The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 356

Garrison and Quinn walked out of the ward, one after the other.

Quinn kept her head bowed, her mind completely blank, her body trembling slightly. Garrison's expression was thunderous, and he didn't say a word until they stopped in front of his office door.

"How is... the patient?"

Vanessa was still waiting inside, wearing a look of deep concern.

Garrison looked up at her, his tone polite but unmistakably rigid. "Vanessa, I apologize, but my sister and I have a family matter to deal with."

"Of course."

Vanessa set her cup down and stood up. Her gaze swept over Quinn's paper-white face for a split second, but she didn't ask any questions. She grabbed her bag and quietly slipped out, pulling the door shut behind her.

Only the two of them remained in the office.

The lights were off. Outside the window, the last sliver of twilight sank below the horizon. The only light in the room came from the blue glow of the computer's screensaver, flickering across Garrison's face.

It cast a terrifying, icy shadow over his features, making him look like a reaper straight out of hell.

The next second—smack!

Garrison raised his hand and delivered a hard, echoing slap across Quinn's face.

The sharp, heavy sound exploded in the empty office.

Quinn's head whipped to the side from the force. She stumbled, crashing into the metal filing cabinet by the door with a deafening clatter.

"What exactly did you do to Sloane?"

For that woman. For the woman lying in that bed, who didn't have to lift a finger to steal everything from her.

He hit her.

An unprecedented wave of violent grievance surged from her chest, suffocating her throat and flooding her eyes.

She stood by the filing cabinet, half her face swollen, tears silently streaming down, dripping onto her collar and the floor beneath her feet.

She didn't wipe them away. She just tilted her head up, staring at the man before her with a gaze of ultimate devastation.

Garrison glared at her darkly, repeating the question. "What exactly did you do to Sloane?"

Quinn snapped her head up. Her tears hadn't even dried, but her voice cracked higher, carrying the reckless, shrill desperation of someone pushed over the edge: