Lahat ng Kabanata ng Vanished vows : Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

There are mornings when you wake up and everything feels new. The air smells like hope,the light tastes like peace, and for a moment, it's like the world has forgotten to be cruel. This isn't one of those mornings.This one wraps around me like wet wool- heavy,Itchy, suffocating. I blinked slowly,my head pounding like a drum echoing through my skull. My limbs felt sore and heavy,my body aching as though I had been working for days without rest. Everything felt wrong. The first thing my eyes landed on was a pair of worn out slippers on the floor,slightly crooked. My slippers. That was familiar, but then my gaze trailed upward to the lavish Chandelier overhead, the silk bed sheets wrapped around my naked body, the quiet sound of air conditioning. As I turned left and right confused, the next thing I realised was that I was naked. Lying on a bed I didn't recognise. Panic crawled through my bloodstream like poison. Where am i? I tried to sit up but something or some

Stephen. That was his name. The name of the man Rosy had spent the night with. The man who took her upstairs, made her feel like the world was spinning and not in a beautiful way. The man she now shared silence with in a room too quiet for comfort. He tried to wrap his arms around her the moment they reached the suite, pulling her close like what happened between them gave him permission. Like her body was still his even after the damage he had done. “No”,She whispered, twisting away from him. Her voice was soft but sharp like the tip of the knife that only needed pressure to cut. “Leave me alone”.He froze. His hands hovered in the air for a moment before he slowly dropped them. No one had ever told him to get out, not with that face, not with that money. Not with his presence, so polished and expensive it felt like he didn't walk.But Rosy didn't care about that. She didn't care about his face or the amount of money he had. All she could think about was the night.

The voice note blinked on my phone screen,unread and haunting. My thumb hovered above it , but I couldn't press play. My heart raced in an uneven rhythm that made my hands tremble. But there's one condition. What would my aunt say when he walks in? How did he know where I lived? How long has he been watching me?I peeled through the window again. There he was leaning against the sleek black car like he stepped out of a movie scene.Arms crossed, one foot balanced over the other like he had all the time in the world. And still, he looked like he owned it. My breath hitched. No man had ever come to see me like this, especially not a man like him. Rich, polished and untouchable calm. And me? I was wearing a faded gown with a tear at the hem.This had to be a dream or maybe a trap.I walked in circles around the room, trying to convince myself not to open the door. I knew what would happen if my aunt saw him. The shouting, the judgement,the endless name calling.I was

I sat in the middle of a room I never thought I’d ever enter. A room with cream-colored walls, an abstract painting that looked more expensive than my entire life savings, and silence so loud it echoed in my ears.Stephen had left five minutes ago. Or was it ten? My fingers itched to check the time on my phone, but I couldn’t move. Not because I was scared, but because I was trying to figure out how my life flipped this fast.Just two nights ago, I was sleeping on a worn-out mattress that poked my back like it had a personal vendetta. This morning, my cousin—a child I practically grew up with —was almost disfigured because her own mother saw that a rich man came to ask for my own hand in marriage and her daughter had no suitors.Now… now I was sitting in a stranger's house.No, not a stranger. Stephen.The same man who pulled me into his arms like I was breakable. The same man who said he wanted to marry me.I didn’t know what to do with that information. I mean, who says stuff like

By the time I opened my eyes, it was already morning—bright, calm, but too quiet. Stephen was back. As early as 7 a.m. His lips brushed mine before I even had the strength to greet the sun."Good morning," he said, voice thick with warmth. "How was your night?"I blinked the sleep away, nodding slowly. My throat tightened a little. Last night’s conversation—it was still echoing in my mind. But I didn’t ask him. I couldn’t bring myself to. I just said, "Good morning back."He smiled, that crooked, boyish smile that shouldn't have made my heart skip. "You remember you’re going to your workplace today to tell them you’re done, right?" he said. "You’re going to be a married woman soon. You have to start acting like one."He winked at me playfully, but something about it didn’t feel like a joke.My shoes clicked against the restaurant tiles as I walked in, the scent of fried oil and old spices hitting my nose like a memory I didn’t want. I’d worked here for two years—somehow every corner f