The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 406

The force of the blow was staggering. The sharp crack echoed through the office, silencing the whispering crowd in the hallway instantly.

Garrison's head whipped to the side, a brilliant red handprint rapidly blooming across his left cheek, stretching from his cheekbone all the way to his ear.

He didn't flinch. He didn't raise a hand to soothe the sting. He simply turned his head back at a painfully slow pace, staring blankly at his mother.

"You ungrateful bastard!" Rosemary jabbed a finger hard into his chest, her nails practically digging through his shirt. "Don't treat me like an idiot! I know you've been hiding her! You've had her hidden for five years! She isn't dead—she's right here in this hospital! Dozens of people have seen her! Did you really think you could fool me? Did you think I was going senile?"

"Mom, stop listening to idle gossip."

Garrison's voice remained terrifyingly calm, but it was the fragile calm of a sheet of ice stretched over boiling water—one more ounce of pressure, and it would shatter entirely.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Rosemary's tears finally spilled over, carving tracks through her makeup. "She murdered my Quinn—didn't she? Tell me the truth! DIDN'T SHE?!"

Garrison closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the iron-clad restraint he had maintained for years had finally burned away. All that remained was absolute exhaustion, masking something unyielding and entirely unwilling to compromise.

"Dawson, call security. Clear the hallway."

Dawson froze for a split second before spinning on his heel and sprinting out the door.

His urgent, hushed voice echoed from the corridor as he began corralling the onlookers. The sound of shuffling footsteps faded, and the heavy door finally clicked shut, blocking out the prying eyes.

"Mom," Garrison stood tall, the handprint on his cheek darkening into a furious crimson welt, the edges beginning to swell. "Quinn stole The Vitas Strain. She was killed by the blowback of her own actions. I have told you this a thousand times. She brought this upon herself."

"I need you to leave. Now."

In the second room, a young girl recovering from surgery was jolted awake, her heart monitor immediately screaming at 120 beats per minute.

In the third room, a family member was pouring a glass of water when the door slammed into the wall, sending the pitcher crashing to the floor...

Rosemary didn't care. She kept tearing through the rooms, ripping back privacy curtains, and aggressively checking the nameplates at the foot of every single bed.

The nurses chased desperately after her, apologizing to the patients and begging her to stop, but no one could physically restrain her.

Garrison stood in the hallway, watching the grotesque spectacle unfold as his stomach twisted into agonizing knots once again.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, dialed a number, and muttered a few quick words. Shoving the phone away, he strode forward and clamped a firm grip onto Rosemary's arm.