Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 1

In the seventh year of her marriage, Summer Vance finally discovered the truth: she was merely a stand-in for Xavier Sterling's first love.

And that first love was none other than his brother's former partner, Lily Sutton.

To make matters worse, Lily was pregnant with his child.

But there was one crucial detail Xavier didn't know—he was sterile.

A cheating scumbag wasn't worth keeping, so Summer decisively brought up divorce.

Xavier, however, refused. Frowning, he demanded in a low voice, "You're asking for a divorce just because I gave Lily a hug? What do you think marriage is? What do you take me for? Summer, you can't just throw a tantrum and treat our marriage like a game just because you know I love you. Don't bring up divorce again. I won't agree to it."

Hah.

He loved her?

What a joke.

A few days ago...

"Xavier, Lily is coming back to the country. Are you still not going to divorce Summer? Don't tell me you actually fell for that stand-in?"

The door to Xavier's office had been left slightly ajar. Hearing her own name, Summer paused, her hand hovering over the handle.

Divorce?

A stand-in?

Before she could process the shock, Xavier's soft scoff drifted from the room. "How could I? The only woman I've ever loved is Lily."

"That's what I thought," replied Julian Hawthorne, Xavier's close friend, his tone dripping with disdain. "Summer is just a glorified bedmate."

She, his lawful wife, was just a stand-in bedmate?

The man who had been tangled in the sheets with her just last night, the man who had tirelessly whispered her name over and over, the man who had breathed sweet declarations of love into her ear.

In this moment, not only did he fail to defend her, but he personally confessed his love for someone else.

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