“Uhh, Cecilia, don’t say things like that!” Rachel cut Cecilia off in a hurry, terrified the latter might blurt something out of line. She could already feel Tyler staring at her intensely.

If Cecilia kept talking, Rachel was certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

Cecilia, completely baffled, asked, “What are you talking about? Did you forget? Last time you told me that you wanted to run that project, but we’d need a marketing hook. And what’s more eye-catching—especially for women—than men? At the time, you said we should use a few good-looking guys for the shoot. Then we’d publish it through the magazine. It’d be the perfect ad, right?”

Hearing that, Rachel finally remembered. She had tossed out the idea to Cecilia before, just casually in passing. She had forgotten all about it after getting sidetracked with other things.

It surprised her that Cecilia had remembered so clearly.

She let out a long sigh of relief. “That actually sounds good, but I didn’t get a good look earlier. Tyler grabbed my phone and deleted everything by mistake. Can you send them again?”

“That won’t be necessary. Let’s just do live auditions. It’ll be easier that way.”

Rachel thought that was a good idea. “Alright, let’s do that.”

“By the way, have you finished that project you were working on? Do you need me to help with anything?”

She didn’t mention Tyler or the project she was helping with, and that alone eased Rachel’s nerves. The whole conversation had left her on edge.

Rachel replied quickly, “No. It’s late. You should get some rest.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Rachel set down her phone. Now was her chance to seize the upper hand. A sly smile appeared on her face.

“Don’t you think you owe me an apology for doubting me?”

Tyler leaned against his elbow, tilting his head toward her. “You don’t get it. I’d rather be overly cautious than risk letting someone shady slip through. What if one of those men had bad intentions? If the house went up in flames because of it, what would you do then?”

Rachel pursed her lips. “But you know I’m not like that.”

“You’re not, but that doesn’t stop people from hanging around you. And besides, Cecilia should’ve explained the project better. That was just poor wording on her part.”

“You!” Rachel realized she couldn’t win. His logic was too tight, and his mind too sharp.

At that moment, Wanda chuckled.

“Alright, alright. None of this is your fault. Let’s just say it was a mistake from Ms. Lloyd’s colleague. Now, if you’re finished eating, I’ll clear the table. It’s getting late. Why don’t you two head upstairs and rest?”

Rachel lifted her gaze to the clock on the wall. It was a little past eight.

She needed to come up with some excuse to get out tonight. If Tyler didn’t sign off, the contract couldn’t move forward, and the project would stall.

That would mean all her efforts with Jerry would go to waste.

She sent Cecilia a quick message, deciding she had no choice but to use the latter as cover. Then she turned to Tyler and said casually, “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

Tyler was a little surprised. He raised his brows.

“Well, that’s new. You’re actually willing to go to bed early?”

Usually, Rachel was wary of going to bed with him, because he often made her sing at night.

When he got picky, he’d criticize one song as no good and another as not pleasing enough. For someone singing, it was downright nerve-wracking.

Rachel only smiled and said offhandedly, “I just figured you haven’t really rested well in a long time. Dr. Jenkins said you should take care of yourself.”

“Okay.”

Tyler nodded happily. He loved spending nights with her. Before Rachel, nights had always been lonely and felt no different from the days.