My Ex Regrets Dumping Me For His Ex

Audrey walked in and dropped her bag on the coat rack without breaking stride. "Nancy, take these upstairs for me?"

She'd barely sunk into the couch when the television lit up with an incoming video call.

"Ms. Griffin. Before we start, there's something that needs you personally. Ramos Enterprises' security system is due for its upgrade. When can you come by?"

Six years ago, Audrey had founded her security company. It was one of the leading firms in the industry now. Her partner's reminder pulled up a memory she'd been trying to bury.

After marrying Diego Ramos, she had personally designed and maintained Ramos Enterprises' security architecture for three years.

"Pull every system we run at Ramos Enterprises," Audrey said without hesitation. After a divorce, a clean cut was best.

It had been a private arrangement. No contracts, no formal agreements. No reason to make it messier than it already was.

"What?" Reid Medina stared at her, shock flickering across his face. "Ms. Griffin, what happened? That's the most advanced system we've ever built. If we tear it out wrong, it could cause real damage."

Audrey went quiet. Thinking about Diego still stung, but he was the past now. She cleared her throat and let some steel into her voice. "Diego and I are divorcing. From today, Ramos Enterprises' security isn't our concern. If they want something, they can come through the front door like everyone else."

"So does that mean you're coming back to the company?" Reid couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. He'd been waiting three years for this.

"Yes. So get ready."

"Honestly, I think it's Ramos Enterprises that should be getting ready. That place is about to turn into a circus." Reid laughed, already savoring it. How did a man like Diego Ramos have Audrey Griffin under his roof and never once look up?

---

Meanwhile, across town, at Lila Stone's apartment.

"I'm scared, Diego," Lila whispered, leaning into him. The fact that he hadn't married her yet sat in her stomach like a stone. If she couldn't lock him down, what future did she have?

She looped her arms around his neck and settled onto his lap. "Don't leave tonight. I'm still new here, I don't know anyone. You promised you'd always look after me." She kissed his cheek.

Diego drew back without meaning to. For some reason, Audrey surfaced in his mind. She had never hung on him like this. She'd been gentle, steady, easy to be around. And when he handed her divorce papers, she hadn't begged. She hadn't cried. She'd signed and walked out.

His expression hardened.

Lila faltered. "Diego? Is something wrong?"

"I—" His phone cut him off. He answered.

"What? Say that again." His face went to stone as he ended the call. He eased Lila off his lap and stood. "Stay here. There's a problem at the company."

He grabbed his coat and was gone.

"How does an entire security system fail at once?" he demanded as Jason drove them across the city.

Ramos Enterprises had always put security first. After the breaches years ago, everything had run clean—right around the time he married Audrey. Now it was falling over again.

"Mr. Ramos, Vanguard Security says they haven't touched our system. It's the same build they've always maintained. They say they don't know anything about an outage." Jason sounded as lost as Diego felt. "I've called in an emergency team. We should have answers shortly."

"You have five minutes."

By the time Diego reached the office, the results were waiting.

"Mr. Ramos, you need to see this." Jason handed him a report. "For the past three years, a firm called SecureTech has quietly been running our security. They routed everything so it looked like Vanguard. It was SecureTech the whole time. As of this afternoon they've pulled all support. That's why everything's coming apart."

"SecureTech? Dig into them. Now. How did Vanguard miss this?" Diego loosened his tie, unease crawling under his skin.

"We tried. SecureTech is the largest security firm in the world, and tracing them is close to impossible. We only found them because of a monitoring stub we caught. The second we identified it, it was gone. We can't even sue—technically they were protecting us." Jason sounded almost impressed.

"Set up a meeting. I'll go myself."

"You? Personally?" Jason blinked. Diego never handled things like this himself.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

At SecureTech's headquarters, Diego was taken straight to the executive floor.

The office door was open. A chair sat turned away from him, and the woman in it felt eerily familiar. He knocked once. "Hello?"

At his voice, the chair swiveled.

"Audrey?" His breath caught. It couldn't be her.

Behind her, a sharply dressed man watched with quiet interest, his eyes lingering on her in a way Diego couldn't read. Diego's chest tightened. All this time, he'd had no idea she was connected to this company. And she'd clearly wasted no time moving on.

The confusion in his head twisted into something ugly. "You and another man—"

Audrey rose, cutting him off. "Mr. Ramos, it's Ms. Griffin." Cool. Detached. Like he was a stranger who'd wandered off the elevator.

"You run this place? Why didn't you tell me?"

She laughed, with no warmth in it. "Because you never once asked. What brings you to my office?"

The change in her hit him harder than it should have. The soft, accommodating woman he'd married was gone, and whoever this was, he couldn't reach her.

"I'm here about the security failure."

Audrey sat back down and glanced at her watch. "Out of respect for the marriage, you have five minutes."

Diego pulled at his tie. He hated this. Was she enjoying it?

"Why did you rip every system out of Ramos Enterprises overnight?" If she hadn't wanted the divorce, why had she signed so fast?

She took a slow sip of coffee, face calm, eyes indifferent. "Don't read too much into it, Mr. Ramos. Ms. Stone is back. I want a clean break. I'd hate for her to get the wrong idea, or make life difficult for you."

She smiled, bright and charming. Inside, her heart ached.