Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 353

Ethan, Summer, Lilith, and Eleanor took their seats around the velvet-lined table. After rolling the dice for positions, they each received a stack of two hundred low-denomination chips to keep score.

Whoever amassed the most chips by the final round would walk away with the entire jackpot of luxury bets.

Ethan boldly unclasped his expensive designer watch and slammed it onto the center of the table as his collateral.

Eleanor slipped a thick, high-end jadeite bracelet off her wrist and added it to the pile.

Lilith tossed down the keys to her three-million-dollar sports car, while Summer smoothly unhooked the diamond necklace she was wearing.

The undisputed crown jewel of the pot was Lilith's luxury car, valued at over hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Xavier pulled up a chair directly behind Lilith to coach her, while Miles confidently took a seat behind Summer.

Ethan glanced nervously at Xavier and Miles, knowing both men were lethal at the table. He immediately established the ground rules. "Spectators stay absolutely quiet. No signaling or coaching allowed."

Lilith wasn't having any of that. She leaned back, resting intimately against Xavier's chest. "We're a married couple. Xavier isn't a spectator, he's my partner."

Ethan tossed out a tile with a sly grin. "Lilith, your family is rolling in billions, you don't even care about one sports car. But this watch is practically my entire life savings. You wouldn't be cruel enough to bankrupt your favorite cousin, would you?"

Lilith genuinely couldn't care less about bankrupting Ethan. Her sole obsession was utterly destroying Summer, who was sitting directly across from her.

Ethan turned his nervous gaze to Miles. "Miles, that rule applies to you too. Not a word."

Miles flashed a terrifyingly confident smirk. "Relax. Summer doesn't need my help to ruin you."

Though to be completely honest, he had no idea what her skill level actually was. This was the first time he had ever seen her touch a tile.

But after watching her arrange her hand for a mere sixty seconds, he knew without a shadow of a doubt: Summer was a certified shark. Her strategic logic was absolutely flawless, she was actively counting tiles, and she absolutely did not need anyone holding her hand.

As long as Miles stayed completely out of it, Ethan felt invincible. He confidently slammed down a three of bamboo with a cocky grin.

Summer arched an eyebrow, a lethal smile touching her lips. "Mahjong." It was a perfect, devastating flush.

Ethan and Lilith both twitched in surprise. But it was only the first hand. It was probably just incredibly lucky timing. Shrugging it off, they quickly reshuffled for the next round.

They were entirely oblivious to the absolute slaughter they had just walked into. Until—

Until Summer casually and mercilessly crushed them for over a dozen consecutive hands, single-handedly massacring the entire table with an unstoppable, suffocating momentum that left them completely defenseless.

Ethan, Lilith, and Eleanor's faces finally drained of all color, replacing their earlier arrogance with sheer panic.

Even Xavier was forced to reevaluate Summer, watching her surgical dismantling of the table with entirely new eyes.

Lilith quickly realized she was hopelessly outmatched. If she kept playing, she would be completely humiliated, violently suppressed under Summer's boot without a chance to ever fight back.

But there was absolutely no way Lilith would ever tolerate being Summer's punching bag.

Lilith made a snap decision to cut her losses. Complaining that her back was aching from sitting too long, she forced Xavier to take over her hand so she could get up and stretch.

Ethan was instantly annoyed, but given he had zero chance of surviving Summer's onslaught anyway, he vastly preferred Lilith walking away with the prize over Summer.

Lilith was notoriously arrogant and incredibly wealthy. She would never stoop so low as to keep a used watch, meaning she'd absolutely toss it back to him later.

The second Xavier took control of the tiles, the entire dynamic of the game violently shifted. Summer was no longer effortlessly executing the whole table.

Xavier and Summer were brilliantly matched, their strategies clashing in an intense, high-stakes psychological war.

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