Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 83

Spotting her car, Jude asked in surprise, "Summer, why aren't you driving the one from last night?"

She locked the doors and said casually, "I crashed it, so I switched."

"Crashed it?!" Jude's voice pitched up, his face full of heartache. To most men, a car was as precious as a partner.

"He bought that car for someone else."

A wave of disgust washed over Jude. He instantly understood who that 'someone else' was and why she had wrecked it.

If it had been him, he would have done the exact same thing.

He quickly changed his tune. "Good riddance. Did you total it?"

"No, I didn't want to get myself hurt in the process."

Jude shook his head with a sigh. "What a shame. Next time you need to do something like that, call me. I'd be more than happy to do the honors."

That morning, Summer accompanied Gavin to a meeting with their clients. The clients had added new product requirements, meaning the previously finalized plans needed significant revisions.

During the heated discussion, Summer's phone began to vibrate.

She sneaked a glance and saw it was a former subordinate—an employee from Sterling Group.

Calling her during work hours meant there was definitely an emergency at her old company.

But she had already resigned. Whatever mess Sterling Group was in had absolutely nothing to do with her.

Not wanting to make things awkward for the caller, she quietly switched her phone to silent and placed it face down on the table, pretending she hadn't noticed.

She didn't answer, nor did she decline.

The meeting dragged on until noon. The clients hosted a business lunch, finally giving Summer a moment to check her phone.

Her screen was flooded with missed calls.

Some were from former colleagues, and the rest were from Xavier.

"Sterling Group is bleeding money over this. Conservative estimates say they've already lost millions of dollars."

"More than that. With the system still down, their stocks are absolutely tanking."

"Everyone's saying they fired the wrong person. Who was the Technical Director of their R&D department again?"

"I think her name was... Summer Vance."

The client suddenly paused, realization dawning on him as he looked across the table at Summer, who was calmly eating.

"Summer Vance? Just a coincidence?"

She set down her silverware and replied with a smile, "I was indeed the Technical Director at Sterling Group until recently."

Right on cue, Xavier called again.

She took her time, slowly wiping her fingers with a napkin.