Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 166

Throughout the funeral, the villagers had been a huge help. Even when Xavier and Lily had shown up earlier and caused a scene, the neighbors had stepped in to assist.

Summer asked the villagers to lay a flower at her father's memorial as an apology.

Nobody objected.

After all, Edward had genuinely been a wonderful man. Wronging a good person who had just passed away left everyone feeling deeply guilty. Apologizing before his memorial actually gave them peace of mind.

As everyone prepared to leave, Summer called back the village chief and the locals.

She had retrieved the bank accounts containing hundreds of thousands of dollars. She announced her decision to donate half of the funds to repair the village roads.

Her only request was this: If anyone happened to be walking up the hill, could they please check on her father's grave?

Since she was taking Maeve to Empire City for treatment, she would rarely be able to visit.

As for the remaining funds, Summer donated them to the cause her father had dedicated his entire life to—the local school.

After seeing the villagers off, Gavin, Jude, and Yates left one after the other.

Sebastian left alongside the police. Having stepped in to handle the legal communications for the Vance family's case, he headed straight out from town.

Once everyone was gone, only Tessa remained by Summer's side, along with the four bodyguards who had been shadowing them the entire time.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel.

Xavier stood by the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the swirling snow outside. His voice was freezing. "Look into Yates's recent moves. He seems to have a lot of free time. Find him some trouble."

Back at Vance's Grove, Xavier had been too worried about the safety of Lily's unborn child to bother dealing with Yates.

It wasn't that he was too lazy to deal with him, nor was he known for a forgiving temper.

Lily was the love of Xavier's life; there was no way he didn't care about what happened. He simply hadn't had the time to handle Yates yet.

Just as he ended the call, the bodyguards trailing Summer phoned in.

"He's buried? ...Keep a close eye on Summer... Bring Leo back to The Sterling Estate tomorrow."

...

At Vance's Grove.

Tessa overheard the bodyguards on the phone and frantically ran to find Summer.

Summer was busy packing. She was taking Maeve to Empire City the next day, and they likely wouldn't return anytime soon.

She was packing what needed to go and carefully storing away what had to stay. After all, this was her home.

"Summer, I just heard the bodyguards on the phone. They're taking Leo back to The Sterling Estate tomorrow."

Maeve looked at Summer with frantic, panic-stricken eyes. Following the relentless string of tragedies, Maeve looked dramatically older and more fragile.

Her once slightly graying hair had turned entirely white.

She blamed herself for being useless, for not being able to protect Summer.

She was a burden, forcing Summer to manage a crippled woman's emotions while sneaking out alone in the middle of the night.

As the thoughts swirled, tears slipped silently down the deep wrinkles at the corners of Maeve's eyes.

Outside in the dead of night, Summer held a flashlight, crunching through the snow as she walked alone toward the hill. She knew she was being followed by two bodyguards.

When the bodyguards realized she was just going to Edward's grave, they stopped tailing her.

Summer stood at the edge of the grave, whispering her final goodbyes, and then dialed Silas Sinclair's number.

She waited in nervous anticipation, but—

The call wouldn't connect!

Summer tried a few more times, but it kept failing.

The automated voice just kept repeating: *The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later...*

Summer stood there in silence.

The next morning.

Summer finished tidying up the house, found the village chief, and handed him a spare key, asking him to keep an eye on the place.