Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 85

Summer shot him a glacial glare, then turned without a word and patted the shoulder of Willow, who was sitting closest to her. "Let me."

She then glanced at Lily, who was hiding a smug smirk. "Get over here and watch, Wildflower Lily."

Willow peeked at Lily in confusion, wondering why Summer called her that.

Was it a nickname she had just invented?

Summer typed in the master override, then tilted her head toward Lily. "You have access now. Come on."

Lily glared at her coldly, refusing to move.

She wasn't familiar with the architecture. Even with access, diagnosing the issue in such a short window would require immense effort.

Rather than stress herself out, she'd much rather order Summer around.

She was already here, anyway.

Furthermore, Lily maintained that Summer caused this mess, so she should be the one to clean it up.

"You're the culprit. This entire disaster is due to your negligence, so naturally, you should fix it. Don't try to shift the blame."

Summer smirked. "I knew you couldn't do it. So much for being a self-proclaimed genius."

With that, she turned back and began running diagnostics. In no time, she pinpointed the exact origin of the collapse.

The master permissions weren't even needed.

It was a minor parameter alteration that triggered a catastrophic chain reaction—like a tiny missing screw bringing an entire factory line to a halt.

No one had noticed it, let alone expected it.

The entire R&D team crowded around her.

"Who touched this code?"

She asked the question without her hands skipping a beat.

A second later, she tilted her head toward Xavier, offering a radiant smile. "Right, Mr. Sterling?"

Lily's fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white, her face draining of color from sheer humiliation.

Moments later, she looked at Xavier, her expression morphing into an agonizing display of guilt. "I'm so sorry, Xavier. I've failed to meet your expectations."

He looked at her evenly, a hint of worry flickering in his eyes.

"It's not your fault," he softened his tone, then turned his icy stare toward Summer. "It was Summer's failure to conduct a proper handover before she left. She forced you to figure it out on your own, leading to an honest mistake. Therefore, Summer still bears full responsibility."

She had anticipated exactly this. Pulling out her phone, she tapped the screen, playing a recorded call. "I have the audio right here. Director Sutton explicitly insisted she didn't need a handover. After all, she's so brilliant—winning countless awards growing up, holding patents—what couldn't she handle? She was the one rushing me out the door, and now it's my fault? Should I play it so everyone can hear?"

The surrounding engineers instantly perked up, eager for the drama.

Xavier shot them a deadpan glare. "Do you all want to lose your jobs?"

The crowd scattered like frightened birds, scurrying back to their workstations. Only Willow remained standing nearby, since Summer was currently sitting in her chair.