After their conversation on the balcony, Lily returned to the room to have dinner while Axel remained on the balcony. She picked different meals from the food cart and ate them happily.
She was glad Axel wasn’t mad at her. She suddenly thought about Leo and she smiled, she liked him and enjoyed his company, she really enjoyed being his friend.
As she continued with her meal, she heard a phone beep and she looked around to see Axel’s phone on the table.
Since he wasn’t in the room, she stood up and walked to it. She picked up the phone and was about to walk to him but she got curious and decided to go through his phone.
She turned it on and tried to unlock it but it required a password. She bit her lip as she thought of what it could be. She tried his name and last name but they were both wrong, she tried Nora’s name too but still, it was also wrong.
She tried a random word too and it was still wrong, this time, the phone locked automatically by itself and it needed five minutes before another password could be tried.
“Shit.” She muttered.
She heard footsteps and she dropped the phone and ran to the bed. Axel walked into the room and glanced at her as he picked up his phone.
He raised his brows seeing his phone was locked, he looked at Lily and she hurriedly looked away from him and pretended like she was eating.
Axel knew she was trying to gain access to his phone, he knew how curious his wife could be.
“When you are done with your meal, let’s go for a walk.” Axel said and she nodded with a smile.
“Aren’t you going to have dinner?”
“I already did.” He replied.
Lily hurried with her meal and walked to Axel who was waiting, she smiled at him and he tucked his phone in his pants pocket.
“I’m ready.” She said with a smile and they both walked out of the suite together.
In minutes, they were out of the elevator and heading out of the hotel.
“Do you know your way around here?” Lily asked as they got to the exit.
“Not really.” He replied.
“Is it a good idea to take a walk then?” She asked and he shrugged.
“We can’t get lost.” He replied and she chuckled.
They walked down the street and Lily kept looking around while Axel kept watching her. They walked in silence for minutes until Lily decided to break it when she noticed something.
“Axel.” She called.
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t this the building you always stare at through our balcony?” She asked as she looked up at the building. It was also a hotel.
“Yes, what about it?” He asked back and Lily shook her head in response.
“Nothing, I just wanted to be sure.” She replied and he nodded. He suddenly checked the time on his wristwatch and he let out a sigh.
“It’s late already, let’s head back.” He said and Lily furrowed her brows. She found it weird, they had only spent a few minutes and he was saying it was late already.
“But we haven’t even spent up to ten minutes yet.” She replied as he pulled her gently with him.
“I know but it’s late.” He said and she decided to let it go. There was no point arguing with Axel. She ends up doing whatever he asks.
The walk back to the hotel was quick, in less than ten minutes they were there. Lily was exhausted already, immediately they got into the suite, she left Axel and walked to the closet. She changed into comfortable wear, walked out back, and met Axel on a phone call.
She recalled trying his password and giggled to herself, if he didn’t ask her about it, that meant he didn’t notice it.
She lay on the bed and sighed loudly, it drew Axel’s attention and he turned to her.
“Goodnight.” She said to him with a smile and all he did was nod at her. Lily closed her eyes with a smile on her face, she had a wonderful day and she was happy.
Axel had changed towards her and it was a good change, he bought things for her, things she needed and did not need. She met a new friend at the end of the day, she had a late-night walk with her husband. It was all great. Turns out, Axel cared about her after all.
After minutes of thinking about the day, Lily drifted to sleep.
********
THE NEXT DAY
MORNING
Lily slowly opened her eyes and let out a smile as she saw Axel asleep next to her. She tried to get off the bed without waking him but paused when she noticed his arm around her waist.
She didn’t want to wake him but she felt so pressed and needed to use the bathroom. She successfully pulled away from him without waking him up, she walked into the bathroom and did pee then walked out back.
She was about to walk back to bed when she noticed the television remote on the table next to the couch. She wanted to ignore it and go back to bed but she felt like watching the television.
She finally decided to watch the television a little, she picked up the remote, turned on the television, and sat on the couch.
She changed the channel to the kid’s show she always watched. She was about to get relaxed when the show was interrupted with breaking news.
