Chapter 176 (+25 BONUS)

Rachel’s eyes widened. “When did I push you?”

Samantha flinched at Rachel’s exclamation, looking as pitiful as an injured puppy. In a trembling voice, she murmured, “Rachel, I’m not blaming you. I accidentally fell.”

Rachel raised her voice. “I repeat, I did not push you.”

Samantha pursed her lips and remained silent, but the pitiful look on her face spoke volumes.

William’s brows furrowed as he turned to look at Rachel. “Even if you have something against Samantha, you can’t push her! You can always come to me and tell me what’s on your mind. I can explain things to you.”

Rachel was no longer taken aback by William defending Samantha. Her heart had turned numb long ago.

She simply stared at him and repeated herself, “I’m telling you, I didn’t touch her.”

William’s eyes turned even darker, like the clouds in the sky, telling of an impending storm. “You and she were the only ones around!”

William gave his final word, which sent Rachel into despair. She didn’t even have the desire to speak up for herself.

She suddenly burst out into wild laughter, which deepened the knot on William’s brows.

“Rachel! Are you still trying to deny it? If you weren’t the one who pushed her, who was it?”

“I…”

Rachel stopped mid-sentence. She truly had no idea how to even begin to explain things to William.

However, she couldn’t stop herself from asking him, “You don’t trust me?”

Wouldn’t William know the kind of person she is after spending seven years with her? He believed she was the one who pushed Samantha down, simply based on Samantha’s claim.

William took a deep breath and clenched his fists so hard, the veins on the back of his hands popped. In a low voice, he said, “How do you expect me to trust you?”

Rachel couldn’t possibly say that Howard almost took advantage of her and pushed Samantha down. Would William believe her?

Since Samantha said that Rachel was the one who pushed her, how could Rachel possibly admit that Howard was there? What would her colleagues say about her?

For all she knew, they would spread rumors about Howard sleeping with her, or that she seduced Howard and together, they pushed Samantha down because she was in their way.

These people had no logic to speak of. To them, gossip was truth; nothing mattered as long as they had something to entertain them when they felt bored.

Rachel’s hesitation made William even more certain that she had mistreated Samantha. He shot Rachel a look of disappointment before bending down and gathering Samantha in his arms.

“Reflect on what you did wrong.”

He carried Samantha in his arms, ignoring the strange looks his colleagues were giving him.

Rachel looked down at her bloodied palms, injured when William pushed her away earlier. Much skin had been scraped away.

The bloody streaks on her palms were frightening, but somehow, she felt no pain at all.

Cecilia saw William leaving with Samantha in his arms before heading over to Rachel and helping her up. That was when she noticed the blood on her palms.

“Rachel, are you alright? Does it hurt very badly?”

The sight of Rachel’s palms alone hurt. The skin on the flesh of her palms was scraped away and bunched up at the sides. Did William not see that?

Rachel shook her head. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

“How could it not hurt? I’m getting goosebumps looking at it, and you’re still saying it doesn’t hurt!”

Cecilia couldn’t stand the sight of blood and gore. She held Rachel’s palms and gently blew on them.

“I’ll blow on them for you. That was simply too much of Mr. Lewis. Why didn’t he at least hear you out? He left just like that in front of everyone, and didn’t give a damn about how people might talk about you.”