The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 119

Professor Harrison still looked highly reluctant. "Our operations have classified clearance levels. It's a massive security and liability issue—"

"Oh, come on, Doc!"

Coach Jensen waved a dismissive hand, cutting the professor off. "We're all Americans out here in the middle of nowhere. We gotta look out for our own! The kid almost drowned in freezing water yesterday. You really gonna sleep at night knowing you left her out here by herself?"

He cast a sympathetic glance at Lilah. She stood shivering in the biting wind, cheeks rosy and eyes wide and tearful like an abandoned puppy.

"She's been through enough," Liam added gruffly.

Diego immediately chimed in, smelling an opportunity. "Yeah, Professor, let her roll with us! Having someone as gorgeous as Lilah on the stream is going to make our viewer count explode! Right, Lilah?"

Lilah blinked in surprise, then offered a shy, fetching smile. "I... I can definitely help you run your stream, even if I'm not a pro at it..."

Harrison looked from Liam, to Diego, and finally to Lilah's imploring face. Defeated, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. But we are only taking you as far as Endurance Station. Once we arrive, we have a job to do. You'll be on your own from there."

"Thank you, Professor!" Lilah's face instantly lit up with relief. "Thank you so much! I swear I'll stay out of trouble!"

She eagerly pivoted to the rest of the group, thanking them one by one.

When she reached Sloane, she paused, her smile deepening with saccharine sweetness.

"Thank you, Sloane."

Sloane merely nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself.

*

Their transport was a heavy-duty, military-green snowcat equipped with massive treads, rumbling loudly as it carved a path through the frozen wasteland.

Outside the frost-rimmed windows was an endless expanse of blinding white, broken only by towering icebergs on the horizon and the occasional cluster of penguins waddling through the drifts. The sky retained that unsettlingly perfect, hollow blue.

Sloane sat quietly by the window, watching the bleak landscape blur past while casually observing Lilah from the corner of her eye.

There was no denying the girl had charm.

She was bubbly, engaging, and asked exactly the right questions to stroke massive egos without being annoying. In fact, her relentless curiosity made her seem incredibly genuine and endearing.

Yet, a nagging instinct in the back of Sloane's mind screamed that something was off.

How had Lilah actually fallen off the ship in the first place?

On top of that, it was the dead of the Antarctic winter. Normal tourists flocked here during the brief summer window. Who books a solo sightseeing cruise to the bottom of the world in sub-zero hell?

She shifted her gaze to Josh.

He was sitting right next to her, slouched against the seat with his eyes clamped shut, radiating an aggressive "do not disturb" aura. From the second Lilah stepped into the vehicle, he hadn't spoken a single word, nor had he even bothered to open his eyes...