Then so be it.

Tyler would find out sooner or later. If he didn’t ask, Rachel wouldn’t say anything. But if he did, she’d just have to find another way to deal with it.

After the two of them sat down, Tyler grabbed some food for Rachel. “Eat a little more.”

Rachel looked at the food on her plate, and suddenly her heart raced. They say a guilty conscience shows through—this must be what it felt like.

It was such an ordinary gesture, but because she had just called Jerry and said all those things, she was worried Tyler might have overheard.

Tyler was best at reading people. He was like a cat with a mouse—it didn’t have to eat right away. Instead, it would toy with its prey, make it suffer, and only kill it after the torment had broken it down.

Just the thought of that made Rachel shiver. It was frightening.

Still, she wasn’t foolish enough to expose herself outright. She picked at her food without much appetite, while Tyler calmly ate his fish.

He asked her, “About what I told you earlier today—have you thought it through?”

Rachel suddenly looked up. “What?”

Tyler frowned. “Rachel, do you not care what I say at all, or are you just pretending not to understand?”

She froze for a few seconds before it clicked. “Oh, right. I remember now.”

“Well? So do you have an answer?”

Rachel shook her head. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Is it that you really haven’t decided, or that you’ve already made up your mind to turn me down?”

His words cut straight into her weak spot. Rachel’s expression stiffened. She couldn’t reject Tyler—not yet. After all, she owed him too much. And to say she felt nothing for him wouldn’t be true. The time they had spent together, and the things she had learned about the past, had only deepened her feelings for him. But it wasn’t as simple as deciding whether to be with him or not.

She still hadn’t finished her work elsewhere. She had her own goals to accomplish. If she really stayed in Yurelia City with Tyler, it would hold her back. She had already made plans for her career. Tyler’s presence felt like a stumbling block in her path, even though that sounded harsh.

In the end, Rachel chose a compromise.

“How about we wait until you’re back from your business trip? Once you return, I promise I’ll give you a definite answer.”

Tyler didn’t press her. “If you say so.”

“Great.”

Rachel knew very well that she couldn’t avoid this forever. Sooner or later, she would have to give Tyler an answer. He wasn’t someone who could be fooled so easily.

After dinner, Rachel sat on the couch and played with Ray. Her phone suddenly rang. She glanced at the screen. It was Jim calling. Her brows furrowed. She ignored the first call.

However, Jim was relentless and dialed again. In the end, Rachel picked up, though her voice was noticeably colder than before.

“What is it?”

“Rachel, I know you’re upset about what happened today. But isn’t there any way we can find some middle ground? Your grandfather’s health is failing. We can’t let him pass away with regrets, can we?”

Just the mention of this lit the fire in Rachel’s chest.

“Shouldn’t you be thinking about my feelings, too? Am I not your daughter? Like I said before, I’m not a saint. Yvette has never once treated me like her sister. If she had, she wouldn’t have gone so far to hurt me. Dad, you should take care of your own health first.”

With that, Rachel was ready to hang up.

“Wait!”