The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 492

A few days later.

The second cafeteria at Riverdale University was packed and buzzing with lunchtime chatter.

Josh Jace carried two warm rice bowls through the crowd, placing one in front of Sloane Taylor and the other in front of Piper Prescott. He turned around, dove back into the sea of students, and returned a moment later with a bowl of sweet vanilla bean pudding—Sloane's favorite dessert, which the cafeteria only served on Wednesdays.

He set the bowl next to her hand, his movements so natural it was as if he had done it ten thousand times, even laying the spoon out for her.

Piper nudged her own plate aside to make room for Josh, then rested her chin in her hands and studied Sloane. After a few seconds, her fork paused in mid-air.

"Sloane, is something on your mind lately?"

She tilted her head, her usual bubbly tone replaced with genuine concern. "Why do you look so pale? Your dark circles are really heavy."

Sloane had been idly poking at the fried egg in her bowl. Hearing this, she looked up and forced a smile.

"I'm fine. It's just been overwhelming lately. I recently took over Taylor Manufacturing Corp. Even though Howard is there to help manage things, I still have to learn a lot of the business operations from scratch. I need to understand the financial statements and the manufacturing packaging processes, otherwise I'll look like a fool when the shareholders ask questions."

She took a bite of beef, chewed, and swallowed, trying to keep her tone light. "It's probably just exhaustion. I'll be fine once I adapt to the routine."

Piper gave her a skeptical look and went back to picking at her food. She didn't press the issue, but a lingering trace of worry remained in her large, round eyes.

Josh sat silently beside them, gently pushing the vanilla pudding a little closer to Sloane's hand.

That evening, on their walk home, the sycamore trees had shed the last of their leaves. The bare branches cast tangled shadows under the streetlights.

Josh walked on Sloane's left, carrying her canvas tote bag. They walked for most of the block in silence.

"Some things aren't about what I want, but what I have to do. I brought The White Microbe back from the Antarctic. You could say The Vitas Strain was secured with the lives of the entire exploration team. If the packaging phase stalls out, Vitas-1 will never hit the market. The people waiting on that drug to save their lives will never get it. So, I want to see this through to the end."

Josh stopped in his tracks.

Sloane took two more steps before realizing he wasn't following. She turned around to see him standing under the streetlight, his dark brown hair ruffled by the night breeze. His deep, expressive eyes held an unfamiliar, stubborn intensity.

"So, you taking over the company... is it still for Garrison?"

Sloane froze.

She walked back to him, reaching up to gently smooth down the tuft of hair the wind had messed up.

Her fingertips lingered on his forehead for a second before she pulled back. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek gently against his shoulder. Her gaze was quiet and dependent, yet it felt more like an apology.