Chapter 123

+25 BONUS

Tyler was probably just bored, but for once, he actually showed some interest in gossip.

“So what’s Gerald’s problem with your mother, anyway?”

Rachel lowered her gaze slightly. She pouted a little. Even her voice was more subdued than before.

“When Gerald found out I wasn’t his biological granddaughter, he got it into his head that my mom had an affair with her first love, and that’s how she had me. As for my dad, well, the entire Lloyd family has always been under Gerald’s thumb. My dad never stood a chance.

“My stepmother used to be my dad’s secretary. She talked trash behind my mom’s back, stirred the pot, and even did some things to make my mom look bad. Even after they found out I wasn’t the child of her first love, Gerald still insisted their relationship wasn’t clean.

“He refused to let my mom into the Lloyd family.”

Just thinking about how much her mother gave to the Lloyd family made Rachel fume.

It wasn’t just that Gerald had looked down on her mother. It was that the entire Lloyd family didn’t deserve her. Tyler rubbed his brows with a scoff. “So you dragged me into all your family drama. I’m just an innocent scapegoat, huh?”

“I know it wasn’t right,” Rachel admitted with a flicker of guilt in her eyes. “That’s why I’m apologizing. Back then I thought that if by any chance you did like Yvette, then great. And if you didn’t, well, no harm done.”

She knew now she’d oversimplified things.

Tyler pulled the car around the corner and parked it with practiced ease. Rachel glanced at his pale, well-defined fingers as they steered the wheel effortlessly. Even something as mundane as parking looked good when he did it.

Attractive people really did look good no matter what they were doing.

After unbuckling his seatbelt, Tyler let out a soft, amused grunt. “You really think I’d fall for that brainless sister of yours?”

Rachel had no comeback for that.

Yvette was somewhat brainless. She thought everyone was as simple-minded as she was. Did she really think someone capable of surpassing Lewis Enterprise in just two years would be some pushover?

That thought reminded Rachel of something. She turned to Tyler.

“You’re not the type to let your guard down. Are you saying you didn’t notice anything weird in that drink that night?”

She didn’t buy it. Tyler wasn’t the kind of man to leave himself vulnerable.

Tyler smiled, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “I trusted you too much. Goes to show one should never trust a woman.”

The more relaxed and casual he acted, the more Rachel suspected he wasn’t as careless as he seemed. But that was just her instinct. She had no proof he’d really known what was in that drink.

It didn’t matter anymore.

She unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of the car, and only then realized they were at a barbecue restaurant in Northshire.

She hadn’t been here in a long time.

She’d once mentioned this place to William, hoping he’d bring her here. When he finally did find the time to go get food, he brought back barbecue from Samantha’s favorite place instead.

In the end, Rachel was never the one who mattered.

Was this just a coincidence or had Tyler actually planned it?

“I heard this place has decent reviews. No idea if it’s actually any good,” Tyler said casually.

Rachel gave a little shrug and smiled a little.

“Alright then.”

She was definitely overthinking it.