The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 339

Sloane's eyes widened in shock. "Lexi, you have a kid?!"

Lexi smiled and swiped to the next photo. It was a wedding picture of her and a man. He was wearing a black suit and thick-rimmed glasses. He wasn't particularly handsome, but when he smiled, his eyes crinkled into two warm crescents. He radiated a clean, comforting energy.

One of his hands was wrapped around Lexi's waist, while the other awkwardly tried to hold up the heavy train of her wedding dress.

"Look, this is my husband. He looks like a total goofball, but he's actually a really great guy!"

Sloane was speechless.

She stared at the photos, unable to string a single sentence together. Lexi pulled the phone back, swiped a few more times, and pulled up another album.

"Do you remember Mrs. Gable? The sports physiology professor? The one who was absolutely obsessed with attendance and docked five points if you were a minute late? She retired this year. At her farewell party, the department gave her a plaque that said, 'A strict teacher produces brilliant students.' We all joked it should have said, 'Late arrivals will be executed without mercy.' Hahaha..."

In the photo, a white-haired older woman was surrounded by a group of smiling students, beaming from ear to ear. Her back was a bit more hunched than Sloane remembered, but her gaze was just as piercing, looking like she could still spot a slacker from a mile away.

"And Caleb Thorne—the class heartthrob. Do you remember how many girls used to slip him love letters?"

Lexi swiped to the next picture. It showed a middle-aged man sitting at a street food stall, wearing a faded polo shirt that stretched tightly over a protruding beer belly. His hairline was noticeably receding. He was holding up a skewer of BBQ ribs, grinning like he didn't have a care in the world.

Lexi chuckled softly. "Man, time is a cruel mistress, isn't it..."

The crinkles were undeniably real under the bright lights. Beneath the skin was the genuine texture of a dermis thinned by time. It wasn't the texture of cosmetics, nor was it special effects. It was the undeniable mark of a woman who had crossed from her twenties into her thirties, living through a full decade.

Sloane looked down at her hands resting on her lap, staring at them for a long time. Then she looked back up at Lexi. Tears were already welling in her eyes, but her voice was much calmer than before.

"Then tell me, what year is it?"

Lexi stayed quiet for a few seconds.

Then she picked up her phone, tapped the screen to wake it, and flipped it around. On the lock screen, right under the clock, the date was clearly displayed: March 14, 2026.