Chapter 5

Return with a New Identity

"My face is ruined, my career is ruined. Now all I can do is hide."

Cassie decided to hide from Julian. She went with the man who saved her, as it turned out he knew her mother.

A few months later...

"No! Ah... fire... help me!" a woman was caught in a nightmare.

Smoke, blood, and the sound of clashing metal still haunted Cassie's nightmares every night. She always woke up with a gasp, her body drenched in sweat, her hands reflexively clutching her stomach. At the time, she hadn't known she was pregnant when she lay on the edge of the ravine, barely alive, and someone dragged her out of the burning car wreckage.

Ricard Cross.

That name was now etched in her memory as both a guardian angel and the man who paved the way for her revenge. Naturally, with the man's help, she rose again.

"Your face... it's ruined," the doctor's voice echoed in the ward.

Cassie looked at the faint reflection in the mirror—scorched skin, a long stitched wound on her cheek, a torn lip. But beneath the pain, her heart was frozen.

"I don't want my old face," her voice was hoarse yet firm. "I want a new face. I want to kill Cassandra Vance."

'That night I nearly died. I know this was Julian's doing. Julian planned this entire accident; I haven't fully investigated. But I know he didn't want me to escape and tell everyone about this, that's why he rigged the car's brakes to fail. He only told Elena to release me, but it turns out Julian was the one who wanted me dead.'

And then the doctor immediately performed the surgery. Cassie's healing and recovery were long. Now she had to rise again; even if she was no longer a star, she had to become a stronger woman than ever before.

She changed her identity to Jennifer Jones — a woman with a perfect face but a dark heart, who concealed one big secret: she had undergone plastic surgery a few months after giving birth to a beautiful daughter — Julian's child.

Seven years passed.

Los Angeles was just as glamorous, but for Jennifer, this world was no longer a stage of dreams, but a battlefield. She now lived under a new identity, residing in a suburban home with a little girl of six. The girl had dark brown hair and greenish eyes — the same eyes as the man she both hated and loved the most.

"Mama, are we going to that place?" her sweet, innocent little daughter asked, looking up at her mother's dress.

Jennifer knelt, looking into the child's eyes gently but sadly.

"Yes, Sweetheart. But remember, if anyone asks... you're not Mummy's daughter. You are Mummy's little sister, understand?"

The little girl nodded slowly. "Why do we have to lie?"

"We are playing a very exciting game."

Jennifer smoothed her daughter's hair, then looked into the large mirror in front of them. The new face was now so perfect — cold, elegant, and bore not a single trace of the old Cassie.

Yet behind those eyes, the fire of revenge continued to burn.

'Julian, you nearly killed me. But now I'm raising a daughter who looks exactly like you. I'm raising this beautiful daughter to keep me company alone, and I am merely an orphan in this cruel world. My mother is gone; I believe I can raise her without you.'

Cassandra believed Julian was responsible for her death. Ricard was secretly provoking the woman's hatred for Julian to serve his own purpose.

Sterling Entertainment, the largest film company in America, had just released a major announcement: open auditions for a film titled The Broken Promise — a dark romance directed by Julian Sterling himself, the billionaire and media mogul of Hollywood.

Jennifer stepped into the tall building with firm strides. Every step seemed to be treading on the past that had once buried her alive. She could feel the same cold air, the aroma of success she once desperately chased... and the name of the man who had destroyed everything.

"Name?" one of the judges asked.

"Jennifer Jones," she replied flatly.

"Have you acted before?"

"Some small theatre productions in New York."

The same answer, flat, neat, and full of the lies the woman had rehearsed for years.

The judges' gazes were full of admiration. However, from the upper balcony of the room, another pair of eyes watched her with a different intensity.

Julian Sterling. He never directly participated in auditions like this, but that day... for some reason, he came. And as soon as his gaze met Jennifer's, his chest tightened. There was something there, something that pricked his memory.

'The face is unfamiliar, but those eyes... those greyish-blue eyes are just like Cassie's.'

Julian closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shake off the memory of his former secret lover.

'No. Cassie died seven years ago. The world saw her body burn. But why is my heartbeat so erratic just by looking at that woman? Yes, that woman's eyes are clearly visible on the screen he is watching.'

Jennifer bowed politely as her audition finished, then walked out of the room. A faint, cynical smile played on her lips.

'You saw me, didn't you, Julian? But this time, I'm here, and I'm in control. You, along with your first love, will feel the same pain that I felt.'

Outside the building, Ricard was waiting for her in a black car.

"How did it go?" he asked coldly.

Jennifer opened the door, sat down calmly, then looked at the tall building in front of them.

"That cruel man was looking at me through the screen. I'm sure of it; he won't forget these eyes."

"Good then."

"Are you sure you're ready to face him again after seven years?" Ricard asked.

Jennifer looked at the small photo hanging on her necklace — a picture of herself with a tiny baby in the hospital.

"For seven years, I have forgotten my love for that man, Ricard. Now is the time for me to rise and make his life a living hell."

The car sped away from the city centre. However, on the upper floor of the Sterling Entertainment building, Julian still stood by the glass window, staring at the black car driving away.

Julian couldn't explain his feelings. There was a strange compulsion that made him want to know who that woman really was.

'Why does this new actress's smile feel so familiar? When I look at her up close, even when I see her on the camera screen?'

His personal assistant arrived with the audition files.

"Mr. Sterling, one of the candidates caught our eye. Her name is Jennifer Jones. We think she's suitable for the lead role."

Julian stared at the name on the paper for a long time. Jennifer Jones. The name felt foreign, yet it echoed strangely in Julian's mind.

Unconsciously, the man muttered, "Jennifer... who are you, really?"

That afternoon, in her small apartment, Jennifer watched her little girl sleeping on her lap. She gently stroked her child's hair, her eyes vacant as she looked out the window.

"I'm back, Sweetheart. This time, Mummy won't lose. Mummy will succeed and get revenge on the person who nearly killed us."