Deceptions of the Heart II: Love is going to be the death of me

Suspicions

Elizabeth Brown woke up on her own separate bedroom in the mansion Max had rented in Malta. The morning light illuminated every corner of the room causing the girl to flinch and shut her eyes tightly. After stretching and rubbing the sleep off her crystal blue eyes she stood up.

Usually Lizzy would greet her ex husband. And so she proceeded to do. With slow yet joyful steps she reached Max's bedroom door. She knocked.

"Good morning Max".

There was no answer. The male used to greet her back. Though it didn't seem strange to the female since she considered the fact that he might as well still be sleeping.

She knocked for a second time.

"Maximus? Its me Lizzy. Good morning".

Still silence. The young woman decided to pass.

"Alright Max. As you wish. I didn't know you despised me so much that you'd even stop greeting me!" And with that said Lizzy walked away from the door of her ex husband's bedroom.

She went downstairs where she found a tray of breakfast laying on the surface of the dining table. She approached a chair and took a seat. She then began eating the food that was spread on the tray.

Since it was still morning and she couldn't focus entirely on what she was doing she hasn't noticed that there was a second tray with breakfast at the opposite side of the table. She took a sip of her coffee and just then her gaze fell upon the tray. She didn't fail to recognize that it was Max's tray. Obviously. There wasn't a third person living in the mansion other than her, Max, their butler and a house maid.

Once she finished her meal Lizzy stood up from her seat.

"It looks like Max won't join me this time" she thought to herself.

Just then the house maid approached her with a look of concern on her face. Lizzy felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around to face the maid.

"Ma'am, have you seen Mr Rider? He's usually here eating his breakfast earlier than you".

The young lady just shook her head before she answered.

"No I haven't. I knocked on his bedroom's door in order to greet him but I had no answer. Perhaps he's still sleeping".

The maid just nodded and left the dining area.

As the noon approached Lizzy had started to worry. Max hadn't appeared at all that day leaving her with a feeling of concern. Where could he be? What had he been doing? Was he even in his room? With the last question appearing in the girl's mind, she stood up and rushed to Max's bedroom.

She approached the door once again and knocked on it.

"Max?" She began. Nothing.

She knocked again.

"Max? Are you even in?"

The panicked knocking on the door of Max's bedroom continued for several minutes. Lizzy decided that she had enough. She burst the door open.

To her surprise the room was empty. Max was nowhere to be seen. The bedsheets were untouched, sign that he hasn't slept in his bed last night. Lizzy also noticed that the wardrobe and a few other drawers and cupboards were slightly open or empty. The last thing the girl noticed was a paper on Max's bed. She slowly approached the bed and took the paper in her hands. It was a letter which read:

Dear Lizzy,

I have to say that I enjoyed my time with you but I couldn't bear living with my ex wife. Unfortunately we're not even meant to live in the same house together, whether we're friends or not. I am leaving. I missed America so I'm planning to return. Don't try to search for me. It will do no good to you. My heart already belongs to someone else. I wish you all the best luck in your new life.

Goodbye,

Max

The moment she read the letter Lizzy's temper reached the maximum level. She was red as a tomato due to her anger yet felt betrayed. Just because they had broken up it didn't mean that she still did not care about Max.

Before she was able to let out a single tear she heard a buzzing from her phone. She picked it up and checked the screen. It was a message from am unknown number. She opened it. It was a picture of Max in a very familiar place. It was the bar she used to work at back in America. Across Max stood a girl she always despised. Roxanne McCathy.

Another buzzing came from Lizzy's phone. It was another message from the same unknown number. It read:

Meet me tonight at 9:00 pm