The Revenge of the CEO's Unrecognizable Ex-Wife

POV: Natalia Grey / Vera Steele 

I look into the mirror and the woman staring back at me is unrecognizable. 

Sharp cheekbones that weren't there before. Ice-blonde hair cut in a sharp bob. Gray contacts hiding the brown eyes I was born with. Even my nose is smaller, and more refined. The surgeon did good work. Maybe too good. Three years ago, I was Natalia Grey. And now I'm Vera Steele. 

"You don't have to do this, you know." Elena's voice comes from my bedroom doorway. She's leaning against the frame, arms crossed, giving me that weird look. "Seriously, Nat. We can just walk away right now. Build MemoryTech into something legit without all this revenge stuff."

"Without revenge?" I turn away from the mirror to face her, and she takes a step back. Good. "He stole everything from me, Elena. My designs, my whole career… Three f*ck*ng years of my life locked up in that hellhole while he got rich using my work."

My voice cracks on the last part. I hate that. 

"Damien didn't…."

"Don't." I cut her off fast, my hands balling into fists. Don't defend him. Don't remind me that I used to love him. "Just don't, okay? The press conference starts in two hours. Is everything ready?"

She’s quiet for a second, then she walks into my room, heels clicking on the marble floors. "Jordan texted. Says the tech's flawless. Every major tech journalist in the Bay Area is freaking out. And Wolfe Industries? They won't stop calling. Like, every hour."

My lips twitch into something like a mischievous smile. "Good. Let them sweat."

I walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. San Francisco spreads out below me, covered in morning fog. Somewhere out there, across the country in Manhattan, Damien Wolfe is probably sitting in his stupid corner office right now.

Does he ever think about me? Does he wonder what happened to the girl whose life he destroyed?

God, stop it. That girl, the one who loved and trusted him, is dead. She died in a psychiatric ward while doctors pumped her full of drugs and wrote "delusional" in her file.

"Natalia." Elena's hand lands on my shoulder. I almost flinch. "Listen to me. Once you start this? You can't take it back. If he figures out who you really are…"

"He won't." I look at my reflection in the glass. "Vera Steele's background is perfect. Fake medical degree from Switzerland. Patents filed under six different shell companies. Three years building this. He's gonna see exactly what I want him to see, some brilliant innovator his company needs."

"Okay, but Nat.." She pauses, shakes her head. "What happens when he realizes MemoryScape can literally pull proof straight from his brain? When he figures out your machine can extract memories and show everyone what he stole from you?"

"Then it's too late." I turn to face her fully. "That's the whole point, Elena. I'm gonna strap him into my machine and pull every single memory of what he did. And then I'm gonna broadcast it to the whole world. He took everything from me. Now it's my turn."

Elena stares at me for what feels like forever. Her dark eyes look sad. Almost like she's mourning someone. "The girl I found in that hospital three years ago... she wouldn't even recognize you now. You know that, right?"

"Good." I push past her toward my closet. My chest feels tight but I ignore it. "That girl was an idiot. She trusted the wrong person and look what happened. She got destroyed."

The suit I picked out is waiting on my bed. Blood-red Armani. I chose red on purpose. War paint. A warning. I start getting dressed, piece by piece. Silk blouse first. Then the tailored jacket that probably cost more than I used to make in a whole month back when I was just Natalia. Finally, the Louboutin heels that add three inches to my height and make my walk look dangerous.

When I'm done, I check the mirror one more time. Vera Steele stares back. Cold. Sharp. Calculated. Ready to destroy the man who destroyed her.

But what if you're wrong? a tiny voice whispers in the back of my head. What if there's more to the story?

Shut up. I've been telling that voice to shut up for three years straight. It doesn't get to talk now.

My phone buzzes in my bag. I fish it out and check the text.

Jordan: "Tech is SICK. Like seriously, you're gonna blow their minds. PS - Wolfe Industries just called again lmaooo they're so thirsty. Want me to tell them to f*ck off?"

I actually smile reading that. Jordan Chen is twenty-six, nonbinary, with bright purple hair and more genius in their fingertips than most people have in their entire bodies. They're my Chief Technology Officer and they hate Damien Wolfe almost as much as I do. Maybe even more, actually. Jordan's the one who helped me build MemoryScape from the ground up, turning my half-crazy ideas into actual working technology.

I text back: "Be polite. But make them wait."

Elena appears with her tablet. "Car's downstairs. Security team is ready. Jordan's already at the venue." She hesitates. "Nat…"

"Vera," I correct her. Sharp. "Natalia Grey died three years ago. She's gone."

"Fine. Vera." Elena's voice goes soft. "What if doing this doesn't fix anything? What if you destroy him and still feel exactly the same?"

"It will fix it." I grab my Birkin bag. I can't let myself think like that. "It has to."

The penthouse door shuts behind us. Sounds exactly like a prison door locking.

No going back now.

It should probably scare me. But it doesn't feel like freedom.

The elevator ride down is silent. Elena knows better than to push when I'm like this. The lobby attendant nods as we walk past. The doorman opens the door with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. I wonder if he can tell I'm about to burn someone's world down.

Outside, the black Town Car waits at the curb, engine running. My driver opens the door without speaking. I had him background-checked six different ways. Everyone in my new life has been investigated. These days, I trust exactly two people. Elena and Jordan. That's it.

The car pulls into traffic. Taking me toward the press conference. Toward the moment I've been planning for three yearS, the beginning of Damien Wolfe's end.

My phone buzzes against my thigh. News alert.

I almost ignore it, almost. Then I glance at the screen and my entire body goes still. My heart literally stops beating for a second.

"Wolfe Industries CEO Damien Wolfe announces search for revolutionary neural technology partner."

Below the headline, his face stares back at me. Three years put shadows under those gray eyes. Made his jaw harder. But he's still stupidly attractive in that suit. Still the guy who used to stay up until three AM with me, tracing designs on my skin, promising we'd change the world together.

Still the guy who destroyed me.

The article loads, and I read it twice. My pulse hammers in my ears.

"We're specifically interested in memory extraction and architectural visualization technologies," Damien says in the quote. "The right partnership could revolutionize how we approach design and construction. We're actively seeking innovators in this space."

Memory extraction. Architectural visualization.

MemoryScape.                      

He's looking for my exact technology, for me.

He just doesn't know it yet.

Elena leans over, reading my screen. Her eyes go wide. "Holy sh*t. That's…"

"Perfect." The word tastes like victory. ”He's walking straight into my trap."

The car picks up speed through morning traffic. Taking me to the venue. To everything I've been working toward.

But one thought won't shut up.

What if he's been searching for you this whole time?

I shove it down. Lock it away.

Because in less than two hours, Vera Steele is gonna unveil MemoryScape to the world.

And Damien Wolfe is gonna learn that some women don't stay buried. Some come back ready to burn everything down.

POV: Natalia Grey / Vera Steele

The auditorium is packed.

Standing room only. Tech journalists with their cameras and recorders, investors in expensive suits checking their phones, industry people I recognize from magazines and conferences. All here to see what I've built.

All here to see MemoryScape.

I stand backstage, watching them file in through a gap in the curtain. My heart's beating so fast I can feel it in my throat. Elena appears next to me, her hand finding mine.

"You okay?" she whispers.

"Yeah." My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "Just... a lot of people."

"You've got this, Nat. The tech is perfect. You're perfect. Just go out there and show them what you built."

I nod. Take a breath. Try to calm down.

This is it. Three years of work. Three years of planning and building and preparing for this exact moment. The moment Vera Steele becomes real to the world. The moment I start destroying Dam