At that moment, Rachel had a strong urge to kick Tyler out. She knew how much he liked seeing others get embarrassed. He loved seeing the world burn. The gears in her mind shifted quickly, and she found the perfect excuse.

“Dad, it’s like this. I bumped into Mr. Hunt’s doctor before. Two days ago, I encountered some hooligans, and it was Mr. Hunt who saved me from the situation. He even got hurt in the process.”

Jim surveyed Rachel head to toe anxiously. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, but Mr. Hunt got hurt because of me. He’s still recovering from a wound on his back from that incident.”

Rachel heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Jim focusing his attention on her potentially getting hurt. She turned and saw Tyler staring at her, his deep, dark eyes with a smile on his face. That smile gave her goosebumps. There were too many unfathomable emotions in his eyes. Sometimes she didn’t dare to look into them, for fear that she might lose herself in that vortex of emotions.

There was a clear improvement in Jim’s tone toward Tyler. “I apologize for the trouble that Rachel caused you, Mr. Hunt,” he said.

Tyler said calmly, “It’s nothing, really. Our paths crossed by coincidence. Ms. Lloyd had actually tried to call Mr. Lewis, but I think he was with another female employee at that time.”

Tyler deliberately turned his gaze toward William, as if waiting for his response. The shift in his gaze made everyone in the Lloyd family look at William as well. They weren’t the only ones who had witnessed how deeply William loved Rachel. Everyone in Yurelia City could stand as a witness to that. William stood up against his parents and didn’t care that Rachel had a hearing disability. All the more, he didn’t care how people in Yurelia City talked about him behind his back. He was willing to become enemies with everyone in his family and Yurelia City for her sake.

Yet now, someone had claimed that William chose to ignore Rachel’s call in favor of a female employee. Suddenly, William found himself at the centre of scrutiny. He could feel Jim’s gaze on him. Jim had been reluctant to let Rachel marry William at the start, for fear that she might get bullied given her disability. Melanie, on the other hand, was convinced that William would treat Rachel well, given how far he was willing to sacrifice for her sake.

Jim’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t want to pin the blame on William. He simply said, “I know you’ve been busy with work, William. It’s good for a man to concentrate on his career, but you should know your limits. Since we’re family, I won’t bother beating around the bush with you. If you ever fall out of love with Rachel, tell us and send her back home.”

Jim’s words hit Rachel hard, her heart trembling from the impact. Her eyes widened as she registered the shock. Tears started welling up in her eyes.

“Dad…” she said hoarsely.

Jim knew that despite being unable to hear, Rachel could read lips and make out what they were saying. He sighed and patted Rachel’s shoulder.

“Remember, this place will always be home to you. Regardless of whether you’re my biological child, we raised you. That makes you our daughter.”

No one knew how important his words were to Rachel.