Reborn: Angel in a New Dress

It was a dark, windy night.

Cathy Su was sitting on the edge of the cliff; her dress was billowing with the wind. She looked up at the sky and burst into tears. All the emotions simmering in her heart seemed to engulf her all at once.

"God, why do you have to do this to me?" She sniffed loudly as a loud hiccup sobered her up.

Cathy glanced at the can of beer in her hand and shook her head.

"No! It's not the almighty's fault. I dated a fucking bastard, Owen Yang! How could you betray me, Owen?" She slumped to the ground in defeat.

She has been working three jobs a day to make ends meet. However, despite her hectic schedule, she managed to allocate time to celebrate her boyfriend's birthday. She loved Owen with all her heart and wanted to surprise him.

Unexpectedly, the man gave her a bigger surprise-she caught him having sex with her best friend.

The two most significant people in her life had betrayed her. It was the worst day of her life.

"Fuck you, Owen!"

Cathy spat venomously. 'Why is my life always miserable?'

Her parents had abandoned her in an orphanage when she was a child.

Life had not been easy for her. She had to learn everything the hard way. Owen walked into her life like a breath of fresh air. The girl, who lived her life in misery, started to believe that she, too, could be happy. She finally found the love she had been craving all her life.

She had woven a beautiful love story in her mind, but Owen had crushed all her dreams.

The reality was anything but beautiful. Not only her boyfriend but her best friend, whom she had trusted with all her heart, had also betrayed her.

Cathy felt that she should have slapped her friend a little harder this afternoon.

However, nothing could cure the ever-increasing pain in her heart.

Cathy took a deep breath and gulped down another can of beer.

The weight on her chest seemed to increase with every passing minute.

She soon emptied the entire can of beer and angrily threw the can off the cliff.

Her vision grew blurry; she didn't know how drunk she was.

Cathy peered down at the bottomless cliff. She couldn't cope with the pain and wanted to end everything all at once.

A faint whimper escaped her lips.

'Will I die a gruesome death if I jump from here?'

Cathy took deep breaths. "Don't think about anything and just jump, Cathy. It's the only way to escape from this torture."

Her heart leaped to her throat when she looked down.

'This cliff is higher than I imagined. What if I don't die but end up breaking a couple of bones? I will have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I have no one to take care of me; my life would turn into hell. It would be worse than this heartbreak.' Cathy shuddered at the thought. Her heart wavered; she was desperate to get rid of the pain. However, dying wasn't easy either. She wasn't brave enough to end her life.

A shiver ran down Cathy's spine; her feet trembled.

"What do I do? Do I jump or not?

God! I'm pathetic." She broke into a fit of sobs again.

A gust of cold wind caressed Cathy's cheek. She pictured herself in a wheelchair, living with a disability. It seemed like a gruesome ending to her already miserable life.

"No, I won't jump!"

Her heart flipped as a sudden thought occurred in her mind. 'Why do I have to die when none of this is my fault? Those two would live happily without me. Why do I have to punish myself for their mistakes?'

She was shattered. She didn't know how to cope with the heartbreak and the inexplicable feelings that were consuming her. But she understood that dying wouldn't do her any good.

Cathy shook her head and turned on her heels to leave.

However, the incessant sound of horns caught her attention.

She froze on the spot as a blinding ray of light blurred her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened again.

The light grew brighter, so Cathy stretched her arms to diffuse the strong beam that was hitting her face.

Before she realized what was happening, she saw a luxury car racing towards her.

Everything was happening too fast.

Her eyes widened with shock as Cathy tried to move away. A loud crash resonated across the silent hills.

Cathy let out a piercing scream as darkness enveloped her. She felt her body sink to the ground.

Her eyes involuntarily closed

as Cathy began to lose consciousness.

"God, I don't want to die.

Please help me. Please...'' she mumbled over and over again.

As if God had listened to her prayers, the night sky lit up.

Cathy slowly opened her eyes.

She saw a hazy figure like an angel drifting towards her.

A smile stretched across her lips. The pain in her body began to gradually subside.

--

"Mrs. Mu, wake up!"

Cathy woke up to a faint voice ringing in her ears.

The muffled voices and sobs grew louder.

Cathy's head began to throb as the noise stirred her tranquility.

She opened her eyes slowly.

"Mrs. Mu, are you awake?"

cried the sweet voice of a woman. She grabbed Cathy's hand.

"Who is it?" Cathy knitted her brows and raked her eyes across the strange place.

Her voice was raspy and every bone in her body seemed to hurt as if she had been hit by a car. That was when it dawned on her.

The events of the painful night flashed in her mind. 'The car hit me and ran me off the cliff!'

