Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 366 - 365 Love Triangle Showdown: Uncle vs. Junior President Payne

Chapter 366: 365 Love Triangle Showdown: Uncle vs. Junior President Payne

In the banquet hall

The guests mingled and toasted each other with politeness. Sussie Lopez, gathering her courage, served him a bowl of seafood porridge, "Senior brother, have some porridge first to line your stomach."

"I don’t like seafood."

"Then how about some beef?"

"I’ve been vegetarian lately."

"..."

Zoe Payne directly picked up the serving chopsticks and gave him half a plate of vegetable salad, "Brother, eat up."

Tim Payne felt helpless; why was his sister also messing around?

He glanced at his junior sister: "Sussie Lopez, lay it out for me first, what exactly is your relationship with Finn Hale? Have you made it official yet?"

"Not yet."

"Is he pursuing you?"

"You could say that."

Tim Payne felt slightly satisfied in his heart.

After all, the young scamp Finn Hale hadn’t fully succeeded yet.

Finn Hale was discussing with his colleagues mainly about the recent plagiarism incident. The people from Northern Architecture wanted to keep it low-key, while the association wanted to make an example of him to warn others with their punishment, and several people were discussing the severity of it.

As he turned his head, he saw Tim Payne eating like he was grazing on grass.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Finn Hale’s lips curved up slightly, while Tim just snorted and turned his head away, refusing to pay him any attention.

If not for the presence of so many people, he was worried that if he ran away, his junior sister would attract unsavory gossip; otherwise, he would not wish to face Finn Hale.

To outsiders, the two men had already broken the ice, so someone bravely came up to greet him and even offered their congratulations.

"If Miss Lopez can make it work with Mr. Hale, then it’ll be adding family ties on top of the relationship with Junior President Payne."

"Indeed, being Junior President Payne’s junior sister is impressive; she is quite well-matched with Mr. Hale."

"Junior President Payne, congratulations."

...

Tim Payne’s face turned dark.

He was just her senior brother and not her blood brother; why were they congratulating him?

Zoe stood by, almost laughing out loud.

Were these people playing dumb, or were they truly oblivious? Stirring him up like this at such a time, weren’t they just fanning the flames?

To save face for his junior sister, he could only force a smile, and when Finn Hale returned to the table for the meal, someone started serving Sussie Lopez with an endless supply of dishes, not caring at all that Tim Payne’s face had turned completely black.

Oh, well,

now it was out in the open with no reservations!

Sussie Lopez didn’t dare to touch her chopsticks until Tim Payne said, "If you don’t eat soon, the food on your plate will pile up like a little mountain."

She nodded and picked up her chopsticks to take some food.

But then she heard her senior brother add, "What you’re eating isn’t just food; it’s Mr. Hale’s tender love."

"..."

"Go ahead, don’t waste Mr. Hale’s good intentions."

"Pfft—" Michale Shaw couldn’t hold back and almost spat out his water.

Who knew that Junior President Payne was also so skilled at snarky comments.

Sussie Lopez wasn’t hungry to begin with and could hardly eat; she only drank a few sips of water. Before the banquet ended, they left early.

Finn Robinson had been paying attention to Finn Hale throughout the entire event. He seemed untroubled and only mentioned to him before leaving, "The studio will be closed for the New Year holiday, and you should go home to see your parents. I’ll reimburse you for the travel expenses."

"Mr. Hale..." he wanted to explain what had happened that night.

Finn Hale just glanced at his watch, not giving him a chance, "It’s getting late, you should head back now."

Finn Robinson had no choice but to nod in agreement.

—

The group didn’t leave because it was a hotel under Michale Shaw’s flagship, so he arranged everything. After the waiter brought in some tea and fruits, they left them alone.

Little flags were stuck in the fruit tray, reading "2025, Happy New Year."

Michale Shaw sat on one side, the atmosphere of this Love Triangle Showdown felt quite eerie.

That younger uncle of the Hale family, too, why go after her of all people? It’s said that Junior President Payne has several junior sisters in his school, but only one junior sister, Sussie Lopez.

And she was publicly courted by his former arch-enemy.

Lucky the two families were now related by marriage; otherwise, he feared the two might come to blows right there at the awards ceremony.

Happy New Year?

Sussie Lopez was not happy at all.

