Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 291 - 290 Payne Family Elders: It’s Not Your Turn to Be Reckless (3 more updates)

Chapter 291: 290 Payne Family Elders: It’s Not Your Turn to Be Reckless (3 more updates)

"Brother, you hit me?"

"You hit me for that slut?"

Celine Payne had been scolded all her life, yet she had never been slapped before. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Say it one more time." Tim Payne said coldly.

"Did she bewitch you, steal your soul? She is your own sister! She has slandered you, and I was just defending you, yet you hit me for that slut?"

The words had barely left her mouth when Tim Payne raised his hand again.

His arm swung up,

and with a backhand, another fierce slap!

Celine Payne was knocked to the ground, her head nearly hitting the edge of a nearby table.

Her face burned with pain, as if it were on fire.

"Brother!"

Tim Payne spoke in a low voice, "Constantly calling her a slut, is that how the Payne Family raised you?"

"Furthermore..."

"You share the Payne surname, but you are not my sister, merely my cousin."

Celine Payne stood up from the ground, now with two slaps on the same spot, and with Tim Payne’s strong hand, her face quickly swelled up and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. The hairstyle she had done specially to meet Finn Hale was now a total mess.

"Cousin, are you insane? She is defaming you! Yet you still defend her!"

"Uncle, Aunt—"

Celine Payne cried out, trying to rush over for help.

But before she could get there, Tim Payne immediately blocked her path.

"What? Trying to tattle?"

"Uncle!" Celine Payne looked at Mario Payne, "Cousin actually hit me, won’t you do something?"

Mario Payne frowned deeply, "I trust that Tim has his reasons for acting this way."

Celine Payne was dumbfounded.

What does that mean?

Defending my cousin?

Could it be that I deserved these slaps for nothing?

It’s not that uncle is out of his mind. Zoe Bell defamed his own son, why should I be the one getting hit!

"Tim, why did you hit her?" Julia Yates spoke up.

"Because the person who transferred money from my account wasn’t someone else, it was Celine Payne." Tim Payne stated outright.

Celine Payne’s heart skipped a beat, and facing her cousin’s certain gaze, she felt numb, "Cousin, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Using the account leaves login information, it’s easy to find the IP address. Do you really want me to slap the evidence on your face before you’ll admit it?"

Upon hearing this, Celine Payne’s face went pale.

"Deliberately driving a wedge between Mrs. Hale and me, spreading false information online."

"Now you step up to defend me?"

"Celine Payne, aren’t you tired of directing this drama yourself?"

"I... I didn’t!" Celine Payne stubbornly retorted, "It wasn’t me!"

"Celine?" Mario Payne stared sharply at her, his gaze as piercing as a hawk in the wilderness, putting pressure that sent shivers down her spine, "Aren’t you going to explain?"

"This is slander. Cousin must be crazy, trying to sacrifice me to defend that slut!"

"Miss Payne!" William Hale spoke sternly.

"She is my wife, please mind your language!"

With William’s dignified demeanor, as if draped in frost, Celine Payne felt every scrutinizing gaze while her heart raced, her mind scrambling for excuses...

But her thoughts were a chaotic mess, unable to find any suitable reason.

"Thinking about how to lie?" Tim Payne raised an eyebrow.

"I’m not!" Suddenly, Celine Payne turned to Zoe Bell, "Brother, you weren’t like this just now. When she wanted to hit me, you were protecting me. How come suddenly..."

Tim Payne sneered, "I just thought Mrs. Hale was dressed very nicely today, I didn’t want her to dirty her hands."

"Things like getting physical shouldn’t be her concern."

"And since I’m the one being defamed, it should be me who takes action."

Celine Payne’s head buzzed.

Exploded!

What does this mean?

Not defending her?

He didn’t want Zoe Bell to dirty her hands?

Is she some kind of fairy?

Am I just some trash?

Just now, the two of them were clearly at odds, so she took the initiative, but if her cousin had already found evidence before...

Celine Payne’s lips trembled, her voice shaking, "Cousin, just now... Were you just pretending in front of me?"

Tim Payne replied, "You’re not too stupid."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to give you a chance to admit your mistake willingly!"

When Zoe Bell told him that the money for the negative reviews had come from his account, he began his investigation.

