The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 281

"You're out of your mind!"

Garrison's composure finally shattered. The anger he had suppressed for far too long began to seep through the cracks. "The 719 Research Station was permanently sealed because of a radioactive waste leak. The entire reservoir is a contamination zone. Did you not know that? You had her dive into that water just to fetch a pen—did you have any idea it could kill her?!"

"Did you... did you even tell her the water was toxic?!" Garrison's voice trembled.

"The leak was in the storage area, not the lab," Rosemary argued, her tone bizarrely clinical, as if debating an academic paper. "I calculated the risks. The primary waste components were Strontium-90 and Cesium-137. The storage tanks were nearly four thousand feet upstream from the reservoir. After the leak, the contaminants mostly settled into the sediment. Even though the reservoir's flow was poor, years of dilution and natural decay should have lowered the radioactive concentration—"

"You're a scientist!"

Garrison lunged a step forward, a raging fire burning in his eyes. He couldn't believe his own mother was saying this.

"You know perfectly well the half-life of Strontium-90 is twenty-eight years! Cesium-137 is thirty years! How long has it been since you evacuated? Barely twenty years! It hasn't even been one full half-life cycle, and you're talking to me about decay?!"

The living room plunged into a suffocating silence. The old grandfather clock on the wall struck the hour, chiming four times in a long, hollow echo.

Rosemary was momentarily stunned by his fury, sitting frozen on the sofa. After a moment, she opened her mouth to speak, but his father shot her a silencing glare.

"Garrison... your mother acted recklessly," his father intervened, trying to diffuse the tension. "Don't be so angry. I'll apologize on her behalf..."

"When did this happen?" Garrison ignored him, keeping his focus locked on Rosemary.

"I... I don't remember. It's been a few years..."

"I asked you—when?!"

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