“Just this morning, a man was murdered in the Maryland hotel in his suite late last night. According to the little information we have now, the man was identified as a Russian drug lord. The murderer hasn’t been caught yet, the cops are investigating the case but one thing we are all sure of is that his death might be due to the rivalry between him and other drug lords.” The news reporter narrated and the picture of the hotel was displayed on the screen.
Lily recognised it immediately as the hotel Axel stared at. She gasped as a thought popped into her head, she knew Axel was involved in illegal things and according to the news reporter, the dead man was also a drug lord. Lily turned to the bed and saw Axel was still sleeping.
She wanted her theory about the situation to be wrong.
‘Can Axel be behind this man’s death?’ She thought.
She needed answers and she knew she wouldn’t be getting them from Axel which meant she had to find them herself.
She stood up and walked into the closet, she tried her best to recall the outfit Axel was putting on the previous day.
She remembered and searched in the closet for it, she finally found the pants and she searched the pocket.
She found pieces of paper in it and she walked out of the closet. She glanced at Axel to make sure he was still sleeping.
She straightened the rough pieces of paper and stared at them. She furrowed her brows as she read what was written in them.
They were just places they visited but in different papers, the store, the saloon, the restaurant, then the Maryland hotel.
Lily was confused, she tried to think of what it meant.
“What are you doing?” She heard Axel ask and she flinched, she hurriedly squeezed the papers in her hands and then turned to Axel.
“Nothing.” She replied and he ran his hands through his hair and stood up from the bed. He was shirtless and all he had on was a short.
He walked past Lily into the bathroom and she let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding.
Axel walked out of the bathroom and noticed Lily was still in the same spot, he looked at the television and saw the news.
Gathering all the courage left in her, she decided to ask him about it.
“A man was murdered at that hotel. Maryland. The one you stare at always.”
“Oh.” He muttered and gave her a questioning look.
“According to the news, he is a drug lord.” She replied and took a step closer to him.
“Okay, so?”
“Were you staring at the building because of the man?”
“Yeah, so?” He replied and Lily stared at him surprised. He wasn’t denying it.
“Di… did you kill him?” She stuttered. She prayed his reply was something she wanted to hear, if he admitted it, it would really hurt her. This was supposed to be their honeymoon, not an opportunity to run his bloody business.
“Yeah, so?” He replied and Lily’s lips parted in shock. She was more surprised about his calmness, how could he be so calm about it?
Lily put the two together and she eventually understood what was written in the papers.
“Hold on, the places we visited yesterday, it was all about gathering information about the man?” She asked with her heart racing. It would really hurt her a lot if she was right, she felt yesterday was supposed to be special to both of them.
It was meant to mean something for both of them.
“Yes. So?” He replied and Lily let out a whimper. Tears welled up in her eyes as brought up the pieces of paper in her hand.
“The store, the man visits the store?” She asked as she tried to stop herself from breaking down.
Axel took the papers from her and glared at her.
“I can’t recall giving you permission to go through my stuff?”
“Answer my question!” Lily snapped at him and he was surprised. He wasn’t expecting that from her.
“Why are you so curious? Why are you always curious? Do you want to hear the truth? Fine. His wife shops at the store, the lady I spoke to knows his wife well and she said she visits the saloon. After visiting the saloon, she heads to the restaurant to have lunch with her husband who is my target. After having lunch at the restaurant, the wife heads back home and the man heads back to the hotel and spends the rest of the day and night with his mistress.” He explained and Lily sniffed as tears streamed down her eyes.
She felt so hurt, she thought they shared special feelings the previous day, she also thought he felt sorry for hurting her earlier and wanted to make it up to her.
It was all fake, he was using her!
“You were using me. I thought we had something special together yesterday.” She said in tears and Axel rolled his eyes.
“Have you forgotten this isn’t a real marriage? It is a contracted marriage, everything that happens between us isn’t real. You thought this was really a honeymoon? Everything I do is for a reason, Lily. Don’t ever feel special about anything that happens between us. It’s all fake and it will always be that way.” He said and Lily cried loudly not caring how she looked.
She felt so hurt and stupid. She had thought too fat about everything.
Axel walked away from her and left her in tears. Lily slowly sat on the floor and cried her eyes out.