Of course, Rachel couldn’t give Cassandra a direct answer. If she said anything now, Cassandra would be the first to run and tell William.

William was already suspicious of her. If she slipped up even a little, he would find out.

Just as Rachel was weighing her options and trying to figure out how to respond, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside. “Mom, I’m home.”

Rachel sighed quietly in relief at the sound of William’s voice.

Cassandra also dropped the questioning as soon as William appeared. She turned around and smiled warmly as she walked over to him. “William, what took you so long?”

“Traffic was bad, Mom.”

Then came a sweet and obedient voice from the entryway.

“Good evening, Mrs. Lewis. I’m one of William’s employees. You probably remember me.”

Rachel felt a sudden chill run down her spine. She stood there frozen. A moment later, she forced herself to turn around.

Sure enough, Samantha was standing right next to William.

He had brought her home.

Cassandra stared at Samantha for a long moment before she came back to her senses. “You must be Samantha.”

Samantha smiled. “Yes, I didn’t think you’d still remember me.”

Cassandra smiled affectionately and took Samantha’s hand, treating her with such warmth it was like night and day compared to how she treated Rachel.

“Of course I remember. Everyone knows you and William went to school together. But what happened to your head?”

Samantha touched the bandage on her head instinctively. “Oh, I fell during a team-building event with Rachel earlier today. It’s nothing serious. William already took me to get it treated.”

The moment Rachel’s name came up, Cassandra turned and snapped, “Rachel, we have a guest. Why are you just standing there? Go brew some coffee!”

The atmosphere in the room immediately grew tense.

Even the maids, who were cleaning up, paused in stunned disbelief. They all gave Cassandra odd looks. There were plenty of maids in the house. Everyone knew Rachel didn’t need to serve guests herself.

It was clear Cassandra was deliberately putting Rachel in her place by treating her like a maid.

Rachel froze only for a split second before lifting her chin and offering a calm, polite smile.

“Mother, we have maids for that, don’t we? Besides, I’m all thumbs in the kitchen. What if I don’t get the coffee right and Ms. Judd doesn’t like it?”

Cassandra’s expression turned sour immediately. “Didn’t your family teach you how to brew a simple cup of coffee?”

Rachel let out a soft chuckle. “Back home, only the maids learned how to brew coffee. William didn’t marry me just to have someone serve coffee, did he?”

Her reply was nonchalant, but it hit its mark perfectly, making Cassandra’s expression darken even more.

Before Cassandra could retort, Rachel turned toward one of the maids. “Leia, please prepare a cup of coffee for Ms. Judd. Don’t keep our guest waiting.”

Leia hesitated and glanced at Cassandra. Everyone in the house knew Cassandra’s word was final.

Cassandra nodded a little. Only then did Leia dare to move.

Cassandra led Samantha to a seat.

As Samantha walked past Rachel, she noticed the scattered photos on the floor. She bent down and picked them up, casting Rachel a seemingly apologetic glance.

“Rachel, what’s going on between you and Mr. Hunt? I thought everything was already cleared up. Or did something happen again?”

Cassandra’s expression instantly became tense. She raised her shrill voice.