The CEO's Painted Skin

As soon as the daylight starts entering the cave's entrance, Catherine was already on her toes. She runs her fingers on the vibrant flowers, gazed at the trees fondly and then goes swimming in the lake for the last time.

She had finally decided that she will leave this imaginary place to accompany the winged creature into the outside world. Although this place offers her calmness, solitude, and tranquility, she also felt that everything here were just fake security, as if she forced everything into her consciousness just to make her feel better.

The winged creature was right, this place was just a temporary shelter...

Whatever was waiting for her in the outside world, she's ready now to face everything.

She switched her attention into her mind and concentrated on erasing the beautiful flowers, the tress, the lakes, and the cave.

...

Soon enough, when she opened her eyes, the pitch-black darkness starts to come closing in around her until she was fully submerged in the void of nothingness.

Then a flashing bright light more like wings flapping motion caught her eye. It's the winged creature!

"Finally, you come!" she whispered in gladness, grateful for the light that starts illuminating the pitch-black darkness that was surrounding her.

"Fantastic! I see, you already decided, Mother! I'm very happy!" the angel shouted in glee. "Finally, we're going home!" he added in an excited voice.

"Wait...h-how can we get outside? I can't see no end to this never-ending darkness surrounding us," she asked in a panic.

The angel smiled at the panic he saw in his mother's eyes. "Calm down, Mother. Everything here is all in your head. Just like everything else, you can also make this darkness disappears if you start erasing it in your head. Just keep saying this mantra...' I'm ready to return to my old self!'...over and over again and you will soon find yourself back in your old consciousnesses and you will start remembering everything that happened in your past," he explained.

"Okay, I will follow everything you said...," she said.

"I will go back to my home first, Mother," said the creature.

"Where's your home?" she inquired in curiosity.

"Right there inside your tummy!" he answered with amusement in his eyes. "See you on the other side, Mother!"

The winged creature flew towards Catherine and landed on her tummy. Then the creature's form starts disappearing inside her belly until the light he brings forth with him finally faded into the darkness.

She was now left alone surrounded by the void of nothingness.

As per the angel instructed...she began repeating the mantra inside her head.

I'm ready to return to my old self!

I'm ready to return to my old self!

I'm ready to return to my old self!

I'm ready to return to my old self!

I'm ready to return to my old self!

For a few brief seconds, she was caught in a series of whirlpool past events in her life that were flashing before her very eyes...

...

Then gradually she opened her eyes...

She just came out from total darkness, her eyes were hazy at first trying to get used to the surroundings around her...she saw a faint outline of a room, she found herself lying on the bed.

Wait...

This room is familiar, she was in the MysticBay Twin Tower master bedroom!

The last time she remembered she was lying in a hospital bed!

She shuts her eyes back.

Then slowly the events unfolded in her memory so vividly, the moments she rides the elevator towards John's flat on the 15th floor and caught him sucking at other woman's breast right there in the swimming pool area...

She winced in pain...

The agony and torment of seeing him touching other woman's body so intimately were like a knife that was piercing her heart a million times! The revolting sight that greeted her in the swimming pool area made her heart bleeding non-stop, hemorrhaging to the point of dying and turned her whole world upside down.

It's all coming back to her now...

After leaving the heartbreaking horrible sight in the pool area, she was boarded John's vehicle and dropped by at her place by Ramon.

The vomiting, the morning sickness that lasted the whole day, the moment when she was holding the knife ready to slash her wrist and the time she saw blood dripping from her palm, was so clear in her mind.

Then total darkness descended on her and she surrendered her body and soul completely...

Then she found herself waking up in the hospital bed only to be told that she was pregnant...and the horrifying possibility that she can no longer run away from John's shadow because of her pregnancy, the unexpected news hit her hard as if she was being killed twice on the same day! Who wanted to be in their right mind to want to bear the child of a cheater?

She needs to escape and run away somewhere...far from John...!

Her conflicting emotions shattered her sanity to the point of nearly going insane due to her dilemma...

And from that moment on, her mind was shutting down everything from the outside world and finally retreated into complete darkness into the deepest recesses of her mind.

The moment she starts the process of forgetting the pain and everything that comes along with it was also the moment she also finds absolute peace inside her parallel universe.

And now she's back in her old consciousness...heavily pregnant!

She slowly rubs her rounded tummy with tenderness. The angel was now residing inside her tummy, her son! Ah, nice, she remembers her son! He must continue to live! Even if she has to confront the dreadful things that send her running away from reality.

She and John had some unfinished issues to settle...

All she knew was that she can never marry him after he betrayed her by getting physical with other woman's body right inside his flat where they had created so many intimate and beautiful memories together! It's the ultimate betrayal that can not be forgiven with just a simple, sorry!

She can never forgive John!

What she been through was so painful!

She will nurture the hatred she felt for him and she will kill whatever love she had for him.

She must make John pay for hurting her so bad!

Only his pain and suffering can appease her wounded soul. He must experience it for himself what's it's like when he was betrayed by the people he loves and trusted completely.

She rose to her feet and walked slowly towards the closets to find her personal belongings. She needs to see her cellphone!

She already rummaged everything in the closets but she can't find her cell phone! Her old things were arranged neatly in the closets including tons of new maternity dresses and newborn baby clothing but her cell phone is gone! Where could it be?

She had searched the whole room but she can't find her mobile device anywhere!

She felt tired and agitated because she can't find her damn phone!

Where is it! Dammit!

She walked back to the bed.

She opened the drawer on the bedside table, she saw several envelopes containing medical records of her hospitalization, and a diagnosis of a certain Agnes, a psychotherapist and she was diagnosed with Dissociative Amnesia, she began reading the brief explanation of the said illness. Then she also saw the latest records of her pregnancy, then an ultrasound photo of a baby fetus in her womb.

So, she was suffering from Dissociative Amnesia? Her creating of her parallel universe or the imaginary world in her mind as a result of that certain illness?

And she was pregnant for six months already!

She was gone for five months!

She walked back to the center of the room and sat on the edge of the bed trying to catch her breath.

She felt a sudden shortness of breath...

She lay down on the bed and shuts off her eyes. The influx of information troubled her mind. She needs to calm her nerves and relax her mind. She slowly inhaled and exhaled air into her lungs and repeat the process in the next five minutes until she finally felt herself relaxing.

Then all of a sudden the bedroom door opened...