She gazed around the unfamiliar place with wide eyes, wondering where she was. 'Gosh! Am I alive? Is this hell or heaven?'

The grasp on her hand tightened.

Cathy felt pain and yelled, "Ouch! Let go of me!"

"You are awake, Mrs. Mu. That's great! I'll inform Mr. Mu right away."

"Mr. Mu? Who is he?" asked Cathy.

"Eh?" The fat girl frowned. "Mr. Mu! Who else?"

"Mr. Mu?" Cathy knitted her brows in confusion. "Who is Mr. Mu?"

"Seriously?" The fat girl's jaw dropped in shock. "Mrs. Mu, don't you know Mr. Mu? What happened to you? Are you all right?"

Fear and confusion wracked Cathy's nerves. 'Who is Mr. Mu?

Do I know him?' She examined the place and realized that she had never been here before.

"Where am I?" Cathy was surprised to hear her own voice. It somehow seemed sweeter than ever.

The fat girl eyed her with concern. "Mrs. Mu, you're at the hospital. You have been here for almost two weeks. We were all worried about you."

"Hospital? I have been here for two weeks? You mean... I'm still alive?" Cathy struggled to sit up, but her body was limp. The fat girl quickly lunged forward and held her.

"Of course, you're still alive. I'm Bliss, remember?"

Cathy smiled in return. 'Bliss! What a beautiful name. It suits the girl's charming face. But...'

Cathy cleared her throat and looked at Bliss.

"Bliss, are you a nurse at this hospital?"

Bliss' eyes widened in shock. "What's wrong, Mrs. Mu? I work for the Mu family; don't you remember that? I'm the maid taking care of you."

"Maid? The Mu family? Mrs. Mu? What's going on?" Cathy racked her brains to figure out what was happening. Everything seemed strange. "Wait! I have no idea what's going on. Who are you? Why are you calling me Mrs. Mu?"

Bliss looked at Cathy as if the woman had lost her mind. "How else was I supposed to call you by, Mrs. Mu? After all, you are Mr. Mu's wife."

Bliss' answer irked Cathy. She still didn't get the answers to her questions.

Cathy took a breath to calm down. "You haven't told me who Mr. Mu is."

Bliss' frown deepened. She wondered if the other woman had hit her head hard in the accident and lost her mind.

"Mrs. Mu, you're scaring me. How could you not know Mr. Mu? He is your husband, the love of your life. He's the youngest CEO in Z City and the heir of S Group. You are his wife, Catherine Lu. Don't you remember any of this, Mrs. Mu?"

Cathy's eyes widened; her jaw dropped in shock. She sensed that something was terribly wrong.

A shiver ran through her spine as her body began to tremble. Cathy swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at Bliss. "Do you have a mirror?"

"What? A mirror?" Bliss wondered why Cathy would need a mirror in the middle of a serious conversation. However, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a small makeup mirror. "Here, Mrs. Mu."

'What the hell is going on? I'm sure I'm Cathy, not some Catherine, '

she thought to herself.

Cathy eagerly looked in the mirror. Her heart leaped to her throat as she saw a strange face staring at her. The blood in her veins froze; her hand grew limp. The mirror fell on the bed with a soft thump.

"Mrs. Mu, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Bliss asked concernedly.

Cathy sat aghast, staring at the wall. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she summoned the courage to pick the mirror again.

The fear somehow subsided when she looked at the unfamiliar face again.

The woman in the mirror looked different.

She trailed her fingers across her smooth skin that looked flawless in the mirror. Her eyes sparkled under the dim lights, and her nose looked sharp and straight. She licked her plump lips and felt that they were red and dewy.

She arched an eyebrow in appreciation. She couldn't stop staring at her beautiful reflection in the mirror. It was a miracle. She couldn't believe her eyes.

Cathy didn't expect herself to turn into such a beautiful woman one day.

Every aspect of her life had changed after the accident. Just when her mind wandered to comprehend the events of the night, she heard a loud bang.

The two women jerked in shock.

The door flew open, and a handsome man entered.

He was decked up in a suit and leather shoes. Several men dressed in black suits followed him.

Cathy flinched as she realized that the man was walking toward her. The murderous look on his face frightened her.

'Who is he? Do I need to get out of here?'

Before she had the time to react, the man was standing before her. A cold hand caught her neck, squeezing her throat.

Cathy was soon breathless. She glared at the handsome man who was towering before her.

Almost as if sensing Cathy's anger, the man loosened his grip.

He bent down and stared right into her eyes.

"Catherine Lu, are you happy now? You wanted to end your life, didn't you? What the hell are you doing here, lying in a hospital bed?''