"Tim, about tonight’s incident..." Finn Hale had just begun to speak when he was stopped.

"Mr. Hale, I need to talk to my junior sister first, just bear with it for a moment."

"..."

Bear with it?

William Hale also found it rare to see his younger uncle being obedient and compliant.

Sussie Lopez looked at Tim Payne, "Senior, I know what you want to ask. I indeed worked at M & R for a while as an assistant, and it was during that time that I got to know Mr. Hale."

"You knew about my relationship with him and still submitted your resume there?"

"That’s because you always told me that M & R is the best in the country right now. You always praised it in front of me; naturally, I wanted to go to the best place and see the world."

Finn Hale raised an eyebrow.

He hadn’t expected Tim Payne to praise him behind his back.

Tim Payne and Finn Hale didn’t have much personal enmity. Although he didn’t like him, he had to admit that Finn Hale really had talent.

And it wasn’t Sussie’s fault, people always look upward.

Tim then cleared his throat, "So, are you now shifting the blame to me? That you went to M & R is all due to my handiwork?"

"That’s not what I mean! I also knew about your special relationship with him, that’s why I never dared to tell you," Sussie said with her head slightly lowered.

"Even though that’s the case, I can understand, but..."

Tim’s brow furrowed deeply.

Why,

why did she have to fall in love with him!

Michale Shaw, this blockhead, only now sharply realized something. Sussie had said during the game that she had a crush on a teacher. Could it be...

the Younger Uncle of the Hale Family?

Holy shit!

Michale felt like he had fallen into a melon field. Between these two, under the melons and plums, once thought through, the ground was indeed covered with melons.

"Brother, love is something you can’t control when it comes," Zoe Payne said softly.

Tim Payne felt a headache coming on.

Is she really my little sister?

Why is she elbowing outward?

Zoe also thought about elbowing outward; whether it’s her brother or younger uncle, they were all family, the elbow wouldn’t turn outward anyway.

"You think you know so much," Tim said in a tone like reprimanding, but he kept his voice low, clearly not willing to blame harshly.

Zoe smiled and handed him a glass of water, "Bro, you’ve never been in love, so you can’t empathize. I, after all, am married."

The people in the room: "..."

In the room, Zoe was the only one who could say this without Tim getting angry.

"Brother, it’s getting late, why not..." Zoe wanted her brother to go home. She had her intentions, and how could Tim not see through them. He stood up, gave Finn Hale a look, and signaled him to come out.

Sussie felt uneasy, but didn’t dare to follow.

**

In a vacant room, next to a huge floor-to-ceiling window, the two stood side by side. The world outside was alight with a thousand homes, yet the room was eerily quiet.

"The thing is, my relationship with her isn’t something I can explain in a few words," Finn Hale said, getting straight to the point.

"I don’t want to know."

"..."

Tim had no interest in hearing him describe how he met his junior sister and the process of falling in love.

His only concern was one question: "Finn Hale, are you serious about Sussie?"

"You know, an occasion like today is almost like telling the whole world; if you two secretly date and later break up, no one would know."

"Now, with how things are, my junior sister might be tied to your name for a lifetime."

Online public opinion was turbulent, and if the two of them were to separate in the future, it would be very easy for anyone else interested in her to find out about her past with Finn Hale.

With Finn Hale’s reputation, I’m afraid that all the gossip would only involve my junior sister.

"Your worries are superfluous. I’ve been looking for her, waiting for her all these years. If she agrees to date me, I won’t break up with her, unless..."

"It’s her who doesn’t want me."

Finn Hale spoke earnestly, "I’m quite greedy; I don’t just want to have my name tied to hers, I want to be forever tied to her as a person."

Tim was taken aback.

"Finn Hale..."

"Hmm?"

"What you’re saying is quite cheesy and kind of gross."

Tim felt goosebumps all over his body.

Could it be that people in love always speak so pretentiously and affectedly?

He now somewhat understood why his uncle would prefer to grow old alone than to get married.

This love thing...

It could make even a man like Finn Hale bend.

I must never touch it!

Finn Hale clenched his teeth. His words were heartfelt, earnest, coming from deep within. Was Tim Payne romantically insensitive? No wonder he hasn’t had a single female friend around him all these years.

He just deserves to be single.