The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 78

It took a long while for Sloane to finally calm down. She leaned back against the headboard, her face still completely drained of color and her eyes bloodshot.

"That's... all in the past," she said hoarsely, pushing away Garrison's hand that still rested on her shoulder.

Garrison didn't dare bring up her mother again. He stayed silent for a long time before finally speaking, his voice so low it sounded like a plea.

"Sloane... don't go to Antarctica. Move back home, okay? I promise, I'll try my best to spend more time with you, and with Archie. You love swimming, so you can coach the swim team, or do whatever work you want. I'll pay more attention to you, get to know you..."

"Just don't go to Antarctica, please?"

Sloane looked up at him, her gaze as calm as a deep, still pool of water.

"What about Quinn?"

Garrison frowned. He couldn't fathom why she was bringing Quinn up right now.

"What are you thinking? She's my sister. I only have sibling feelings for her, nothing else." A sliver of frustration seeped into his tone.

Sloane let out a silent, mocking laugh. The image of Garrison and Quinn hugging in plain sight at the hospital cafe in Stockholm flashed through her mind.

"But what if..." Sloane paused. "What if she doesn't just have sibling feelings for you? What if she has... romantic feelings?"

Garrison thought Sloane was being completely unreasonable.

He stared at her, an edge of sharpness creeping into his voice without him even realizing it. "She's just my sister. What about you? Josh is your childhood friend, right? What kind of feelings does he have for you?"

Sloane choked on his words, taking a long time to process what he was implying.

Heh, Josh?

Garrison's breath hitched. All the emotions he had forcefully buried—restraint, concession, heartache, frustration, and guilt—instantly morphed into a violent, surging inferno of rage that had nowhere to go.

He shot to his feet, his chair scraping against the floor with an agonizing screech.

"Sloane, what exactly do you want from me?"

He roared in a low, furious voice, shaking uncontrollably. "I apologized, I admitted I was wrong, I said I would change, I begged you to stay! What is it going to take for you to give up this insane idea?"

Sloane looked at him and suddenly smiled.

It was a faint, chilling smile, like a frozen lake on a dead winter night.

"It's very simple," she said. "Sign the divorce papers, and I won't go."