The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 51

Inside the bathroom, the water from the faucet ran continuously.

Those cold, heavy words echoed clearly in Garrison Foster's ears.

Hold hit by a truck... saw it with her own eyes... didn't speak for three months...

The blue toy truck Archie had held at the birthday party, Sloane's instantly bloodless face, and the undeniable terror and panic in her eyes—all the fractured pieces suddenly slotted together.

So that was it.

As a child, Sloane had witnessed her own mother's tragic death, yet in their five years of marriage, he had been entirely oblivious to her trauma.

Yes, he knew nothing. He hadn't even bothered to ask how her mother had passed away.

Garrison shut off the faucet and mechanically dried his hands. As he walked back into the living room, his face remained an unreadable mask, but a storm of complex emotions churned in the depths of his dark eyes.

Jackson and Willa Taylor were still forcing overly bright smiles. Tessa had emerged from the kitchen as well. She was an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl, stylishly dressed, and she looked at Garrison with "innocent" curiosity and admiration—like a harmless little doe.

"Hi, Garrison. I'm Tessa. Sloane's sister."

Her eyes crinkled in a smile as she politely extended a hand to him.

Garrison ignored her entirely, walking straight toward Jackson. "I need to know where Sloane's mother—her biological mother—is buried."

Jackson froze, clearly caught off guard. He hesitated. "She's... at Evergreen Memorial Park. Garrison, why are you asking..."

Garrison didn't explain. He simply nodded, offered a terse "Thank you," and turned toward the door.

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