Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 41: Night Shadows

I tucked my hair into the hair cap. "Hurry. The meeting is in twenty minutes."

"Relax," Bea said as she examined the men’s wig in her hands. That’s plenty of time. For once, your minimalist boobs and ass work in our favor. The baggy jeans and combat jacket will camouflage your feminine figure without bindings or padding.

"And this wig will cover your hair. A cap will help hide the fact its not the best wig. Sorry, time was short. We’ll have to make it work."

Bea helped me secure the wig in place, then she tilted my face up and gave it a hard look.

"So soft and pretty. Of course, there are pretty boys out there, too, but it would be a hard sell to pass you off as anything but a woman."

She tilted my head from side to side. "Unless we hardened you up a bit. Sit."

Bea settled me in a chair at the makeup table, only she turned the chair away from the mirror.

"Hey, I want to watch the transformation."

"Later, just trust me. Now, close your eyes."

By the time Bea relented and let me look in the mirror, she was right, I didn’t recognize the person in the mirror, at least not totally. The eyes were the same, but I had a chiseled jawline now. My eyebrows were thicker, and I had a subtle shadow of razor stubble. My full lips appeared thinner and my nose wider.

"Bea, you are in the wrong industry. This is amazing."

"Never doubt my abilities with makeup. But, hun, what are we going to do about your voice? It ruins the illusion I’ve created."

"Is this better?" I asked in the deepest tone I could muster.

"You sound like a girl faking it. Here, hold out your tongue."

Bea pulled out a bottle and a dropper. She squeezed out several drops on my tongue.

"Swallow. The drops should deepen you voice temporarily. Try again. Not so deep this time. Not every man is a baritone."

"Testing, testing, testing." I tried different tones until I found one that I thought I could maintain.

"Attitude counts, too. Speak with confidence. You are Night fucking Shadows, one of if not the best hacker in the world. You are a master of your craft. Own it."

"How’s this?" I tested one more time.

"By George, I think you’ve got it."

"Terrific, then let’s do this before I forget or lose my nerve."

I felt like a thief in the night while following Min through the Heavenly executive offices to the conference room. These people had seen me before. With each step, I was for sure someone would recognize me. But other than a few curious glances, no one seemed to care since Min was with me. I was just another visitor.

The conference room was empty when we arrived.

"Please wait here. Mr. Heavenly will be with you shortly."

Min left me alone in a room large enough to seat twenty people easily. I took a seat near the end of the table and crossed a booted ankle over my knee. The waiting was playing havoc on my nerves. I reminded myself to use my guy voice and to walk and sit with a wider stance than I would as a woman. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

All I had to do was keep my head down, answer a few questions, and sign the contract. Easy peasy. I could do it in my sleep. Only in my sleep, I was a girl and dreams weren’t real.

By the time King showed up with an older guy carrying a portfolio of documents, I may not have literally been sweating bullets, but I was pretty sure he was on to me. He was going to call me on my bullshit.

The men sat at the table. The older guy introduced himself as an attorney and explained the terms of the contract like I was some prepubescent child who couldn’t read the document for myself. I’d already familiarized myself with the contract thoroughly. I was fine with the terms. I was even more fine knowing that if I didn’t like the terms, I could always alter the document later, or better, delete it entirely.

Night Shadow was not a legal entity, nor was the T. Tonk persona I’d be using today to sign the contract. Not to mention there were all sorts of legal implications that went with contracting someone to do something illegal, which some of the actions contracted were out and out illegal or implied illegal actions might be taken to complete the terms.

No, this contract was a formality. It was an excuse for King to put a face to the reputation and to say he did his due diligence when dealing with someone who was little more than a talented shadow on the dark web. So, I sat there and tried to look engaged while the old guy did his job. All the while, King was trying to gauge my trustworthiness.

In time, the attorney ran out of words and presented the document to me for a signature, but King stopped him. "One question."

"Yes?" I asked.

"How do I know you’ll follow through with the contract?"

"My reputation."

"That’s all?"

"What do you want?"

"Your identity. I want proof of who you are and a background check."

"That wasn’t part of the deal. My anonymity is vital in my field."

"For the kind of money I’m offering you, you can afford transparency."

I couldn’t help myself, I snorted. This guy was clueless. My guess was he was basing my earnings potential off what he paid the guys in his tech department. Stiff assured me that we received offers for the kind of money King was paying on a regular basis. Even our smaller jobs, when added up over the course of a year, would exceed King’s base fee.

No, I wasn’t taking the job for the money, although money was an incentive. What I really wanted was unfettered access to the Heavenly business records and the sense of satisfaction I’d receive from scamming the man and the family out of all those dollars and that sense of entitlement they held so dear. And part of that satisfaction would come from the fact that King personally handed me everything I needed to take revenge.

And if any of the Heavenlys were involved with the disappearance of Jake’s boys, I would see them prosecuted.

"You think I’m joking?" King asked.

"No. I’m sure you’re serious."

"Then what is funny?"

I leaned toward him, unable to resist rubbing the truth in his face. "The fact that you think I need you more than you need me."

I saw the moment when King accepted my words as truth. It was the second before a flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes and then it was gone.

"Do I know you?" King asked.

"No."

King nodded and pushed the contract toward me. "Sign."

Minutes later, I was on the street with a copy of the contract tucked into my jacket pocket. I was shaking as the tension of the moment wore off. I’d done it. I’d faced King, and he had no idea who I was. I’d walked away with a contract, a fist full of money and the keys to the kingdom.

Now to make it back to Crazy Code without dragging along whoever King had tailing me, and I had no doubt he put a tail on me. The man was fond of tracking people. He’d proven that time and again. I was ready for it.

I took a walk to the busiest part of town until I found a crowded restaurant serving Mexican food and margaritas. I requested a table for one and munched on chips and salsa after ordering a lunch special.

I gave whoever was following me plenty of time to get comfortable before I headed to the restrooms. I got lucky. Not only did the restaurant have restrooms for men and women, they had a family restroom open to both sexes.

I ducked inside and stripped. In my messenger bag, I carried a sundress, strappy heels, and enough makeup and wipes to remove all traces of maleness from my face and replace it with Sunday school appropriate young lady. The messenger bag, I slipped onto a canvas tote.

I waited until a group of women exited the ladies restroom. I fell into step with them and plastered a smile on my face. As soon as they passed an exit, I stepped out and continued down the sidewalk toward the nearest bus stop.

I didn’t care where the bus was going. I got on the first one to stop and took a seat in the mostly empty vehicles.

This whole day was going remarkably well, from the therapy session to the workout and the contract signing. Now, I was making a clean getaway. No muss. No fuss.

I looked up when someone sat down next to me, and my jaw dropped open.

"Hello, Teela, or should I say Night Shadows—"