Thelma cried even harder upon hearing this.
Samantha took her to the nearest hospital. Because of her throat condition, Thelma seemed utterly dispirited. She followed the nurse like a wooden puppet, undergoing various tests. Finally, the doctor concluded, “Based on the initial results, it seems to be selective amnesia caused by functional reasons.”
Samantha’s expression grew solemn upon hearing this. She quickly asked, “Will she be able to remember?”
The doctor replied, “It’s hard to say. She might recover her memory, or she might never remember.”
Samantha stood there in silence for a while before finally leading Thelma out of the doctor’s office. Unlike Samantha’s grave expression, Thelma remained completely dazed. Compared to her voice being ruined, memory loss seemed trivial to her.
As soon as they walked out, Samantha’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen, then instinctively looked in Thelma’s direction. Seeing her sitting with her head down, looking utterly dejected and paying no attention to her, Samantha let out a quiet sigh of relief and said, “Sit here for a bit. I’ll take this call.”
Thelma nodded absentmindedly and sat in the corridor, lost in thought.
Had she really lost her memory? But she had absolutely no recollection of the past five years. She didn’t believe she had amnesia. Maybe she had traveled through time—gone to sleep and woken up five years later?
But why was her future like this?
Thelma sat there for a long time but didn’t see Samantha return. She remembered Samantha had gone to the stairwell to take the call, so she walked toward it. When she reached the stairwell door, she indeed saw Samantha inside. She called out, “Samantha.”
Samantha was speaking to someone. Hearing Thelma’s voice, she instinctively turned her head. Seeing it was her, Samantha quickly said something to the person on the phone. As Thelma approached, she caught a glimpse of a man walking down the stairs. He had a tall, upright figure, but she couldn’t see his face clearly.
“Who were you talking to?”
“No one. Let’s go.”
Thelma didn’t ask further questions and followed Samantha out of the hospital. Across the street from the hospital was a plaza with a massive LED screen. At that moment, the screen was displaying an advertisement for a lollipop. The girl in the advertisement was wearing a pink dress. She sang while eating the lollipop, her voice sweet and melodic, as if the song itself were as sugary as the candy.
Thelma instantly recognized the person in the advertisement. “It’s Ava! Samantha, that’s Ava!” Thelma said excitedly. “Has Ava become a celebrity now?”
Samantha responded coldly, “Yes, she’s become a celebrity.”
Samantha’s attitude was no surprise. Like Thelma, she had always despised Ava and her mother. Since Samantha had never interacted much with Ava, her opinion of her hadn’t changed. It was no surprise she was so indifferent toward Ava.
Thelma quickly said, “I want to find her. Samantha, can you take me to see her?”
“See her?” Samantha sneered. “You’ve lost your memory, so you forgot. When your voice was ruined and your life hit rock bottom, she took the opportunity to get involved with Eric.”
