All Chapters of The Forgotten Vow (MM Romance): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Conrad Vladmoss POVI have been in this hotel room for three days, the curtains drawn tight against the outside world. Maps are spread across the bed, cluttered with markings and circled towns, each one a potential hiding spot or a place to find him. Cold coffee sits on the desk beside my laptop, which displays seventeen browser tabs I’ve long since stopped pretending to read. An ashtray holds two abandoned cigarettes, both smoked only briefly; I don’t smoke, not really. I picked up the habit three days ago when the walls started feeling smaller, when the space around me became suffocating, and I’ll drop it again the moment this is over.The maps are coastal, every town, every village, every tiny fishing hamlet within a hundred kilometers of the cliff road where Marcus reported losing Leander’s body. I’ve circled the ones with medical facilities, no matter how modest, and crossed off the ones too small to hide an injured man without alerting the entire community within hours. I’ve ma

Avelin POVI first noticed it on a Tuesday morning, almost by accident, when I wasn’t trying to feel anything at all. That’s how I tend to notice most things about Shen, by observing him sideways, without meaning to, when I wasn’t bracing myself for emotion. Old Chen had been complaining about Mei Lin for three weeks. The boat was nearly forty years old, and its stubbornness was legendary. It had been repaired too many times by too many hands, each fix adding to its complexity. It took patience, skill, and stubbornness to keep her afloat. Chen’s son had moved to the city two years ago, leaving the old man to manage the boat alone, relying on sheer willpower.That evening, Shen offered to take a look at the engine without fuss, casually as if it were just another day’s work. His tone was effortless, as if fixing boats was something he did every day, without expectation or obligation. Chen accepted with a skeptical grunt, used to disappointment after years of broken promises. I brought t

Shen POVThe pier always felt different at night. Not quieter, because it never truly was. The ocean’s constant movement and the gentle creak of weathered wood created a steady symphony that never ceased. But darkness seemed to soften everything, wrapping the world in a quiet hush that made it feel smaller, safer. Or perhaps it only made it easier for me to pretend that safety existed.Avelin sat beside me, close enough that our shoulders brushed whenever a breeze swept through, shifting the air between us. Our feet dangled over the edge of the pier, the water several feet below, dark and still, reflecting the scattered stars like broken glass. I found comfort in that fractured light, in the way it seemed to hold itself together despite everything.We didn’t speak at first. Neither of us needed to. Over the past weeks, we had built a language of silence, one that conveyed more than words ever could. It was a quiet understanding, a shared space filled with unspoken thoughts, feelings,

Shen POVI found him exactly where I knew I would, at the edge of the shore, where the land met the restless sea. The tide had risen slightly since morning, creeping closer to the jagged rocks, waves folding into each other in a slow, steady rhythm. The sky above was pale, washed with a dull light that hinted at a storm, or perhaps something worse lurking beneath the clouds. The air was thick with anticipation, as if the world itself was holding its breath.Avelin stood with his back to me, near the water but not quite touching it. The wind played with his hair, pushing it away from his face. His shoulders were tense, his hands resting at his sides, still. Too still. It felt wrong, like the calm before something violent. I paused a few steps behind him, unsure of what to say or do. All I knew was that I had to face him, again, to say what I hadn’t wanted to admit until now.“You followed me,” I finally said, my voice breaking the silence.He turned slowly, not surprised, just tired. T

Enrie POVMorning arrived too quietly, as if the storm that had just passed had left the world in a fragile stillness. After a storm like that, the air should have felt different, cleaner, lighter, somehow renewed. Instead, it hung heavy and damp over the village, pressing down like an unspoken warning. The sky stretched gray and uncertain, reluctant to lift its weight.I was already awake before dawn, my habitual instinct. That restless part of me that never truly learned to sit still, no matter how many years I tried to quiet it. I stood by the window, watching the last remnants of rain cling to the glass, tracing slow, uncertain paths downward. Outside, the courtyard was soaked, puddles gathering in the uneven stones, reflecting a sky that seemed just as hesitant as I felt.And beyond the porch, just at the edge of my sight, Shen.He hadn’t slept much. I could see it in the way he moved, tense but not at rest. Alert, as if waiting for something to arrive. Not the way a man greets t