Chapter 17

"What are you talking about? She is no Juliette that you know. She is my fiancée and her name is Ivona, not Juliette that you are thinking off. So, let her go," he seemed to control his rage as he talked as calmly as he could.
"What?" the strange man tightened his grip even further blocking the air out of my lungs.
"Fiancée? Ivona? Juliette what is all this?" he asked and I tried my best to push him.
"Look. You're hurting my fiancée so let her go right now before I call the security," Alex threatened to which the strange huffed in response.
"You call my wife your fiancée one more time and I'll rip your throat right over here and bury you right here in my property," the stranger threatened and as I realized the hotel was his property the color seemed to drain off my face.
"Oh! So this is your property. No wonder you have the guts to behave like this with me. You have no idea who I am," Alex took his phone out as he glared towards the stranger.
"And you have no idea with whom you are dealing with," the stranger laughed as he looked down towards me.
"You have a lot of things to explain me. You are coming with me," he said and before I could talk he dragged me towards the other end of the hallway but soon enough I was held back none other than Alex who got hold of my arm and pulled me towards him and like a rope in tug of war they pulled me, either way, hurting me in the process.
"Let go of her!"
"Remove your hands off my wife right now!"
"Enough!" I jerked my hands away from both of them as I yelled at the top of my lungs.
"Ivona"
"Juliette"
"Stop it! Stop it!" I was so irritated all of a sudden that for a moment I clasped my hands on my ears and shut my eyes close giving some time to myself to hold up my breath,"
"Just stop it now," I whispered as I reopened my eyes.
"Look! I am not Juliette. Not your Juliette. Not your wife. You might have some misunderstanding. Perhaps I think I may look like her or something but I'm not Juliette. My name is Ivona. Ivona Cernea. Okay? And this man over her is my fiancé. I don't know you. I don't know who you are. Nor do I have any idea what you are even talking about? So relax!" I spoke as calmly and slowly I could to make him understand it clearly.
"Are you kidding me?" he faked a laugh as he looked down at me.
"Do you think I'm blind? What's with you behaving like this? Do you have any idea what I have went through since you went missing? I knew you were alive and I searched for you everywhere and now when I have finally got you, you tell me that you are not Juliette but" he air quoted "Ivona whatsoever?"
"Okay, I'm done. I told you what I know and I have had enough now. This is just too much now. You are forgiven for what you did a few minutes ago but I don't want to see your face ever again. So I'm going out of here right now with Alex," I said and got hold of Alex's arm ready to walk away.
"Don't touch her-" the stranger yelled at Alex and pulled his hands away from me and soon landed a punch on his face.
I gasped in horror as I watched Alex knocked down to the ground. He tried to get up but before he could I ran up to him and crunched down to him helping him get up "Oh my god Alex! Are you alright?" but before I could help him the stranger got hold of my hand and pulled me up.
"Stop hel-" he stopped talking as I slapped him right across his face, hard. The slap was as loud as a clap and I knew it would have stung his face as much as it stung my palm for hitting him hard. His face turned up to the side due to the effect of the slap but then he touched his face and looked back at me with shock clearly evident on his face.
"Jul-"
"Shut up!" I pointed a finger towards him.
"Just shut up! How dare you punch the man I'm going to get married in a few months before me? Just shut up! I am Ivona. Ivona Cernea. Soon to be Mrs. Lascar and I want you to remember this," his eyes widened as he looked down at me still shocked at what just happened.
I helped Alex back on his feet as I examined his face where he was brutally punched.
"I'm so sorry about all this Alex. Let's get back home," I said with regret-filled eyes and he nodded adjusting his suit.
"Jul-" I glared back at the stranger stopping him from talking any further and entangling my arm with Alex's we turned on our heels to leave.
"Damn that hurts," I heard Alex hissing while we were walking.
"I am so sorry for all this. I will help you once we get back home," I whispered to him. As we walked I could feel the burning gaze of that stranger boring into my back and I saw as Alex looked back towards the direction where we left that idiotic strange man.
"Don't look at him. I think he is some psycho released from a cell or something," I asked Alex and that made him look back at me.
"I think the same too. What a crazy guy," he seemed to laugh off the matter. But I could still feel my hand stinging because of the slap. I wondered if I hurt him badly. For some reason, I felt uneasy in the back of my mind and heart and as we walked away I felt loneliness and as if something important was being left back because of me. The incidents a few moments ago kept playing in my mind and all of a sudden I found myself comparing the strange man's forehead and hairstyle with the guy I keep on seeing in my dreams.
"What is this?" I found myself whispering to myself.
"You alright?" Alex asked as he looked worried for the time being and not wanting to cause him any more distress I nodded yes followed by an assuring smile to keep my point. But before we took the turn from the hallway I made a mistake of looking back and what I saw scared me to death.
The strange man was burning in the fire of rage. His eyes were murderous and his aura was changed to a dark one and as our eyes met he seemed to give me an evil smile before I lost the sight of him when we were out of the hallway. A breath that I didn't know I was holding left my mouth and at the moment all I wished that I never get to encounter that evil, dark smile ever again in my life for it seemed nothing less compared to a dreadful nightmare one could ever have.