Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Kathleen looked up at the hillside in the distance which was ablaze with autumn colors. Then, she suggested, “I’m thinking of packing up and heading into the mountains to capture the autumn scenery. Would you like to come with me?”

David readily agreed. “Sure. Wherever you want to go, I’ll go with you.”

Kathleen smiled again. “I’m planning to stay near the Apshers for a while. How does that sound?”

“Then I’ll pack for both of us.” True to his word, David said, “You can rest a bit longer. I’ll call you when I’m done packing.”

At the same time, when they set their new travel destination, Nathan sat alone in a dark room, flipping through the documents in his hand.

The only source of light was from a wall lamp, which cast a dim glow over his face. He looked like a vampire dwelling–in an old castle.

Outside, Kevin knocked on the door and reported “Mr. Meyer, as per your request, we found a few more people who meet the criteria.”

“Come in,” Nathan replied.

Kevin cautiously placed the files on the table and stepped aside, afraid of angering him. But Nathan seemed completely uninterested, as though these documents didn’t match what he had requested.

As Kevin waited anxiously, Nathan suddenly lit a cigarette and stopped on one of the files. The cigarette burned to his fingertips, causing him to jerk back and tap off the cigarette ash. He almost burned a hole in the couch as it fell.

Kevin jumped and called out in a panic, “Mr. Meyer!”

Nathan snapped out of it. He picked up the cigarette and extinguished it in the ashtray. He took the file he’d been staring at for a while and handed it to Kevin. He then instructed, “She will do. Give her some money and let her do whatever she wants.”

The photo on the document was of a young woman who had a 90% resemblance with Kathleen.

Kevin was confused. “Aren’t we bringing her here?”

Nathan frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

After his initial despair, he stopped frantically searching for Kathleen and instead started sending people to find young women who looked like her and were about the same age.

Kevin had thought he couldn’t accept losing Kathleen and wanted a stand–in as some form of comfort. But now, it seemed he was wrong. Nathan observed Kevin’s flustered expression as he looked into the distance, his voice drifting. “I know what you’re thinking, but no one can replace her. She’s gone, and that’s that

From that day onward, he showed no signs of wanting to recover. Instead, his self–destructive tendencies only worsened. He stopped eating and sleeping. When exhaustion took over, he would just pass out briefly, only to wake up and continue smoking as if that could give him some release.

Kevin, who was the closest to him, had to steel himself and speak up. “Mr. Meyer, I know you’re hurting, but life has to go on. If I may be blunt, at this rate, you’ll fall ill before there’s any news of Ms. Floss.” 

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Nathan responded apathetically.

He was terrified of closing his eyes because every time he did, he saw Kathleen’s cold gaze and how resolutely she had left.

With a voice full of bitterness, he asked, “If I were on the verge of dying, would she come back to see me just once?”

He missed Kathleen so much that it felt like it was killing him. Nothing else could hold his attention.

Kevin didn’t dare answer that question. Instead, he offered, “Perhaps we could send out more private investigators. She doesn’t have any recorded exits from the region, so she’s likely still in Eldoria. She’s most likely traveling somewhere”

Nathan was inclined to agree. But after a brief pause, he rasped, “No. She’s set on avoiding me. Even if I do find her, she’ll only look at me with disdain. Besides… do I even have the right to see her?”

He knew he had only himself to blame for everything. If only he had trusted her a little more, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.