All Chapters of The Forgotten Vow (MM Romance): Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Avelin POVThe first thing I feel is relief.Father is alive, barely, but alive.Dr. Len's hands were steady through the chaos, his voice never shaking even when mine did. He worked without stopping until Father's breathing stabilized and the pain eased just enough for him to survive. By the time the ambulance finally arrived, the storm had already weakened — too late to save us from everything else.I ride with Father to the regional hospital. I sit beside him and hold his hand, but my mind is somewhere else entirely."Shen," I whisper under my breath.No answer.Hours pass. Machines beep steadily. Nurses move in and out, and doctors speak in low voices near the doorway. Father is alive. Stable. But Shen — Shen is gone. I check my phone again and again, each time finding the same empty screen. No missed calls. No messages. Nothing.Six hours since he ran into the storm."He should be here," I say quietly.A nurse looks at me with a gentle expression. "Someone is coming?""My husband,

Avelin POVThree days pass, then four, then seven. I stop measuring time by hours because hours are too cruel, each one a promise broken, each one another stretch of space Shen should have crossed to get back to me.The search does not stop, but it changes. The first day is panic. The second is fear. By the third, it becomes routine, and that hurts differently. People ask before leaving their homes if there is any news. They search areas already searched. They bring me food I forget to eat and repeat the same soft lies because none of us know what else to say. Maybe someone picked him up and took him to another town. Maybe he hit his head and forgot where he was. Maybe he's hurt but alive. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I am beginning to hate that word too.Father comes home before the week is over, pale and thinner but alive. That should matter more than it does, and the guilt of that thought cuts through me daily. I sit by his bed, bring his medicine, and help him walk to the window, but part

Leander POVThe world celebrates my return as I rose from the dead. Maybe I did. For three days, my hospital room has felt less like a place for recovery and more like the center of a storm. Reporters camp outside the building, cameras flash every time a curtain shifts, and news channels repeat the same line over and over — Missing CEO Found Alive. My phone does not stop vibrating. Board members, shareholders, business partners, old rivals pretending to care, all of them desperate to say the right thing now that Leander Voss is alive again. I smile when people enter, shake hands, say thank you, say I'm recovering well, and say it's good to be back. And every word feels like a lie, because I am back, but something is wrong. Something is missing, not a small thing, not a detail, not some useless piece of forgotten time I can shrug off and move on from. An entire year has gone by. Not blurred or vague or fragmented the way ordinary forgetting works, simply absent, like a chapter torn cl

Leander POV The Voss estate remains as I remember, grand, imposing, untouchable, and entirely unfamiliar. The gates open before the car even stops, security already alerted, as they always are. Nothing here moves without precision. The driveway stretches long and polished, lined with trimmed hedges and stone statues that seem more like warnings than decoration. This place is supposed to feel like home, but it never does. The car halts at the entrance, and my parents are waiting when the doors open. My mother reaches me first, disregarding composure or who might be watching. Her arms wrap around me tightly, almost painfully, as if afraid I might disappear again if she loosens her grip. "Leander," she breathes, her hands checking over my face, shoulders, and arms, verifying, confirming. "You're really here." "I am." My voice is steady, but I don’t feel it. My father steps forward, less emotional, more controlled, yet his eyes betray him. "Welcome home, son," he says, then quickly

Avelin POVTwo months have passed, and I no longer notice when one day becomes the next. All I see is what’s missing, Shen. Everything else has become routine, a matter of survival. I wake before the sun rises, move before I can think, because thinking hurts too much. The inn doesn’t stop needing me just because my life has fallen apart. Guests still arrive, rooms still need cleaning, food still must be prepared, and so I work. I cook until my hands ache, clean until my back burns, carry trays, wash dishes, fix broken things, and greet guests with a smile I don’t feel. I don’t stop because if I do, I will remember. And remembering breaks me. “Avelin,” Auntie Liling’s voice cuts through the noise of the kitchen. “You need to sit.” “I’m fine,” I reply automatically, the lie slipping out without thought. She steps closer, frowning. “You’re not fine.” “I said I’m fine.” My tone is sharper than I intend, but she doesn’t back away. “You’re fading away,” she says softly. That makes m