I think Cathy had seen so much cruelty - and then she had seen Heathcliff's temper, it scared her. He starved the birds because she wasn't there. He had a cruel side. Cathy said "I am Heathcliff" they were the same person. When she died, Heathcliff said "I cannot live without my soul". It was as though Cathy was his soul, his conscience, the good side of him (not that she was all good).
Without her to temper him, he was cruel. He became wicked.
I think that if I were Cathy, I would have married Edgar, I would not have been able to live with Heathcliff's cruelty, it would have manifested itself within their marriage at some point, I think she knew that. Edgar was kind, sweet and showed her love and safety - away from Hindley and the cold, austere cruelty of Wuthering Heights.
I would have chosen Edgar over Heathcliff in those circumstances.
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