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Chapter 108 – The Scar Beneath the Surface
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2025-05-14 16:35:16
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Shattered Vows Chapter 110 – The Cost of Stillness
The sky over the city was steel-gray, muted and heavy with unshed rain. Isla Carter sat at her desk inside the community center’s staff room, a mug of tea untouched beside her and her phone face-down. The stillness in the building—normally filled with chatter, movement, and the occasional chaos of volunteers—now felt almost reverent. As if it knew something was shifting.She stared at the notes in front of her. Fundraising plans, after-school programs, calls to donors—her usual to-do list lay scattered across her desk like forgotten puzzle pieces.But her mind wasn’t on the center today.It was on Killian.On the letter still tucked into the pages of her journal.On the memory of the pier, of his voice raw with hope, and of her own hand brushing his sleeve like a reluctant truce.Was it really possible to start again with someone who had broken her so completely?She wasn’t sure.But she hadn’t sent him away.And that scared her.The knock on her door was soft, barely more than a tap.
Shattered Vows Chapter 109 – Pier of Unspoken Things
The ocean never asked any questions. It simply moved, vast and relentless, whispering secrets to those who stood long enough to listen. Isla stood at the tip of the old pier, hands thrust into the pockets of her woolen jacket, the chill of the wind sweeping her hair back as she looked out to the horizon.She'd had a reason for coming here.The pier had always been her place of clearness. Her sanctuary. As a kid, she'd come to yell at the wind after fights with her parents, or sit quietly when life became too overwhelmingly loud. Now, it was where she would either open a door—or close it forever.Steps echoed behind her on the wooden planks.She didn't turn.Not yet."I didn't think you'd come," she said, her voice low but level.Killian's voice followed after a pause. "You invited me to. I wasn't about to break your trust again."Isla closed her eyes briefly, then turned slowly to face him.He looked tired—but more alive than she'd seen him in years. His hair was mussed, the edge of h
Shattered Vows Chapter 108 – The Scar Beneath the Surface
Morning broke into Isla's apartment in muted golds. The silence was broken, save for the ticking clock in her kitchen and the faraway birdsong out the window. She sat at the table, the new mug Killian had left for her—"One day at a time" in gentle promise etched on porcelain.She worked the handle automatically, staring at the rings in her coffee. She hadn't slept. Her brain was a merry-go-round of questions, dragging her backward through the past and dragging her backward again to Killian's words, his eyes, the trembling truth he'd finally revealed.Could love be cut away from betrayal? Could she see his pain without denying her own?A gentle tap on the door shook her out of daydreaming.Not him again, she automatically thought—but it was too early for delivery and she had not informed anyone else about Killian's return. She went to the door barefoot, uncertainly, and looked through the peephole.It was Emma.Isla opened the door with haste. "Hello, is something the matter?"Emma, he
Shattered Vows Chapter 107 – Unraveling Truths
The morning arrived in a haze of responsibilities. Isla plunged headlong into the maelstrom of the community center's morning routine—managing volunteers, inventorying, fielding questions from those who, like her, relied on this institution. Her hands moved with practiced ease, her smile well-rehearsed, but her thoughts? They were elsewhere.They were with Killian.Every word he'd said replayed, louder than the laughter of the children, louder than the sound of rummaging through donation bags or the hum of the overhead lights."*Then let me help rebuild it. Not because I deserve forgiveness, but because I'm willing to do whatever it takes.*"What did rebuilding trust actually mean? Was it even feasible?She wasn't prepared to say that. Not yet. Not now.By noon, when the sun poured in through the large windows, she finally departed. She needed air—real air, that is, not the tension-charged recycled air that seemed to harbor decisions. She opened the rear door, stepping out into the al
Shattered Vows Chapter 106
