Chapter 5: The Return of Mafia Instincts

"You're not Aileen Monroe."

Alina felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Who is this?" Her voice was calm, but her mind was already racing.

"The real Aileen would never act the way you did today," the voice continued. "And I don't know who you are, but if you keep interfering, you will die - again."

Alina's heart pounded. Again? she repeated in her mind. This person knew something.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said flatly. "You must be mistaken."

Ha! Ha! Ha!

A low chuckle echoed through the phone.

"We'll see, Miss."

Click. The call ended. Alina's blood ran cold. This person knew who she was.

Someone in this hospital, in Bungalow City. Alina realized that her enemy was no ordinary person.

She slowly put the phone down and stared blankly at the screen. Deep inside her, the survival instincts she had learned as a mafia agent were reawakening.

"You know I'm not the real Aileen." Her voice was cautious.

That meant she couldn't just sit back and wait for her enemy to make the first move.

She took a deep breath and opened Aileen Monroe's medical records on her laptop. If someone had tried to kill Aileen before she took over this body, there was a good chance they would try again. And now Alina was ready.

The next day, as she entered the operating room, Alina realized something: nothing in this world was truly safe, not even for a doctor. Even they had enemies.

In the operating room, the doctor was the boss - the one who set the rhythm, gave the orders, and made sure everything went smoothly. The difference? This time, she was saving a life, not taking one.

"Dr. Monroe, we have a patient with abdominal trauma from a stab wound. We need to remove the dangerous fragments immediately."

A nurse handed her the report, and Alina looked at the monitor that showed the patient's condition. The wound... it reminded her of something. A familiar assassination technique from the mafia world.

This wound isn't random. It's a warning. Her blood ran cold.

"Is this patient also a target of the same organization?" she murmured, her eyes widening in shock.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath.

She had no choice but to pretend that she was truly a skilled surgeon. With unwavering confidence, she picked up the scalpel and went to work.

The hands once accustomed to holding weapons now wielded medical instruments with the same precision. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, but instead of panicking, she felt... alive.

She could do this. After hours of tense work, the operation was a success. Alina took off her gloves and stared at the patient.

Now all she had to do was wait for him to wake up and find out what was really going on.

After leaving the operating room, she took a moment to check on the patient in the emergency room. He was still unconscious.

"It will take time for him to recover," she muttered. "But they won't let me wait in peace until he wakes up."

Alina returned to her office that night. But as soon as she opened the door, someone was waiting inside. A tall man in a black suit sat casually in her chair.

"Aileen Monroe," he said in a mocking tone. "Or should I say... Alina Devereaux?"

Alina remained calm, though her body tensed. She didn't recognize him, but from his demeanor, he was clearly from her old world.

"Who are you?" she asked coldly.

The man smiled slightly. "Names don't matter. What matters is... you should be dead."

Alina stared at him sharply. "But I'm not."

The man nodded slowly. "That's the problem. And there are people who aren't happy about it."

Alina realized something. This wasn't just about Aileen Monroe. This was about her - Alina.

Someone from her past knew she was alive. And they wouldn't stop until they were sure she was dead. But there was one thing they had forgotten. Alina Devereaux never went down without a fight.

She locked eyes with the man before her, her fingers discreetly reaching for the pen on her desk - not as a writing tool, but as a weapon.

The man noticed her move and grinned. "Relax, Dr. Monroe. I'm not here to kill you... yet."

"Then what do you want?"

He leaned back in the chair, his eyes scanning her every move as if trying to determine if the person in front of him was really Aileen Monroe - or someone else.

"I just wanted to confirm something," he said casually. "When the news spread that Aileen Monroe had survived the accident, a lot of people were shocked. Especially because... your body should have been destroyed beyond recognition in that crash. And yet here you are - healthy, fresh, even sharper than before."

Alina remained silent.

"So I began to wonder," the man leaned forward, his voice lower, "are we really talking to Dr. Aileen Monroe... or someone else?"