The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 451

And then, the ground vanished.

She hadn't seen the stone railing—the night was pitch-black, and the streetlights didn't reach that blind spot by the lake. Her foot missed the stone edge entirely, and she pitched forward, not even managing to let out a full scream before she fell.

Splash.

The ice covering the lake shattered. Dark, freezing water erupted into the air, splintering the reflection of the streetlamps into a thousand cold, shimmering stars.

The guys chasing her saw Piper plunge into the water and their arrogant smirks instantly dissolved into panic. Shoving each other, they stumbled backward, then turned and sprinted away without looking back.

The ringleader was the fastest to flee, leaving the stolen trophy abandoned by the stone railing. The flash of her neon-pink puffer jacket disappeared into the darkness at the end of the path within seconds.

*

Further down the road, Sloane and Josh were walking back toward Emerald Grove.

It was late, and the campus paths were practically deserted. The streetlights stretched their shadows across the leaf-strewn cobblestones, one tall, one slightly shorter.

Josh was walking on the outside. After a while, he fell quiet. His fingers twitched inside his coat pocket before he discreetly reached out and hooked his pinky around Sloane's.

Sloane's fingers twitched, almost as if she had been burned, but she didn't pull away.

His palm was warm, coated in a nervous sheen of sweat. As his hand engulfed hers completely, his heart raced against his ribs, but he didn't say a word. He just stared straight ahead, pretending to be utterly fascinated by a barren ginkgo tree by the road.

Sloane turned her head to look at him, noticing how the tips of his ears were burning red. A small smile tugged at her lips, and she looked forward again, letting him hold her hand.

Right at that moment, a piercing scream echoed from the distance.

Sloane followed his pointing finger.

The shattered hole in the ice was slowly widening. The dark water ominously reflected the cold night sky, chunks of broken ice swirling on the surface. Piper was nowhere to be seen.

Sloane didn't waste a second thinking.

She dropped her canvas bag to the ground, yanked down the zipper of her puffer jacket, and shrugged it off in seconds, dropping it on the stone path. She was left in just her velvet dress against the biting chill.

Dropping to one knee at the edge of the railing, she grabbed the stone ledge and snapped an order over her shoulder at Josh, her voice holding absolute, unquestionable authority: "Josh, call 911! Get an ambulance here! I'm going in—"

Before he could even process the words, she vaulted over the railing, her body cutting a sharp arc through the air.

With a heavy splash, she disappeared into the freezing water.