There was cutting wind that morning, moving through the city streets as if it had a schedule. Isla Carter stood outside the community center, her coat buttoned high up against her, her gaze out toward the distance as if the solutions she was looking for would suddenly appear on the horizon.She had gotten here early, hours before the meeting was to begin, just to have some peace. The community center was once her refuge, a place where she could breathe and get lost in the madness of her life. Today, it wasn't so. The walls, which had once been reassuring, now seemed to close in with every step she took. Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor as she walked in.In the center of the main room, the chairs were still stacked, the lights still off. The silence was all but deafening.She hadn't told Killian Blackwood she'd be there. Not yet. Not until she was sure.But what did *sure* even mean anymore?Last night had changed something. Inviting him in, talking to him, waking up to the smel
Shattered Vows Chapter 105
The next morning greeted Isla with golden light coming through the blinds, casting long strips of heat on her floor. It was the first morning in years she didn't automatically feel the weight of her history on her chest. She lay in bed, watching the ceiling, listening to the muted sounds of the city stirring under her window.Killian lay sleeping on the couch.She could hear him breathe, slow and steady. It had been strange—asking him to stay. Strange too, that it hadn't felt intrusive. He had been a quiet presence, considerate. He hadn't spoken much once she'd asked him to come in. They had eaten toast in silence. He did the cleanup. Then he collapsed on the couch covered in one of her old throw blankets. And that was all.It was. still. And odd.She eventually emerged from bed, dressed herself in a robe, and padded into the kitchen. She put the kettle on the stove, making tea in its bare simplicity a calming ritual. As the water heated, she glanced over at the couch. He hadn't shift
Shattered Vows Chapter 104
The city was alive with noise, a constant hum that had become second nature to Isla. The thump of the street below, the blast of a horn now and then, the stranger's laugh, all mixed into the tapestry of her new existence. An existence she was gradually, but surely, adapting to. And for the first time in weeks, she was happy.Isla sat in the small, round table by her window, a steaming tea cup in front of her. The morning sun poured into the room, bathing everything in a warm color that made it look like a painting — imperfect, but beautiful. She did not know when it had happened, when the burden of the past had begun to be less a heavy weight and more a receding memory with time. But it was happening. She was recovering, in ways she did not even understand herself, but the change was inescapable.Her phone buzzed on the table, jolting her out of her daydream. She glanced at it, unsurprised to see Killian's name flashing on the screen. Her heart did its instinctive skip at the sight, b
Shattered Vows Chapter 103 - Deciphering the Silence
Isla Carter stirred her coffee with deliberate purpose, watching the dark liquid swirl in slow arcs. Across the small table, Killian Blackwood sat still, his own cup untouched, both hands wrapped around the ceramic as though it would hold him.They'd been sitting there in that strained silence for nearly ten minutes, the city sounds outside breaking through every now and then. The atmosphere was thick with all the things they weren't saying."You said you wanted to earn my trust," Isla said at last, setting her spoon down with care, her voice measured. "Start now. Be truthful. Everything. No filters. No rehearsed apologies. Just the ugly, hard truth."Killian looked back at her, and in that instant, she saw the exhaustion in his eyes—not physical, but emotional, soul-deep. He looked like a man who had finally decided to stop running from himself."I played it to be near you," he began, his tone low but clear. "It was strategy at first. You were with someone I needed to use as leverage
Shattered Vows Chapter 102
The fog clung to the city in the morning like a memory that would not let go. Isla Carter leaned against the high window of her new studio apartment, coffee cup cradled in her hand, watching the fog curl and peel back from the skyline. There was something lovely about the sight. It was imperfect, cluttered with buildings and scaffolding and the ceaseless hum of the waking world. But it was hers. No penthouse dreams. No designer illusions. Just a small space, filled with second-hand furniture and the scent of jasmine from the plant she had put by the door.She had begun to rebuild.The past several weeks had graven lines of resilience onto her bones. Her mornings remained still, her nights often emptier than she'd ever dare acknowledge, but between—she was herself once more. She painted. She journaled. She met strangers who didn't recognize her history and didn't inquire. That anonymity was a gift.And Killian Blackwood.He hadn't stopped reaching out.Not strangling. No theatrics late
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