Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 139

That blonde punk was incredibly close to Summer, and he held nothing but pure hostility and prejudice toward Lily.

If that punk kept whispering bad things about her into Mr. Banks's ear...

Would Mr. Banks ever actually accept her?

A sudden epiphany hit Lily. That was why! Despite being so outstanding, that had to be the reason Harrison had been so cold to her the exact second they met.

It was definitely because of that blonde punk!

Summer had definitely told the punk something, and then the punk ran straight to Harrison!

Summer!!!

The more Lily thought about it, the angrier she got, her eyes burning red. "Summer and Jude are so close that Jude even brings her along to see his own professor. Who knows what terrible things Summer has been saying about me? You guys heard it yourselves, Jude straight up called me a side-piece earlier. No wonder Mr. Banks has such a terrible impression of me."

Seeing Lily on the verge of tears, Julian panicked. "Don't stress, okay? You still have Xavier! Xavier will definitely help you."

Xavier nodded, holding a peeled orange slice to Lily's lips. "Alright, stop worrying. You shouldn't be overthinking things while you're pregnant. I'll figure this out and make sure your dream comes true."

Hearing Xavier's promise, Lily finally cheered up and took a bite of the sweet orange.

But a second later, she remembered that Summer had also gone into Harrison's private lounge.

What if Mr. Banks decided to take a liking to Summer?

Julian scoffed loudly. "As if Mr. Banks would ever look twice at her! Has she accomplished a single thing in her life? Relax, a research god like him has sky-high standards. He'd never accept Summer."

But Lily still felt a gnawing sense of anxiety. She couldn't stand the thought of Summer succeeding where she had failed. She frowned. "But what if, because of Jude, Mr. Banks—"

Julian cut her off. "Do you really think someone like Mr. Banks could be manipulated by a student? So stop worrying. Trust Xavier. He'll definitely pull through for you."

Xavier gave her a firm nod and fed her another slice of orange. "Eat up. Get some more Vitamin C."

***

After the afternoon session concluded, Xavier attempted to invite Harrison to dinner. However, Harrison's schedule was packed tight. He was so busy he didn't even have time to grab a meal with his own students.

Yet she, a rising star in the research world, had been rejected time and time again.

Lily shot Summer a dead-eyed, venomous glare before following Xavier out.

Harrison gave his two students a few final instructions before hurrying off. After he left, Jude and Summer drove away in their respective cars.

Summer went to the hospital to visit her parents for a bit before they eventually shooed her away to get some rest.

Once home, Summer hopped onto a video call with Leo Sterling.

Leo was staying at South Bay Manor. Ever since Xavier took him, he had four bodyguards tailing him at all times, making it completely impossible for him to sneak off and find Summer.

On top of that, Summer had spent all her recent time at the hospital caring for her parents. Without the time or energy to look after Leo properly, she had simply let him stay with Xavier.

"Leo, are you scared being home alone?"

Leo's eyes went wide with shock. "Mom, are you a psychic? How did you know I was alone?"