Chapter 5

Return with a New Identity

"My face is ruined, my career is ruined. Now all I can do is hide. But one day I will return to avenge everything."

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

Several months later...

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

Smoke, blood, and the sound of crashing metal still haunted Cassie's nightmares every night. She always woke up gasping for breath, her body drenched in sweat, her hand 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 an angel of salvation and the man who paved the way for her revenge.

She was determined not to give up; with his help, she would rise again.

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

Cassie stared at the faint reflection in the mirror—scorched skin, a long stitched scar 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 resolute. "I want a new face. I want to kill Cassandra Vance. With this new face, I will destroy him."

'That night I should have successfully escaped, but the brake failure—it must have been Julian's doing. That video recording was real, and he truly wanted me dead. But I was wrong, I returned to life.'

The doctor then proceeded with the surgery. Cassie's healing and recovery were long and arduous. She now had to rise again; though she was no longer a star, she had to become a woman stronger than ever before.

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

Seven years passed.

Los Angeles was still as glamorous, but for Jennifer, this world was no longer a stage for dreams, but a battlefield. She now lived under a new identity, residing in a suburban house with a little girl aged six. The girl had dark brown hair and greenish-grey eyes—the same eyes as the man she hated and loved at the same time.

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

Jennifer knelt, looking into the child's eyes with a gentle but sorrowful gaze.

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

The little girl nodded slowly. "Why must we lie?"

"We are playing a very exciting game."

Jennifer smoothed her daughter's hair, then looked at the large mirror in front of them. The new face was now utterly flawless—cold, elegant, and bore no trace of the former Cassie.

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

'Julian, you almost killed me once. But now, I am raising a daughter who is so much like you. I am raising this beautiful girl to keep me company, for I am merely an orphan in this cruel world. My mother is gone, but I am certain I can raise her without you.'

Cassandra believed Julian was solely responsible for her attempted murder. Ricard had subtly fuelled the woman's hatred for Julian to serve his own agenda.

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

Jennifer stepped into the high-rise building with steady resolve. Every step felt like treading on the past that had once buried her alive. She could feel the same cool air, the aroma of success she once desperately chased... and the presence of the man who had destroyed everything.

"Name?" asked one of the judges.

"Jennifer Jones," she replied flatly.

"Have you acted in films before?"

"A few small theatre productions in New York."

The answers were the same: flat, precise, and full of the lies she 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 personally attended auditions like this, but that day... for some unknown reason, he came. And the moment his eyes met Jennifer's, his chest tightened. There was something there, something that pricked his memory.

'That face is unfamiliar, but those eyes... those bluish-grey eyes are the same as Cassie's.'

Julian closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shake off the memories of his former mistress.

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

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

'You saw me, didn't you, Julian? But this time, I have returned, and I am the one in control. You and your former lover will experience the same pain that I felt.'

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

"How was it?" he asked coolly.

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

"That cruel man was watching me through the screen. I am certain of it; he will never be able to 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 photograph hanging on her necklace—a picture of herself with a tiny baby in the hospital.

"For seven years, I have extinguished every feeling of love I had for that man, Ricard. Now it is time for me to rise and make him live in hell."

The car sped away from the city centre. However, on the top 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 this woman truly was.

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

His personal assistant arrived, carrying the audition files.

"Mr. Sterling, one candidate caught our attention. Her name is Jennifer Jones. We believe she is 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 resonated strangely in Julian's mind.

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

That afternoon, in her small apartment, Jennifer gazed at her little girl sleeping in her lap. She gently stroked her child's hair, her eyes blankly looking out the window.

"I am back, Darling. This time, Mummy will not lose. Mummy will succeed and avenge the person who nearly killed us."