Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 33

"She knows you spoil her, so she's pulling these stunts to test your devotion. It's the classic playbook of a jealous woman. Bro, you just haven't dated enough to get it."

Julian was admittedly an expert in this field. He swapped girlfriends faster than he changed clothes.

"And?"

"Simple. Freeze her out. Stop indulging her. Take back everything you've given her. She won't be able to keep up her one-woman show. Eventually, she'll panic and feel insecure. And in the end, she'll come crawling back, begging at your feet for you to forgive her, look at her, and love her."

"Fine, I'm hanging up."

Xavier tossed the towel into the laundry hamper, hanging up without a direct response. But Julian's words kept echoing in his mind.

It actually made a twisted sort of sense.

When he had first laid eyes on Summer, he had been astounded that two people could look so identical without being sisters.

Only later did he find out that Summer had undergone facial reconstructive surgery.

'Reconstructive surgery' was just a polite term for plastic surgery.

She had obviously modeled her face after Lily's.

The reason was self-evident.

And now, suddenly seeing Lily back in the country and sharing an embrace with him, Summer felt insecure, terrified, and inadequate—a volatile cocktail of emotions.

That explained why she was acting so out of character.

He had to admit, while Julian was useless at business, he had his moments of brilliance in other areas.

...

The next morning, at the hospital.

Xavier pushed open the door to Leo's room.

Leo didn't take the gift. His small face remained stoic, his childish voice perfectly steady. "Thank you, Mr. Sutton, but I don't need a gift. And I'm not mad at my dad just over that."

Leo shifted his gaze to Xavier and said nothing more.

Miles was genuinely surprised. The boy clearly lived up to the rigorous upbringing of the Sterling patriarch.

Despite his young age, he was remarkably resolute. He wasn't swayed by petty bribes or sweet talk, and his emotional control was flawless.

Miles had only come to help smooth things over for Xavier.

After taking Julian's advice to heart the night before, Xavier had decided to give Summer one last chance.

Wasn't Summer's ultimate goal just to get him to coax her and prove his heart belonged to her?

Fine, he would play along and coax her. If he could smooth things over and get her to go back and apologize to his grandfather, that would be the best-case scenario.