“No,” Rachel replied.

“Then what’s going on between you and Tyler? William should’ve told you that our relationship with Tyler is complicated. Why are you still hanging around him?” Cassandra asked.

The moment Cassandra mentioned Tyler, the graceful composure on her well-maintained face vanished. It was replaced by an obvious look of displeasure.

Rachel calmly replied, “Mr. Hunt and I are purely connected through work. Those rumors going around are nothing but baseless gossip.”

“Oh, really? Then how do you explain this?”

Cassandra suddenly retrieved an envelope from behind her and flung the photos inside straight at Rachel. Caught off guard, Rachel took a sharp strike to the face. Her whole body tensed immediately.

A wave of humiliation washed over her.

Still, Rachel kept her expression neutral. She picked the photos up off the ground and glanced at them. One showed Tyler helping her into a hotel, while others were of them meeting in public over the past few weeks.

There was even a photo of her getting out of a car, with Tyler looking at her back.

Even she had to admit that there was something almost tender in Tyler’s gaze. His gaze was soft, and his expression was focused.

It was as if he was looking at someone he loved.

Rachel figured the photographer had probably chosen a particularly misleading angle to make things seem that way. Before she could explain, Cassandra launched into another tirade.

“I also heard you recently did the business proposal for the Oasis project for LS Enterprise, which now forces our companies to cooperate!”

The more Cassandra spoke, the angrier she got. She stormed up to Rachel, snatched the photos off the table, and hurled them into her face again.

“You’re really something. The seemingly perfect daughter-in-law for the Lewis family doing all this backstabbing!”

Rachel didn’t move. She sat rigidly in her chair with her fists clenched tightly. One of the photos had cut her cheek, leaving a sharp red mark.

Cassandra didn’t care that Rachel was injured, or that the maids were witnessing everything.

“I was against your marriage from the beginning. If William hadn’t threatened to kill himself, how could a fake heiress like you have ever set foot in this house?

“Do you know how I get laughed at by the other women during luncheons? They ask if my son couldn’t find a wife. Why else would he marry some deaf girl?”

Rachel could tolerate everything else. She knew, deep down, that she probably was never truly the right match for William.

The Lewis family held high status in Yurelia City. Being ridiculed in social circles wasn’t something they could accept easily.

But there was one thing she couldn’t let go.

“Mother, don’t forget. I wasn’t born deaf. I lost my hearing because of your son.”

If she hadn’t shielded William that day, he would be the deaf one now.

Chapter 185 +25 BONUS

Cassandra let out a cold, dismissive chuckle and showed no sign of appreciation. “So what? Do you really think William loves you? If you hadn’t taken that hit for him, he never would’ve married you.

“He married you out of guilt, nothing more. You knew from the start that the woman he loved was Samantha. You just happened to show up at the right time.”

Rachel had heard the same thing from Cassandra before. Back then, she’d been so deeply in love and completely blinded by emotion.

Even when Cassandra had said such things, Rachel had never doubted William. No matter who he once loved, she had believed he loved her now. She could feel it. Or at least, she had thought she could.

Now, she regretted being so naive and so blindly devoted. She was so eager to believe in the perfect little love story William had spun for her.

Rachel didn’t argue anymore. She simply lowered her head and smiled bitterly. “You’re right. I admit it. I’ve lost.”

Cassandra looked at her with a flicker of surprise. “Oh? Finally showing some spine. So what now? Are you planning to divorce my son?”