Celine Payne had been living in the old house, growing up with him since they were children. Although they weren’t close, they were still cousins by blood, and Tim Payne still wanted to give her a chance.

"And I asked you several times, but you always denied it!"

"How can you have the face to call her malicious!"

"Cousin, could she have followed something? It must be her slandering me. We grew up together, you don’t believe me, but you believe a stranger?" Celine Payne yelled.

"I have evidence in my hands."

"It must be forged by her."

"I investigated it personally."

"..."

Celine Payne was stunned.

Zoe Bell looked at her, "Miss Payne, I haven’t offended you recently, why are you incessantly targeting me?"

Celine Payne couldn’t even say why.

It was purely hatred, perhaps.

Or maybe, it was her eyes, they were simply detestable.

"So what if I hired someone to leave negative reviews?" Celine Payne knew her cousin’s temperament well; since he dared to say it, he must have had evidence, "It’s just a few comments. Do you need to storm into our house and accuse us?"

"So you mean I’m making a mountain out of a molehill?" Zoe Bell chuckled.

"Worst case, I will have someone delete the comments!"

"But..."

"Your store is closed, and the product links are taken down, even if I wanted to delete the comments, I can’t."

Celine’s tone obviously showed no remorse!

Even a bit of schadenfreude.

"Why is my store closed, do you not know clearly?" Zoe Bell said accusingly, "Maliciously leaving bad reviews, deliberately having people act in videos, buying traffic to spread the videos widely."

"Stirring up trouble online, misleading netizens, directly leading to the closure of my online store."

"Miss Payne, your maneuvers are indeed impressive."

Celine Payne thought her actions were flawless.

She purposely used her cousin’s account for the transactions, thinking that neither Zoe Bell nor the Hale Family would dare to investigate her cousin’s accounts.

This was illegal!

But what she never expected was:

Her cousin would actively help her investigate.

Once suspicions fell on her, tracing the origins would easily catch her red-handed.

"I don’t understand what you’re talking about!" Celine Payne adamantly refused to budge.

"The actor you hired, I’ve found him, he’s just outside, do you want me to invite him in?" Zoe Bell said, pulling out her cell phone.

Hearing this, Celine Payne panicked and instinctively tried to snatch the phone.

The moment she grasped Zoe Bell’s wrist, she was forcefully pushed away...

Directly flinging her off.

"Is Miss Payne throwing a tantrum out of embarrassment?"

"Who knows where you found the actor to deliberately slander me! I’ll hire a lawyer, and sue you for defamation!"

"Don’t bother with a lawyer, let’s just have a press conference, publicly accuse me of slandering you, and we can confront each other openly," Zoe Bell sneered softly, "But..."

"I doubt you have the guts!"

Celine Payne’s fingers tightened!

This little bitch...

Was intentionally mocking and provoking her.

At this moment, her uncle and aunt clearly didn’t believe her.

The key was Finn Hale’s look at her:

Contemptuous, disdainful.

As if looking at a clown!

She originally wanted Zoe Bell to suffer silently but ruined her own image instead.

And at that moment, there was a noise outside the door.

Celine Payne watched as the door was slowly pushed open, she gritted her teeth, "Zoe Bell, you think just because my cousin sides with you, finding another actor can splash dirty water on me? I’m telling you, no way!"

"This is the Payne house, not somewhere any random people can enter!"

As Celine Payne spoke, she opened the door and before clearly seeing the person outside, she shouted, "Get out—"

The door flung wide open,

A chilling wind, like daggers, swept through the living room in an instant, interweaving cold and warmth so suddenly that Celine Payne felt her body soaked by the cold wind, hastily retreating two steps back.

Her mouth trembled, and her legs felt lead-heavy, unable to move.

"In this Payne house, no one dares tell me to leave; this is simply outrageous!" a deep angry shout followed.

Celine Payne’s face turned deathly pale, and she fell...

Seated on the ground.

As Zoe Bell recognized the two elders walking into the house, her breath also tightened.

Were they not the elders that bought spices last time...

But actually her biological grandparents?

Still in a daze, Zoe saw a head pop from behind the elders, waving at her, "Sister-in-law!"

Michale Shaw?

What was he doing here?