William clenched his fist, his feet rooted to the ground as a chill settled over his brow.

“Mr. Hunt, you know our relationship. You can’t touch Rachel.”

“Settle scores with Howard before talking to me, and solve your damn problems before I go to your grandfather about it!” Tyler roared. Smoke billowed from his lips, circling him, veiling the frustration on his face.

Given Tyler’s temperament, William knew that pestering him further would only make things worse.

He had said everything there was to say.

Just as he turned to leave, Tyler’s voice rang in the air once more.

“William, don’t assume that everyone is as vile as you are. I won’t have anything to do with married women. That’s my baseline.”

At that, William’s tense shoulders finally relaxed. He trusted Tyler’s words. The fact that Tyler clarified that meant that he truly was innocent.

Very soon, William left in his car.

Tyler shot William a last look of disdain before glancing at the door upstairs that was still tightly shut.

“Come on out.”

Rachel pulled the door open and stood right there, her face pale as a ghost. She walked stiffly down the stairs.

Tyler noticed her expression. “Heard everything?”

“Yeah…” Rachel nodded mechanically.

Irritation grew in Tyler’s chest when he saw the vast difference in her attitude. Just minutes ago, she had been so eager and full of spirit. Yet now, she looked so defeated and despondent.

“I’d prefer it if you had remained deaf.”

That way, she could hear no evil.

Rachel didn’t expect William to come knocking on Tyler’s door to question him about what had happened that night. Tyler’s words hit the nail on the head, piercing her heart and leaving it bleeding.

Howard must have said something to William to make him come running here.

Yet, instead of settling the scores with Howard, William chose to come looking for Tyler. Shouldn’t William be making Howard pay the price for what he did? Howard was the one who drugged her, not Tyler.

Would William just let things slide if Samantha had been drugged instead of Rachel?

Certainly not!

Rachel smiled bitterly to herself. She looked like she had fallen into a pit of despair; although the initial shock had faded, her heart was heavy with disappointment.

She simply found it laughable how she was suddenly seeing so many sides of William that she had never seen before.

Snapping back to reality, Rachel looked at Tyler and said calmly, “Thank you, Mr. Hunt. I’ll amend the proposal according to what you said, but I need to trouble you for one more thing.”

Tyler combed his fingers through his hair irritably. “Why do you have so many demands? Let me make myself clear. This isn’t something that just one meal can make up for. Make it two.”

Chapter 40.

That feigned calculative look on his face amused Rachel. “You’re the CEO of LS Enterprise, for goodness’ sake. Why do you keep trying to fleece me out of a meal? It’s not like you can’t afford it.”

Given Tyler’s status, he was probably tired of all sorts of exotic delicacies and luxurious feasts.

Tyler stubbed his cigarette out and stuck his hands in his pockets, a devil–may–care attitude reflected in his cynical eyes.

“You don’t understand. Food tastes better when someone else pays for it.”

Conversely, Rachel could understand where he was coming from: that food tastes better when it’s someone else’s treat.

She agreed to it readily. “Count on me, but I’m relying on you to resolve this as soon as you can. Ideally, within three days.”

Tyler shook his head with a chuckle and tutted. “Tsk, tsk, tsk! It’s…”

Rachel shrugged at his quip and chuckled bitterly.

“What else do you expect? That I’d be like other women, running home crying and questioning him as to why he doesn’t trust me even after being together for seven years?”

That would be way too embarrassing.