Chapter 72: Paparazzi Again
Levi woke up with a start, a sense of unease creeping over him. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table and wondered where the unease stemmed from. It was late morning. He should have woken up hours ago. A strange silence hung over the room, usually filled with the sounds of birds chirping and the distant hum of the suburban streets.
He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. As he washed his face, he could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. He returned to the bedroom and noticed that Lyse’s side of the bed was empty.
Then, a wave of panic washed over him, then he remembered that she had returned to sleeping in her own room after the fiasco of the previous night.
He realized that he missed her and that was why he had been so uneasy, then he taunted himself for already getting comfortable with her sleeping beside him when she had only slept one night.
He reminded himself that it was a business transaction, their marriage was not exactly real so he could not afford to get used to her sleeping beside him.
He took a shower then got dressed and headed downstairs. Mr. Dalton, his ever-present butler, was waiting for him in the hallway.
"Good morning, Mr. Van Doren," Mr. Dalton greeted him, his expression grave. "There has been a bit of a problem. Miss Lyse is not in her room and it appears, that she might not have spent the night there."
Levi’s heart sank and he growled. "What do you mean she is not in her room? Have you checked around the house? Did she say where she was going?"
Mr. Dalton shook his head. "No, sir. She did not leave a note or anything, no one saw her leave but we checked the security cameras and realized that she left a little past midnight through the garden door."