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For a moment, Rachel didn’t even know what to say. She had a feeling that walking over now would just be interrupting.

But Tyler, as usual, had no concept of embarrassment. He walked straight up like he hadn’t noticed a thing and greeted them casually.

“Mr. Lewis, you’re certainly busy. Can’t spare a moment to wait for your own wife, yet you’ve got time to admire a female employee’s belly?” His gaze shifted yfully to Samantha. “What is it? Does Ms. Judd’s belly look more special than everyone else’s? Prettier, maybe?”

William had remainedposed when he saw Tyler, but the moment his eyesnded on Rachel beside him, his entire expression changed. The gentleness from before disappeared. It was reced by something darker.

Samantha pursed her lips. Her face went pale for a brief second before she quickly recovered, putting on a cheerful smile as she jogged over to Rachel.

“Rachel, where were you this morning? William and I waited for a long time. We thought something might’ve happened to you.”

Rachel didn’t even nce at Samantha, however. Her gaze was fixed on William the entire time. “Is that so?”

It was as if William snapped out of something. He rushed toward her and grabbed her hand tightly. “What happened to you? I called you so many times, why didn’t you answer?”

“You thought something happened to me?” Rachel asked.

“Of course I did. I even asked Cecilia. She said she wasn’t with youst night and had no idea where you were.”

Rachel looked at him. There was that familiar look of worry in his eyes and those same blue eyes that once used to look at her that way. She had thought she knew this man after spending seven years together.

It turned out those seven years were just the threshold.

She kept her voice steady. “So why didn’t you call the police?”

If someone you cared about couldn’t be reached and their phone was off, wouldn’t your first instinct be to file a report?

But William was different. He’d had Tyler wait for her at thepany’s entrance. Then he’de here with Samantha in tow,ughing and chatting. All before he even knew whether Rachel was okay.

William hesitated. “If I had called the police, this event would’ve been ruined. Rachel, you know how important this event is for thepany. I figured you would-”

Rachel raised her hand and cut him off. “Enough. It’s gettingte. Let’s go inside.”

Without another word, she walked right past him and headed inside.

As Tyler walked past William, he gave him a slow, thoughtful look. ‘Mr. Lewis, with your jam–packed schedule, don’t forget to take care of your health.”

The vein in William’s forehead twitched as he turned to re at Tyler. “You didn’t arrange for Rachel to see that on purpose, did you?”

Tyler gave a short, dismissive chuckle. The smugness in his expression was obvious. “Scenes like that y out all the time. Why would I need to arrange anything? Besides, how would I know you couldn’t even hold off for a few hours?”

bHe /bthrew William a final nce that was full of contempt.

William’s expression darkened. The way Tyler looked at him wasn’t just hatred. It was pure disgust.

Samantha looked up at William, noticing how tightly pursed his lips were and how his jaw was clenched. She nervously tugged

bat /bthe hem of his shirt.

“William, do you think Rachel saw something just now? Will she be mad at me?”

The more she spokeb, /bthe more guilty she felt.

+25 bBONUS /b