Chapter 3: Compare

—LIA —

My eyes were stuck on the photo that the man is holding. I can't believe it! She really looks like me!

We have the same eye shape and eye color, both eyes are rounded and black. We have the same small nose and lips. If I was a different person, I will really think that this woman in the photo is me, or a twin.

Wait… do I have a twin?

I shook my head at that thought. That's not impossible. I don't know who my parents are. This lady might be my twin, without me knowing.

Thinking that I have a twin, I might meet my true family!

I want to laugh at myself because of that thought. Happenings in real life isn't the same as the happenings in the movie. This man might be making fun of me. The lady might be a photoshopped one. I might not have a twin.

"Let me see this," I said as I grabbed the photo from the bed.

I tried to look for the flaws in the picture. There has to be something here that isn't right. I'm sure I can find something from this photo that can be an evidence that it is not me.

I looked at the man in front of me. He is staring at me, with his bloodshot eyes. It looks like he is going to hurt or kill me in any second.

If this man is the ex-boyfriend of the woman in this picture, that looks like me, why is he so mad? Did this woman do a lot of bad things to this man?

"Do you have any other photos of this woman? The more, the better," I asked him, hiding the nervousness because I am now starting to feel scared of him.

He smirked at me, as if I said something funny. "Why do you more of those? Isn't that picture enough to say that you are really that woman?"

"Or you just using it to buy more time to find a better excuse and lie?" he added. He is spitting those words as if those are insults.

I raised my left eyebrow at his question. "Excuse me, Mr. Whoever You Are. I'm not asking for more photos just so I can find an excuse."

I crossed my arms and continue speaking. "I want more photos because I think you're insane, and this picture is edited. Besides, why would I need think for excuse and lie? I don't need to lie, because I already told you that I am not your ex-girlfriend."

He spat out an insulting laugh. He laughs like I am saying the most insane thing in the world.

He raised his two hands like he wants to surrender. "Okay.I can't believe you will get to this point just so you can run away from your crimes," he said that made me raise my eyebrow more.

He walked towards the door. I ran towards him because I want to go out. But he is fast. He successfully locked me at the room, again, before I can even reach the door.

I hissed at him because of annoyance.

Waiting for him to comeback from getting the pictures I wanted is so boring, and it increases my anxiety. I walked back and forth from the door to the window while waiting for him and thinking about who the hell is the woman on the photo, and why that woman looks like me.

I am 100% sure that I am not that woman. It's impossible. I haven't met that man in my life. I didn't have a boyfriend, or a fling, or a husband.

Base on the photo that the man showed to me earlier, the photo was taken in Plaza de la Reina. That is located in Valencia, here in Spain. I haven't been to Spain. This is my first time to visit this country, so if this is the case, I can say that I am not that woman.

Also, the picture has a date and time on it. It was taken on November 2020. What was I doing during that date?

November 2020. I was in my senior year in college. I'm sure that during that month, I'm finishing our thesis. Why would I be in Spain, travelling and feeling happy with my "boyfriend" if I have a thesis to finish? Also, I'm sure that I'm currently on my on-the-job-training at the time. I can remember myself breaking down every night because I have a lot of school requirements to do and the company that I am working for my OJT doesn't even follow the work hours given to us!

I want to curse that woman if she is just in front of me. Slap her and pin her face to the ground because I am in this mess because of her!

I was in the middle of being angry at the woman when the door suddenly opened. The man entered with a worn-out book in his hand. He handed it to me. When I already touched the book, he suddenly removed his hand like I have a contagious disease and he doesn't want to be infected.

"Open that book and see if you can still deny your identity," he said as he sat on the one-man sofa beside the bed.

I stared at the book for a long time. It looks old. No… not old, rather, it looks like someone destroyed it and left it in a dirty place for a long time.

"Why does it look like this?" I asked while flipping through the pages.

"I already asked the maid to throw that out and burn that together with the other photo albums," he answered with a bored voice.

Although I want to ask him why this is still in his possession and not burned like the others, I can't open my mouth to speak. The more I flip through the pages, the more confuse I got. Every photo of the woman is the same; she still looks like me. Even if the photo was taken in a different angle, it still looks like me.

"You're quiet. Can't find an excuse to say?" the man asked when he noticed that I have been quiet for some minutes.

I didn't answer him, rather, my mind was busy on looking for the very small differences me and that woman has.

After a couple of minutes, I looked at the man.

Although this woman looks like me, we still have differences that a normal person cannot see if he will not observe properly.

"This woman is not me. I am not your ex-girlfriend," I said firmly and threw the book to his face.