Chapter 236 +25 BONUS

For a moment, Rachel couldn’t even think straight. She just stood there frozen, clutching her phone like she was paralyzed.

Tyler glanced at the caller ID. Then he saw Rachel’s nervous expression and let out a soft chuckle.

“With that look on your face, anyone would think we’re having an affair.”

Startled, Rachel immediately turned to him. “Can you not mess around at a time like this?”

Tyler laughed huskily. “I told you before and you didn’t believe me. Give me your phone. I promise William won’t dare call again.”

He even held his hand out seriously, like he meant it.

Rachel didn’t dare hand Tyler her phone, especially not when everything was already teetering on the edge.

He clearly had no good intentions. But then again, he was involved in this mess too. How could he be so completely unfazed?

She pointed in another direction. “Give me a second.”

Tyler cleared his throat and scratched his head. “Make it quick. I don’t have all day.”

Rachel didn’t answer William’s call. Instead, she quickly texted him: Why did you call?

She then immediately messaged Cecilia and explained the entire situation.

Cecilia replied with a simple ‘OK’.

Only then did Rachel finally breathe easy again.

She put her phone away and walked over to Tyler.

“Let’s go.”

Tyler led her toward the back exit of the building. It looked like a regular office hallway from the outside, but inside, it was a concealed passage.

It was more like an emergency exit route.

“It’s a little dark. Come here.” Tyler reached out and grabbed Rachel’s wrist.

She stiffened the moment his hand wrapped around hers.

She actually had mild astigmatism, and with such dim lighting it was hard for her to see clearly. One small step at a time, she followed Tyler down the hallway. She felt slightly helpless.

Oddly enough, the whole thing really did feel like they were sneaking around.

As Rachel walked, her steps got a bit too quick. Her heels caught on each other, and before she could even react, she stumbled forward.

Tyler heard the noise and had just started to turn when he felt her crash right into him.

It was pitch black. He couldn’t see a thing, so his instincts kicked in. He reached out to catch her.

He hadn’t expected her momentum to be that strong. As soon as he caught her, he lost balance and went crashing down with her in his arms.

In that split second before hitting the floor, Tyler instinctively shielded her with his body.

Rachel felt her whole body jolt, but it wasn’t painful.

Chapter 236 +20 BONUS

What she did hear was a soft, muffled grunt.

She realized what had happened and immediately asked, “Mr. Hu, are you okay?”

Tyler winced and grumbled without holding back. “Seriously, Rachel, if you wanted to throw yourself at me, you didn’t have to pick this place. Just say the word, and I’ll play along.”

Rachel’s cheeks turned red, and even her ears felt warm.

She quickly defended herself. “I wasn’t trying to throw myself at you! My heels got tangled!”

“You managed to trip on your own heels. That’s impressive.”

Using the wall for support, Tyler slowly stood up.

Rachel didn’t bother arguing. She knew she could never win a battle of words against him. Besides, he still had that injury on his back.

Instead, she asked gently, “How’s your back? Is it okay?”

“Let’s just get out of here.”

Tyler got to his feet and kept walking forward with Rachel.