After Eight Years, He Walked Away Like I Was Nothing - Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Lachlan’s POV
I drowned myself in alcohol, tuning out Kirsten’s shrill crying echoing through the room.
I didn’t even know how many glasses I’d downed. But no matter how much I drank, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t numb myself like I used to.
My body was giving out, but my mind only got clearer—sharper, crueler.
The past clung to me like a curse, weighing me down, poisoning every thought with guilt and regret. It ached. It stung. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape it.
I kept mumbling Chantelle’s name, slurring apology after apology into the empty air.
Somewhere in the haze, I thought I saw her.
She stood there, frowning, stepping forward to snatch the bottle out of my hand.
“So this is how you treat your body when I’m not around?” she scolded.
“I told you—my mom and you are the people I love most. Can’t you take care of yourself? Even just for me? For the baby we’re supposed to have one day?”
I laughed like a complete idiot and reached out, trying to pull her into my arms—only to grab at nothing.
There was no one there.
Just another ghost. Another hallucination.
I collapsed onto the floor, finally breaking down. Full-on sobbing.
At that moment, I genuinely regretted everything. If it meant I could get her back, I would’ve given up anything—everything.
My stomach twisted in agony, but even through the pain, I saw her face again. Calm. Gentle. Just out of reach.
I stayed in that illusion as long as I could, clinging to it until the pain finally pulled me under.
And honestly? Maybe dying like that—before living another day without her—would’ve been the better ending.
When I came to, I was surrounded.
My brothers were there. My assistant. A bunch of people checking on me.
So many familiar faces filled with worry—but the only one I wanted to see… wasn’t there.
And the moment I realized Chantelle hadn’t come, something inside me died.
I stared blankly at the ceiling. Everything felt numb again until Jules rushed in and handed me a folder.
I jerked upright. “Did you find Chantelle?” I asked, heart lurching.
I didn’t wait for an answer. I grabbed the file and tore it open, desperate to see where she’d gone.
But Jules hesitated, his expression stiff.
“Sir… this is the paternity test report for the twins,” he said quietly. “We still haven’t found Ma’am Chantelle’s whereabouts…”
My hands trembled as I flipped through the pages. It really was a DNA report.
A report confirming what I had feared—yet somehow already known.
‘The twins… aren’t mine?!’
With a roar, I hurled the report across the room. Papers scattered everywhere.
“I told you to find my wife!” I shouted. “Who the hell told you to test the twins?!”
I couldn’t stop yelling. “It’s been over a week—why haven’t you found her yet?! Are you trying to tell me the Gurfinchels don’t pay you enough?!”
I was completely losing it. I couldn’t wrap my head around how the woman I’d once been able to reach with a single call had suddenly vanished—like she’d never existed.
Jules waited until I quieted a bit, then spoke cautiously.
“Sir, it’s not that we don’t want to find her. But… your marriage has been legally dissolved. We can’t file a missing person report through official channels.”
He hesitated before adding, “And… someone’s been interfering. All traces of Ma’am Chantelle have been wiped clean.”
My brows tightened into a deep frown. My chest was full of questions—and fury.
“Who’s stopping you?” I snapped. But before he could answer, I cut him off. “No—forget it. I don’t care who it is. Here’s what you tell whoever that bastard is. If they keep interfering, I—Lachlan Gurfinchel—will treat them as enemies!”
I stood up, ignoring the pounding in my head.
“Double your efforts. Clear my desk of all the work that’s piled up these past few days.”
My nostrils flared. “I don’t care what methods you use. I want Chantelle found within a week—or every single one of you can pack your bags and leave.”
Jules nodded quickly and slipped out.
And as soon as my friends saw me talking about business again, they made excuses and left too—quietly, like they didn’t want to poke the bear.
I thought that such a harsh ultimatum would shake some results loose. I really thought that within a week, someone would point me to Chantelle’s whereabouts.
But a week passed.
And the only thing waiting for me was Jules’s panicked face and another empty report.
No matter how angry I got—no matter how many people I fired—no one could tell me where Chantelle had gone.
I was out of options.
‘And even if—somehow—I managed to find her, even if he poured out all the apologies he had rehearsed in his mind… would she even forgive me?’
Right now, I couldn’t even take that first step—I couldn’t find her at all.
‘Can I really still have a future with Chantelle?’
A few more days crawled by before I really couldn’t just wait around.
I dropped everything at work and hit the road myself.
I started visiting every city Chantelle had ever mentioned wanting to live in.
All I could do now was rely on this stupid, desperate way—and hope the heavens took pity on me and let me see her again.
But the universe clearly had other plans—I didn’t find her in any of those cities. Not even a trace.
And instead—ironically—it was only when I returned to the company to deal with some affairs… that I finally heard something.
News of her!