum, how come you and dad came back to Capital City early without telling anyone?" Iva Payne smiled.

"My friend at the hospital said they ran into you, and I didn’t believe it."

"Your mother took a flight back home and was worried about the pressure at high altitude affecting her optic nerves, so she wanted to get checked again after getting back. I knew you were busy with work and didn’t want to trouble you," the old man said. "We also didn’t want you to worry unnecessarily."

"Besides, the Old House of the Hale Family is being renovated, and it’s too noisy, so your mother and I didn’t go back."

Iva Payne smiled, "The construction at the old house isn’t too disruptive, you don’t have to worry."

"Mum, how did your checkup go?"

Old Lady, "The recovery from my eye surgery is going very well."

"That’s good then."

"Celine, sit down and take a break, there’s nothing really here for me to pack up." The Old Lady left, taking incense and a few clothes with her specifically.

When she returned to the Old House of the Hale Family, the Old Lady hadn’t seen Julia Yates for a long time and took her hand to talk.

Seeing a new wound on her wrist, she felt another pang of heartache.

"You silly child, why would you do this!"

"Mum, don’t worry, I won’t do it again."

"You’re young, and you have a long life ahead of you..."

The old man was reticent, and Old Lady’s attention was all on her daughter-in-law, while Iva Payne didn’t show much reaction.

After all, it was her parents who first took a fancy to her sister-in-law because of Julia Yates’ talent for design, and it was only later that she was introduced to my brother, leading to their marriage.

Payne Corps is known for its design, and Julia Yates is a pillar of strength.

In the eyes of the elderly, the daughter-in-law is much more important than their own daughter.

Who can blame her for not inheriting any talent for design.

Only that her daughter and nephew had been learning things under the guidance of the elderly simultaneously, Tim Payne had shown his artistic talent early on, in contrast to her own troublesome child...

Apart from causing trouble, her studies were a complete mess.

"Grandma, let me help you pack your things," Celine Payne tried her best to please.

The Old Lady just smiled and nodded.

Apart from a few clothes, there was nothing much to pack up, but the more Celine Payne looked at them, the more annoying she found those boxes of incense, and she directly threw them out.

That led to her being called back to the room by the Old Lady as soon as she went back to her own room.

"Grandma, didn’t you want to rest? Did you call me here to sleep with you?" Celine Payne presented a docile and obedient appearance in front of her elder.

"Did you throw my stuff away?"

Celine Payne was taken aback.

Then she realized, "Grandma, I thought since you just had eye surgery, the incense could irritate your eyes, so I took it upon myself to throw the incense away."

"I did it for your own good, you’re not angry, are you?"

"Grandma, I saw the packages of the incense were very simply wrapped; if you like, I can go buy better ones for you."

The Old Lady’s expression was serious. "Even if you meant well, you shouldn’t have taken it upon yourself to throw away my things."

"Grandma..." Celine Payne felt wronged, "I was wrong."

But she noticed that the incense boxes she had thrown away had been picked up and placed back on the bedside table.

"Don’t come into my room in the future."

"..."

Celine Payne was stunned for a long time, then looked towards her grandfather, "Grandpa, I really didn’t mean it, I was just looking out for grandma."

"Go out," the old man said bluntly.

She hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell them how she felt bullied, after all, it was just a few boxes of no-brand incense.

Feeling aggrieved, Celine Payne went to her mother, Iva Payne, who rubbed her temples, "You don’t know your grandma’s temperament? She hates it when people touch her stuff without asking; you had it coming."

"I meant well."

"Alright, apologize properly to grandma tomorrow, she won’t hold it against you."

Celine Payne thought about finding some nice incense to make amends, but since she didn’t know much about them, she asked her friends in a group chat.

"Recently, the ’Triple & Double’ brand of incense smells really good."

"It’s the one Hannah Johnson recommended, right? I’ve also taken a liking to their rose scent, it’s very fresh and lasts particularly long."

"A lot of people in our circle think highly of them."

Celine Payne furrowed her brows.

No wonder she felt as though she had heard of the brand name somewhere before; it had been recommended by Hannah Johnson within a small circle.

Capital City was only so big, and because of Hannah’s recommendation, some people, eager to curry favor, had bought some products and everyone found them excellent. It soon spread from one to ten and ten to a hundred, with quite a few people in the circle having used them.

"I’ve bought her store’s Incense Card to give as a gift before, and it was quite exquisite with a lasting fragrance."

"Right, I heard that this store is run by Mrs. Hale. A friend of mine ordered over a hundred boxes, which she personally delivered."

"However, the production time at her store is long and requires waiting. Probably because it hasn’t been scaled up yet."

Mrs. Hale?

Zoe Bell?

How could grandma have her stuff?

Celine Payne had not inherited the Payne family’s excellent genes; her appearance was mediocre, her studies average, and she was lackluster in every way, to the extent that even the title ’Miss Payne’

was undeserved!

It simply couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

Zoe Bell could dance, and it was said that if she hadn’t injured her leg, she could have made a living entirely from it. Unexpectedly, after her leg was disabled, she branched into a side business and excelled in it as well.

Why her!

The last time she visited the Hale Family she had suffered a setback, and she remembered the account clearly.

Celine Payne felt her head was about to explode.

Why was it always her?

A coincidence?

Her cousin looked at her favorably, the Hale Family also favored her, and everyone stood up for her, could it be...

She even wanted to steal her own grandparents away?

—

Old House of Hale Family

Recently, Zoe Bell had been planning to open a small workshop outside as orders increased, and she needed to hire staff; making incense at home was inconvenient.

"Sister Zoe," Joy Watson looked at her, "our shop has suddenly received a lot of negative reviews."

"What are they saying?"

"The scent is unpleasant."

"..."

Scent is subjective, after all.

"Mainly, these accounts are almost all new. Could it be that we are being maliciously targeted?"

Joy Watson had tried contacting some buyers, not to ask them to delete their reviews, but to follow up and inquire about what was not satisfactory with the product so that they could make improvements.

But after just a couple of exchanges, she was verbally abused.

And even had complaints lodged against her for harassing consumers.

"Probably because of the negative reviews, our order volume has also decreased recently, and the return rate is high."

Zoe Bell specifically went to check the store and sure enough, the recent spate of negative reviews had increased.

It was clear they were being targeted.

She asked Kyle Lowe to investigate, but before they found anything, a video went viral online.

In the video, a man receiving an IV in a hospital room, pale-faced, angrily denounced an unscrupulous online merchant for cutting corners by using sawdust, peanut shells, and synthetic fragrances to produce incense, leading to his sulfur dioxide poisoning.

In the comments section, all kinds of condemnations were being voiced.

Wyatt Hale had seen this video and forwarded it to her, and Zoe Bell even commented:

"Unscrupulous merchant!"

Then,

It was revealed that the unscrupulous merchant was, in fact, herself.

Following a report, the health department had directly besieged the Old House of Hale Family.

The issue of "Mrs. William Hale selling substandard products" quickly spread around the circle.

There were even eyewitnesses:

Zoe Bell was reportedly seen at the police station, invited for a ’friendly chat.’