"I'm not Ava, and I certainly don't know you."
The woman was silent when Alexa spoke to her in a cold tone. The woman was sure that the person in front of her was Ava, her friend who was declared dead on duty five years ago. Ava has light brown eyes with a mole on the right side of her eye. Ava also has wavy brown hair. Even though Ava's hair was always cut short in the past, Ava with long hair would probably be very similar to the woman in front of her.
"No, you're obviously Ava. Um, you have a small scar on your shoulder, right? That wound came from a gunshot wound when you were with me on a mission. Please, Ava. Don't you remember me? I'm Irina, your friend during your time in the special army."
Alexa's brows furrowed even more when the woman, Irina, mentioned the small scar on her shoulder. Yes, Alexa does have a wound on her shoulder. But bullet wounds and her being a member of the special army? Alexa never got information like that from Dominic.
However, considering that Dominic has many enemies who might use her when the opportunity arises, Alexa can't believe the words of someone she just met. This woman in front of her was too suspicious. Anyone could have known that she had lost her memory and exploited that gap to get close to her. That woman was probably one of them, someone who was determined to oppose someone like Dominic by approaching her and making up those lies.
"Sorry, but I'm still not the Ava you said. My name is Alexa, and I'm not a special soldier like you said. Please don't bother me anymore. Then, I'll excuse myself."
An uncomfortable feeling emerged when Alexa saw the woman in front of her look teary because she was trying to hold back her tears in front of her. Alexa tried to brush aside her doubts before actually stepping away from the woman.
"If..."
Alexa's footsteps stopped before she could think about it. Irina gave her a piece of paper containing a telephone number he didn't recognize.
"If one day you remember something... please contact me, Ava. Thanks to you, we don't have to be confined to that scary facility anymore. Even if I can only help you a little, I still want to do something for you, Ava."
"I... I am very sure that you are Ava. I don't know why and how you could lose your memory and live with Alexa's identity like that. But if you are like this because Dominic is still chasing you, I'm willing to help you at any time. We... we promised, right? We'll always be friends who help each other forever."
Alexa turned around, looking at Irina with a trace of anger on her face.
"What do you mean Dominic is after me? He is my husband, and I swear I will find out who you are if you deliberately come to me and make up lies like this just to threaten Dominic," threatened Alexa seriously. Irina looked lost for words for a moment before her expression filled with surprise.
"Dominic... He's not Dominic Rutterford, right? Ava, please tell me everything is a lie. You are his wife? He killed your husband, Ava! Oh my God, Ava... What... what has that man done to you!"
"What is-"
"Madam, Mr. Dominic asked me to catch up because you were taking too long in the-"
Rika, who had just entered, looked surprised when faced with Irina, who looked at her with the same gaze. The two of them were silent before Rika decided to make the first move.
"Do you know this woman, Madam?" she asked politely. Alexa shook her head, even though her eyebrows had faint wrinkles now.
"No, I don't know her. My stomach hurt a little. I thought it was because yesterday I consumed too much hot sauce," said Alexa. Secretly, she hid the paper from Irina.
Even though Alexa no longer wanted to suspect Dominic, there was something suspicious about Rika as soon as the girl saw Irina. Alexa could see that Rika knew someone called Irina, while Irina also felt the same way. Alexa thought it was very likely that the two knew each other, and there was a new possibility that Irina's previous words were the truth.
Or at least part of what she said was the truth because the two of them seemed to know each other but were reluctant to act like that when they were in front of her.
Rika observed Alexa's expression for a long time to see if there were any lies in what she said. Seeing that Alexa's face didn't show any changes, Rika finally gave up. Rika immediately led Alexa out of the bathroom without saying hello to Irina, who continued to stare at Rika without saying anything.
"Please forget my little question earlier, Madam. I think that woman is holding you in the bathroom and talking nonsense like before. In the future, please tell me immediately if she approaches you again."
"Before, you said?" Alexa asked. Rika nodded. Their steps stopped before they could enter Dominic's view, who was still waiting for Alexa at their table.
"As Mr. Dominic's wife, many people want to harm you to shake Mr. Dominic up. News of your memory loss must have spread, and many people want to take advantage of this to damage your relationship with Mr. Dominic, which has just improved. Your affair in the past also happened because of provocation like that. So I beg you, please don't trust anyone other than Mr. Dominic from now on," asked Rika. Alexa took a deep breath before nodding slowly.
"Okay. I will be more careful in the future," Alexa promised.