Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 177

Summer's phone began to ring.

She picked it up immediately. "Mr. Sinclair."

"Mom, it's me," Leo's voice sounded through the receiver.

Summer's eyes widened. "You're there too?"

"Yeah."

Because Xavier was downstairs, Silas had taken Leo straight to The Grand Tier Suite to avoid any unwanted encounters.

Which meant Leo had watched the entire spectacle unfold.

He had watched his mother being openly bullied by that mistress.

All while his own father sat right beside the mistress, actively financing her cruelty.

He hated that he was too young to make money. He wanted to make an absurd amount of money—more than the Sterling Group—so he could buy his mother everything she ever wanted.

So she would never be bullied again.

Seeing Leo on the verge of tears, Silas took over the call.

"Mom, don't be sad. Dad Silas said he's going to help you."

The next second, the crowd went absolutely wild. The moment Xavier tried to bid two hundred and seventy million, Silas ruthlessly placed a blank-check bid to shut him down.

Summer's vision went black. She just wanted to pass out.

She hadn't even wanted that damn chess set! And worse, she didn't have nearly enough money to pay Silas back for this absurd flex.

She was going to have to sell her soul to the Sinclair Group and work off this debt for the next hundred years.

"Summer," Silas's deep voice resonated through the phone. "Do you want to come upstairs? I can send staff to escort you."

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine right here." Summer frantically rejected the offer. If she was escorted away right now, the entire room would treat her like a walking spectacle.

She dreaded tomorrow's headlines. It would be a photo of her and Silas with the blaring title: *Billionaire Boss Silas Sinclair Drops Fortune on Mystery Woman!*

If that happened, Alaric Sinclair would probably hunt her down with the tabloids in hand.

"Then what else do you want to bid on? Since we're both here, let me buy it for you." Silas spoke so casually, as if he were offering to buy her a cup of coffee instead of a priceless artifact.

But everything at this auction cost a fortune!

Moreover, she already owed him a massive favor. She didn't dare accept any more gifts because she couldn't possibly afford to repay him.

Seeing Summer back down, Lily also stopped bidding. Even though the highest bid was currently sitting at a measly seven hundred thousand dollars—pocket change to her.

But she had already burned through three hundred and sixty million dollars tonight on two massively overpriced items.

Her brother had just dropped two hundred and fifty million to buy Summer's rundown property.

Her own family's liquidity was likely tapped out, meaning Xavier would have to cover these absurd bills.

She didn't want to exhaust Xavier's funds too quickly, even though he had told her that his money was hers to spend as she pleased.

The problem was that she didn't have an official title yet. Leeching off Xavier so blatantly would ruin her carefully curated image of being a strong, independent woman.

The host asked the room if anyone wanted to increase the current bid.

When silence fell, the host prepared to slam the gavel.

Right at that very second, Summer raised her paddle. "Seven hundred and fifty thousand."

Lily whipped her head around, staring at Summer in shock.

Summer lazily lifted her gaze. "What's wrong, Lily? Eager to jump back in?"

"When I don't bid, you stay quiet. When I do, you follow like a stray dog. You haven't changed in ten years, have you? You still love trying to steal whatever catches my eye."