Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 418 - 417 once bullied someone to tears, gentle and pitiable.

Chapter 418: 417 once bullied someone to tears, gentle and pitiable.

Facing his hard-headed boss, Assistant Law didn’t say more. Tim Payne rubbed his temples. "No arrangements for this afternoon?"

"Today is Chinese Little Year, and I thought you would want to go back to the family mansion to celebrate."

In past years, due to his sister’s "passing," even on New Year’s Eve, it was just a dinner gathering. This year, of course, was different; they would surely make it lively.

By the time he finished work and returned to the old mansion, it was noon. His grandparents had had lunch and were sitting in the courtyard soaking up the sun.

Old Mrs. Payne was knitting Red Strings, and Zoe Payne was learning by her side.

"You two are celebrating Chinese Little Year here?" He arched an eyebrow, not expecting that his sister and William Hale were also present.

"Zoe probably prefers to celebrate with you guys."

The Hale family didn’t have so many formalities.

If Zoe Payne wished, she could stay with the Payne family on New Year’s Eve, and the Hale family elders wouldn’t say anything. It hadn’t been easy for the Payne family to find her, so they understood their wish to celebrate the holiday with Zoe Payne.

William Hale glanced at him. "Didn’t you rest well last night?"

"How do you know?"

"There are dark circles under your eyes, and the red blood vessels are quite apparent."

Before Tim Payne could reply, he saw his mother directing the servants to move several potted plants into the courtyard to get some sun. Noticing her son, she exclaimed with a smile, "Oh, look, our wandering son has returned home."

Zoe Payne laughed softly with her head lowered.

"Mom—" Tim Payne felt helpless. His sister and brother-in-law were still here; she could at least give him some face.

Zoe Payne looked out for her brother, clearing her throat to change the subject, "Mom, the fresh cut sunflowers you bought are nice, very pretty."

"I also think so. The flowers from that shop are of good quality. I originally thought that Miss Jones, with her good family background, was just running the flower shop to pass time. I didn’t expect the flowers to be so nice."

"Miss... Jones?"

Zoe Payne instinctively glanced at her elder brother.

When did this happen?

You two have been in contact privately?

When it came to the Jones family, Old Mrs. Payne mentioned, "Is she Silas Jones’s daughter?"

"Grandma, you know her?" Zoe Payne was somewhat surprised.

"In the past, Old Lady Jones used to come to our house to custom-make jewelry. She once brought her granddaughter, who was especially pretty, like a little girl painted in New Year pictures. That time, Tim accidentally knocked down her sugar-coated hawthorn, and even made her cry."

Speaking of this, the old lady looked at her granddaughter, "Do you remember?"

Tim Payne had no recollection.

"At that time, you even said that the little sister was pretty and even looked pretty when crying. You asked your parents to have one for you too."

"Did I say that?" Tim Payne had absolutely no memory of this.

Pretty even when crying?

Zoe Payne held back her laughter:

Just listen,

Is that something a person would say?

To have a second child, it’s natural to balance the family relations.

Mario Payne and his wife wanted to complete their family with a ’good’ character.

It just so happened their son said he wanted a sister; only then did they actively try for another child, and that’s how Zoe Payne came to be.

Old Mrs. Payne continued with emotion: "But after that, her parents divorced, and we never saw her again. How is she doing now?"

At her age, she naturally wouldn’t care about Capital City gossip and had no idea about the recent events. Zoe Payne simply smiled: "Not bad."

"Her mother hardly got any property in the divorce, had to raise a daughter, and it was Silas Jones who had the affair first. The Jones family’s handling of the matter was truly disgraceful."

Mr. Payne took a sip of tea, "And because of this, the Jones family gradually declined, and both elders of the Jones family passed away."

"That Silas Jones was a good-for-nothing when he was young. No matter how wealthy the Jones family was, with someone so blind and foolish, it was just a matter of time before he squandered it all."

Tim Payne listened quietly, without saying much.

He hadn’t rested well last night, so after chatting with his family for a bit, he went to his room to rest.

It had been a while since he had stayed at home, and upon entering his room, he saw several sunflowers placed in a glass vase near the window, dazzling under the sunlight.

As he drifted off to sleep in a daze, he seemed to see a girl standing by the window, bending over to arrange the sunflowers.

She turned and flashed a radiant smile at him, "Do they look nice?"

