Tyler shot back, "Do you think you’ve done well enough?"

Yale’s heart pounded as he looked timidly at Tyler.

"Mr. Hunt, what do you mean by that? Don’t look at me like this–it rattles me. If you think I’ve done something wrong, you can just tell me directly."

Tyler’s stare cut right through him, like a blade pressed against his skin. Every second of eye contact cranked up the pressure until Yale was close to spilling everything.

But if he spoke, he’d drag Rachel down with him. He could afford to take the fall himself, but there was no way he’d let Rachel get burned too.

Leaning lazily against the doorframe with arms crossed, Tyler tilted his chin at him.

"Yale, why didn’t either you or Rachel answer my calls?"

At that, Yale’s instincts screamed danger. He rushed to explain.

"Mr. Hunt, don’t misunderstand. Ms. Lloyd and I are clean–there’s nothing between us. We weren’t ignoring your calls on purpose. We were busy at the time, you saw it yourself. We really didn’t have a chance to pick up."

"Is that so? Yale, you know me. I can’t stand being lied to–especially not by the people around me."

Tyler’s voice dropped, deep and menacing.

"I’m giving you the chance to come clean right now. If you tell me the truth, I’ll forgive you. But if I find it out on my own, it won’t be so easy then."

Yale’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. His mind was torn in two–if he confessed now, maybe Tyler would let him off, but Rachel’s secrets would be laid bare, and he knew she wasn’t ready for Tyler to uncover the truth.

He could sacrifice himself, but dragging Rachel down was out of the question.

After a long inner struggle, Yale finally made up his mind to cover for her.

"Mr. Hunt, I’m not hiding anything from you. You saw the situation yourself. If you don’t believe me, you can send someone to investigate."

Tyler stepped closer, staring him down for a long moment before finally pointing at him.

"Go to the company."

Yale only let out a sigh of relief once Tyler’s back was turned. But it was only temporary. Tyler was already suspicious, and if he launched a deeper investigation, unless everything was airtight, exposure was only a matter of time.

When Rachel came out of the shower, Tyler was already gone. A WhatsApp notification lit up her phone.

It was from Tyler.

[Something came up at the company. I need to deal with it. Don’t wait for me. Go to bed.]

Rachel sighed in relief. She had been worried in the shower that if Tyler kept pressing her tonight, she’d slip and expose herself before morning.

At least with him gone, they had some breathing room.

She quickly called Jerry.

"Jerry, Tyler’s starting to get suspicious. Hurry up and patch the gaps–anything unfinished needs to be airtight. Even if he digs into it, he can’t be allowed to find a single crack."

Jerry’s voice sounded tense.

"Alright, but my skills only go so far. If Tyler hires a hacker stronger than me to dig through the system, I can’t guarantee the surveillance won’t be restored."