I never told my husband’s mistress that I was the renowned plastic surgeon she booked a consultation with. She didn’t recognize me in my mask and scrubs. She pointed to a photo of me on her phone and said, “I want to look better than this hag my boyfriend is married to. Make me younger so he finally dumps her.” I simply smiled behind my mask and nodded. The surgery was a masterpiece. She believed she was waking up with a face that would make me weep with envy. But when the final bandage was peeled away, her face went pale. She screamed in horror, dropping the mirror to the floor. I hadn’t made her younger. I had used my scalpel to carve her into an exact, permanent replica of…

“Why… why does she look like you?” Richard whispered, looking at me. “Evelyn?”

“She wanted to be the only thing you saw, Richard,” I said calmly. I walked over to my purse and picked it up. “She wanted to replace me. I just… facilitated the transition.”

“Fix it!” Richard screamed at me. “Change her back!”

“I can’t,” I said. “Bone was removed. Cartilage was grafted. This is permanent. To reverse it would take years of painful reconstruction, and the scar tissue… well, it would be messy.”

Chloe sank to the floor, sobbing into her hands. “You said you’d make me beautiful!”

“I made you me,” I corrected. “According to my husband, I’m a hag. But you seemed to want his life, so now you have his wife’s face.”

I pulled a file from my bag.

“Here are the consent forms,” I said, tossing them onto the bed. “Signed by Chloe. ‘Total facial reconstruction at the surgeon’s discretion to achieve a specific aesthetic likeness.’ And here is the payment record. Your corporate card, Richard.”

I walked to the door.

“By the way, Richard, I filed for divorce this morning. Incompatibility. Cruelty. Adultery.”

I paused, my hand on the knob.

“You can have the house. And you can have her. I imagine it will be very comforting for you to wake up next to my face every morning, reminding you of exactly what you threw away. Every time you kiss her, you’ll kiss me. Every time you look at her, you’ll see your own betrayal staring back.”

Richard slid down the wall, his head in his hands. He couldn’t even look at her.

Chloe was clawing at her cheeks, leaving red welts, but the skin held firm. My masterpiece was durable.

Chapter 6: The New Face
I walked out of the clinic and into the bright California sun.

The air tasted sweet.

I got into my convertible and drove. I drove to a salon in West Hollywood.

“Cut it all off,” I told the stylist. “And bleach it. Platinum.”

Two hours later, I looked in the mirror.

The woman staring back at me was a stranger. Her hair was a shock of white-blonde, cut into a sharp pixie. Her makeup was bold—red lips, winged liner.

I stopped wearing the severe suits Richard liked. I bought leather jackets. I bought silk dresses in colors that screamed.