"Beautiful."

The scene suddenly changed, the sunflowers fell to the ground, she was pressed against the glass window. In the cold winter weather, every breath was a mist, their breaths intertwined, and a red glow flickered in her eyes...

Gentle and pitiable.

The sunflowers on the ground had been trampled, ravaged beyond recognition.

When she cried,

she was truly beautiful.

Startled awake by the knocking on the door, Tim Payne opened his eyes to find the sky already dark. A servant came to notify him that dinner was ready.

Tim Payne massaged his temples.

This was really the end.

He glanced at the sunflower beside the window and instructed the servant, "Take the flower away."

The servant was stunned; almost everything in the young master’s room was design-related. The only few decorations there were gemstones and raw stones, which added no vitality. Having some flowers made the room feel much more alive.

He really couldn’t understand why they were asked to be removed.

Tim Payne took a bath before heading to the dining room. Since it was Little New Year, Martin Yates was also there. Upon seeing him, Yates raised an eyebrow, "The family is waiting for you to dine, and you still had the mood to go take a bath?"

"Without a bath, I feel uneasy." Tim Payne had a ridiculous dream and naturally wanted to wash it away.

But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed there were still sunflowers in a corner of the dining room.

"Stop chatting, sit down and start eating." The Old Lady beckoned everyone to sit and pulled Zoe Payne to her side, affectionately serving her food.

Naturally, the conversation at the table turned to the company’s annual meeting the next day.

"Are you all going?" Zoe Payne casually asked.

"Your dad and I are planning to go."

Julia Yates said, glancing at her brother and son, "Martin, Tim, if you have no arrangements tomorrow night, show up and make an appearance."

When his sister spoke, Martin Yates would naturally comply.

Tim Payne remained silent, which made Mario Payne look at him more closely, "Tomorrow, the whole company is on holiday. Don’t tell me you still have to work."

"I have no arrangements for tomorrow."

"Then why didn’t you respond when your mother spoke to you?"

"I was thinking about something."

His mother speaking meant he couldn’t escape attending the annual meeting.

Perhaps...

he might encounter her.

In previous company annual meetings, it was always Iva Payne who organized them, and Tim Payne couldn’t be bothered to attend. But this year was different. After Iva Payne’s incident, Payne Corps went through a major shake-up, and it had been a difficult time for the employees.

Those who stayed were naturally loyal to the company.

Therefore, Mario Payne and his wife discussed it and decided they still needed to meet all the employees to thank them for their hard work over the past year.

"Zoe, if you’re free, have William take you there for some fun." Julia Yates looked at her daughter and smiled, "But the annual meeting can be quite noisy, which may not suit your condition."

She was, after all, pregnant now, and too noisy places were not suitable for her.

Zoe Payne just nodded her head.

She wasn’t particularly interested in the annual meeting, as William Hale’s company also had an annual event which she didn’t attend, but Wyatt Hale did. He went to the raffle and actually won a second prize.

But then William Hale said he wasn’t a Hale Group employee and disqualified him, giving the prize to another employee instead.

Wyatt Hale came back and complained to her, and with just one cold look from William Hale, he was almost scared out of his wits.

That night, Zoe Payne saw a message in a gossip group:

["Damn, Silas Jones is really not a good guy; heard he’s marrying off his daughter to some lecherous old man surnamed Tian from YM."]

Little Wyatt: ["No way, really?"]

["The information is absolutely reliable. The Jones family has recently offended someone and is being suppressed terribly. Silas Jones is looking to enhance the company’s prospects through a marriage alliance."]

["It’s just a pity for Miss Jones, having just jumped out of one pit, she’s about to fall into another."]

...

Zoe Payne read the messages, pressing her lips together tightly.

The one suppressing the Jones Group was definitely her husband, William Hale.

The butterfly effect had once again pushed Cressida Jones into a pit of fire?

She massaged her temples. She had almost no personal relationship with Cressida Jones and it was a private matter for the Jones family. She felt powerless even if she had the will to help.

Upon noticing his wife sighing, William Hale asked about it and said, "She was never favored in the Jones family. Her engagement to Beckett Jeans was due to Mrs. Jeans likening her. Now that the engagement is destroyed, even without my suppression, the Jeans family would have squeezed out any remaining value from her."

His suppression was merely a catalyst.