Cathy gasped. 'Who the hell is this man? Why is he threatening me?'

"Mr. Mu, Mrs. Mu just woke up. She is fragile; please don't hurt her," Bliss pleaded.

Cathy realized that her life was in danger. She scowled at the man and slapped his hand away.

"Who the hell are you? Take your hands off me!"

The entire room fell silent.

Everyone stared at Cathy in surprise.

The men in black knew that she was in trouble.

No one dared to speak to their CEO like this. Francis Mu would never forgive her for disrespecting him. She was doomed.

An eerie silence pervaded the room; no one dared to breathe.

Francis' assistants knew that Cathy's words had infuriated their boss.

Francis' face darkened; he eyed Cathy with suspicion.

The intensity of his gaze sent a shiver down her spine. Cathy bit her lip to hide her fear. 'God! Why is he looking at me as if he wants to eat me alive?'

Panic surged through her veins as a sudden thought occurred to her. 'Does he know that

I am not Catherine Lu?

Bliss called him Mr. Mu. Then he's the husband of the woman they think I am.

Oh my God! I didn't mean to turn into his wife. Is he going to kill me?'

Cathy hated for landing in trouble all the time. She looked up at the man who was staring at her with a menacing look. 'Holy crap! I want to return to my own self. I don't want to be Catherine.'

Just when Cathy was busy praying for a miracle, Francis shoved her away.

"Ouch!" Cathy yelped in pain as her head collided with the bedside table.

She rubbed her stinging forehead and glared at Francis.

A frowned lined Francis' forehead. He knitted his brows and studied Catherine. He found something was off.

"Call the doctor!" He felt that his wife was acting bizarre ever since she regained consciousness.

"Yes, Mr. Mu. I'll go now." Bliss nodded respectfully and left.

"Don't..." Cathy reached her hand to stop Bliss, but the woman disappeared from the ward in an instant.

The only person whom Cathy got to know after she woke up, left her alone with a room full of men who were staring at her like predators, waiting to catch their prey.

Cathy shuddered as a thousand thoughts occupied her mind. She didn't know what to do.

Two burly men were standing by the door, so escaping was out of option.

The guilty expression on Cathy's face confused Francis even more.

The two of them were lost in their thoughts. Neither of them spoke.

A while later, Bliss returned with the doctor.

Cathy couldn't help but frown.

'Will he find out that I'm not Catherine?'

The doctor glanced at Cathy before he smiled warmly at Francis. "Hello, Mr. Mu. I'm happy to welcome you to our hospital."

Cathy clamped her mouth and snickered. The doctor's face flushed with embarrassment as he realized the absurdity of his statement.

Who would want to come to a hospital unless they were sick?

The doctor examined Francis' face to see if he had offended him.

Fortunately, Francis looked calm. The doctor heaved a sigh of relief.

Francis caught the doctor staring at him. He snapped his fingers to wake him from his trance.

"Why are you staring at me? Examine her condition and see if she is okay."

"What?" The doctor blinked as he returned to his senses. "Oh, right. Yeah."

He nodded and walked up to Cathy.

"Mrs. Mu, are you all right? Do you feel any kind of discomfort?" he asked.

Cathy looked up at him and shook her head. She had never felt better.

"Are you experiencing dizziness or nausea?"

Cathy shook her head again.

"Good. Is your heartbeat regular, or are you experiencing palpitations?"

Cathy scowled at Francis and nodded.

"He scared me. That's the reason for my racing heart. Can you ask him to leave?" she asked.

'Gosh! I cannot spend another moment with this man.

I'm going to run away as soon as he leaves, ' she thought.

The doctor gasped in shock.

"You have a good sense of humor, Mrs. Mu," he remarked, forcing a smile.

Cathy frowned; her gaze shifted between the doctor and Francis. 'Did I say something funny?'

Francis' jaw tightened as he walked up to Cathy.

The long shadow of his body fell on her, trapping her to the bed once again. Cathy shuddered and looked at him. 'What does he want?'

A smile tugged at the corners of Francis' lips; he was pleased to see the fear in Cathy's eyes.

"Doctor, are you sure she's all right?" he queried, not taking his eyes off Cathy.

The doctor was startled. He didn't expect Francis to question him while staring at Catherine.

He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes. Mrs. Mu is recovering quite well."

Francis snorted. "That's good. It's time to take her home. Bliss, make the necessary arrangements."

"Yes, Mr. Mu!" Bliss answered excitedly. She was tired of spending her time at the hospital ward all day long and couldn't wait to return home.

However, panic flooded Cathy. She didn't want to go to Francis' place. The mere look on his face revealed that she would be in danger if she was near him.