Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 97 - 097 The Real Thief Appears, Chaos Ensues (3 More)

Chapter 97: 097 The Real Thief Appears, Chaos Ensues (3 More)

Zoe Bell looked at Ruben Fletcher, "Only if the amount stolen is small is it possible to settle privately, your amount is too large, it has reached the standard for filing a case, even if the Bell Family wants to let you go, the police can still file a case and prosecute."

As she spoke, she looked towards the police officer, "Officer, am I right?"

The police officer nodded.

"Brother, don’t listen to her nonsense."

Mina Bell saw Ruben Fletcher’s face turn ashen and hurriedly tugged at his arm, "They are just trying to scare you!"

"Get lost——" Ruben Fletcher shook off his hand, and Mina Bell fell to the ground; he looked at the police and said, "It wasn’t me, I was only responsible for fencing the goods, she is the one who stole them!"

He pointed a finger and Mina Bell, fueled by rage, got up and charged at him!

"Nonsense!"

Mina Bell wanted to hit him, to shut him up.

Ruben Fletcher didn’t want to go to jail.

In such a life-and-death moment, people are selfish.

After all, he was a grown man; seeing Mina Bell rushing at him, he grabbed her arm and with a slap, her face felt ablaze with fire, and then he pushed her away roughly.

"It really wasn’t me who stole it, Fiona Fletcher stole it!"

"She was afraid of being recognized so she asked me to fence it, telling me I’d get a thirty percent cut once I sold the goods."

"Ruben Fletcher!" Mina Bell rose from the ground, "Tell me, how much money did Zoe Bell give you to frame me?"

"You believe me, I’ll tear your mouth up."

Ruben Fletcher was nearly scared silly at the mention of life imprisonment.

"You better shut up; wasn’t it you who said the Bell Family was nearly bankrupt and that most of their assets were transferred to Lucas Bell, not giving you any, claiming they were biased?"

"You also said you needed money for plastic surgery and that’s why you wanted to sell the jewelry."

"Besides, when you first told me, you said this was something your mom gave you, you didn’t say it was stolen!"

"If I had known it was stolen property, how could I have possibly helped you sell it!"

Ruben Fletcher, desperate to prove his innocence, spared no detail.

His words essentially admitted his connection to the jewelry theft.

Kevin Bell stood frozen in place.

Vivi Lange, after suffering a huge shock internally, incredulously looked at her daughter, "Mina?"

"Mom, don’t you believe me?" Mina Bell climbed up from the ground, "What kind of person my brother is, all of you know very well."

"He’s always loafing around, and gambling too; the two million you gave to our family has long been squandered by him."

"He even asked me for money and got rejected."

"I’m guessing, it must be because of this that he thought about stealing the jewelry and, resenting that I didn’t help him, wanted to splatter this mud on me."

Ruben Fletcher’s pupils shook, "Fiona, you really know how to spin a tale."

"Mom, you previously said the jewelry would be left to me, that all of this would be mine someday, how could I possibly want to steal it?" Mina Bell said, her eyes reddening.

"Forget it, if you insist on believing him, there’s no use in me defending myself."

"Just have the police arrest me and put me in jail!"

"Since returning to this family, my life has become a mess anyway, people outside say I’m shameless, call me cheap, you probably think I’m a disgrace too."

Vivi Lange saw her daughter’s tearful and woeful state and felt extreme heartache.

Moreover, compared to him, she clearly believed Mina Bell’s words more.

Ruben Fletcher was frantic.

He wasn’t a smooth talker, nor could he cry like Mina Bell with just a few words.

At that moment, Zoe Bell suddenly interposed, "Actually, I too am more inclined to believe what Mina Bell has said, these jewels, I’m afraid, might have been stolen by Ruben Fletcher."

"Oh crap, you...." Ruben Fletcher wanted to curse.

Kicking a man when he’s down at a time like this!

Weren’t you two sworn enemies?

But then Kyle Lowe gave him a look.

He was so frightened that he shriveled up and retracted his neck.

Mina Bell was dumbfounded.

What was Zoe Bell playing at? She actually spoke up for her today.

"Ruben Fletcher used to harass me; he’s not a decent person at all. Freely squandering money at Nightless, it’s no surprise he runs out of cash and starts entertaining crooked thoughts," Zoe said.

Harassment?

Lucas Bell looked at Ruben Fletcher with eyes that wished they could slice him into a thousand pieces!

Ruben Fletcher stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.

Damn, today was truly a nightmare.

Zoe continued, "But he does have some skill; with servants in the Bell Family, he was still able to sneak into the study and steal the safe. That’s pretty impressive."

At these words, the faces of the Bell Family went through a change.

"Zoe Bell, what does your stealing have to do with me? Can you not add to the chaos?" Ruben was racking his brains for a way to prove his innocence.

But he was at a loss, his mind a blank slate.

"If you wanted to steal, you’d have to scope out the place beforehand. The study of the Bell Family is not easy to get into, is it?"

"To steal the jewelry, you really went to great lengths," Zoe remarked.

An agitated Ruben retorted, "Great, I forgot you’re also a Bell. Is the Bell Family preparing to pin this shit on me?!"

"If I really did steal it, if I took the jewelry, I would’ve run off long ago. Would I wait for you to catch me?"

Lucas frowned, "Is that all you’ve got to say, other than that?"

"What else can I say? You all think I’m the thief," Ruben said resignedly, "setting me up with a lousy witness, slandering me!"

"But our family’s safe is not in the study," Lucas stated bluntly.

"..."

"The safe is in the wardrobe of my parents’ bedroom," he disclosed.

With Lucas’s words, it was clear that Ruben Fletcher was not the real thief, as he was clueless about the location of the safe; he had not responded to Zoe’s repeated mentions of the study.

In other words, he showed no reaction whatsoever!

This was obviously not normal.

However, Mina Bell felt a chill crawling up from her feet because, at that moment, everyone’s gaze once again converged on her.

Since Ruben Fletcher had already admitted to the deed, yet he didn’t know the location of the safe.

This meant that the person who stole the jewelry must be someone else.

Kevin Bell looked at his daughter, his eyes full of shock and disbelief.

Vivi Lange had her suspicions about Mina, but after all, she was her own flesh and blood and had been lost to them for many years.

She didn’t want to, nor could she bring herself to suspect her own daughter.

But the reality was right in front of her eyes.

"Mina..." her voice was trembling.

"Mom," Mina’s voice too was shaking, "It wasn’t me, really, it wasn’t..."

"Do you know why your father and I named you Mina? Vivi Lange struggled with her belief, yet reality was so cruel, forcing her to face the facts.

"We hoped you would be like the moon in the sky, pure and bright."

"But look at what you’ve done!"

"You made yourself up to look neither human nor ghostly; I tolerated it because you said you felt inferior due to being unattractive. But why would you steal?!"

"Mom, I didn’t..." Mina tried to argue.

But Vivi had already slapped her!

One slap after another!

She was caught off guard, received several slaps to the face, and felt a burning pain, even suffering a brief ringing in her ears.

After all, she had not grown up by her mother’s side; there was hardly any emotional bond between them, so after taking a moment, Mina struck back suddenly.

She lunged forward forcefully!

Vivi Lange was knocked directly to the ground.

The scene spiraled out of control instantly—