Male POV Romance Short Stories & Countdown Novels

I was an Ageless. Many years ago, because of nothing more than a single loaf of bread, I became indebted to Sheila Johnson in a way I could never escape. The only way to find my way home was to grant 100 of her wishes. Her very first wish was for me to become her lover. To repay that debt, I stayed by her side without ever asking for a name or a promise. I taught her what it meant to love, and I shared countless long nights with her until our lives became inseparable. For the next three years, every wish she made was astonishingly simple. She only wanted to see me smile a little more. Then, during the annual Winter Festival, she released hundreds of glowing lights into the night sky. They drifted ever higher, shimmering across the heavens like a river of fallen stars. As she watched the breathtaking display, she whispered her 96th wish. "May we never part from each other." Yet only a few days later, she ordered every trace of my existence at Johnson Manor erased before casting me out of the estate. As I stood alone in the middle of a raging snowstorm, I heard her casually speaking to her friends as though I had never mattered at all. "Whatever you do, don't let Keith find out that I once confessed my feelings to another man. "You all know Keith has always been the one I loved. If he hadn't been sent to the neighboring kingdom as a hostage when we were still children, I never would have needed someone else to take his place. "Now that the king of the neighboring kingdom is dead, I've already arranged for Keith to fake his death and return safely. This time, I'm going to marry him. I won't let myself have any regrets."

It was the fourth anniversary of our relationship. Heather Hilmann took her friend Liam Sherr and me went to have barbecue together. The waiter recognized them and smiled, asking, "Still the usuals?" Heather nodded. It was a table by the window for two, and Liam sat on the inside. The ribeye had slightly charred edges, and the dipping sauce had no onions. She gave the first piece and the last piece to Liam. I sat near the aisle, and there was not even a dipping‑sauce dish in front of me. When they paid the bill, the waiter checked the membership records and reminded them with a smile, "Ms. Hilmann and Mr. Sherr, tonight was your 100th visit. You can take your customized grill pan home." A line of words was engraved on the back of the grill pan: [Heather and Liam, Together Forever.] The date was three years ago. I then remembered that Heather had been at the hospital celebrating my birthday that day. It turned out that the two hours she had been away were not for a company meeting. Liam touched the engraving and asked her with a smile, "After you and Ian Jeffrey get married, will we still have our monthly get‑together?"

Just before the wedding starts, Mom suddenly clutches her chest and collapses. I drop everything and rush her to the hospital. The moment we pull up to the emergency room, my phone buzzes with a text in the family group chat. "Davian's at the hospital. I lured him away. You guys can start the wedding now." A second later, Dad replies, "Good. Kayden's already up on the main stage." Then my sister, Elaine Burke, chimes in, "Kayden's waited ten years for this. Now he can finally marry Leah out in the open." Within seconds, all three messages are deleted from the chat. Then my best friend, Simon Cohen, accidentally drops a video clip of the ceremony right into the group. In the video, my younger brother, Kayden Burke, is wearing the tuxedo I had handpicked for myself. My fiancee, Leah Hunter, stands at the end of the aisle, slipping the ring meant for me onto his finger. The same friends and relatives who cheered for me yesterday are now chanting in unison, "Kiss her! Kiss her!" Mom lunges from the hospital bed and snatches the phone out of my hands. The agony on her face is gone, replaced by pure panic at being caught. "Davian, Kayden's waited so long for Leah. He just wants a wedding of his own. You've had Leah for seven years. Just let him have this one time, okay?" I look at the ECG patches still stuck to her chest and let out a cold laugh. Everyone else gets to play the hero in their little drama, and I'm the only fool left in the dark, performing for their amusement.

The first time I meet my girlfriend, Nadine Grant‘s parents, she stops me at the door. Her childhood friend and neighbor, Nick Lockwood, has just pulled a tarot card. The card says I'll attract trouble today, so I shouldn't go inside. Before I can say a word, Nadine reaches for the gifts in my hands. "Wait in the car for a while," she says. "When dinner's over, we'll go home together." I don't let go. "I've spent over a month getting ready to meet your parents, and you're not even letting me in?" Displeasure is written all over her face. "Andy, I'm doing this for your own good!" Before I can argue, she shoves me back into the car. Nick smiles at me through the car window. He says, "Andy, don't take it the wrong way. I'll go in and keep Mr. Grant company for you." Nadine stands beside him without looking back once. This is all happening because of one tarot card Nick pulls. I'm the one who's here to meet Nadine's parents, yet I'm somehow the last person they want inside. Then, I have no reason to become part of this family either!

After Poppy Steele, the heiress of the Steele family, loses her sight, my brother, Trevor Nott, breaks off their engagement and moves abroad. Left with no other choice, my parents ask me—their adopted son—to replace Trevor as a form of compensation. I take meticulous care of her for five years until she regains her sight. Just as she is about to marry me, Trevor appears at the wedding holding a bouquet of flowers, gets down on one knee, and confesses his love to her. The usually aloof Poppy bursts into tears. She throws away her wedding ring and runs to him, asking why he has only shown up now. I instantly become the laughingstock. I don't make a fuss, though. I change out of my suit and let them have the wedding. Poppy praises me for being sensible, claiming her recent actions are just for show. She promises that I will always be her fiance. I smile without saying anything and quietly book a flight abroad. She doesn't know yet that my care for her is nothing more than a deal. Now that her old flame is back, it's time for me to live my own life.

On our anniversary, I stood in the doorway holding the diamond ring I'd just bought, waiting for Crystal Linley to finish her video call. She casually took the ring box, set it aside without a glance, and checked her watch. "The client wants last-minute changes to the proposal. Go ahead and eat without me." I sat down at the table alone. The food tasted like nothing. At midnight, her childhood friend posted a photo of the two of them on Instagram, out on a yacht. Crystal was wearing the dress I'd given her, leaning against his shoulder with a glass of champagne in her hand. The caption read: [She said if I ever come back to her, she'll drop everything and run to me.] I calmly liked the Instagram post. A second later, my phone lit up. "Don't get the wrong idea!" Crystal's voice was frantic. "I swear, next anniversary..." I let out a long breath. "There won't be a next anniversary."

The day I get my sight back just happens to be my birthday. I plan to drop the good news on my wife, Mya Murray, during the birthday party she is throwing for me. Instead, I end up discovering a "surprise" she prepared for me first. Wrapped in a layer of gauze, my eyes are useless as Mya carefully takes my hand, leading me into the second-floor banquet hall. She whispers thoughtfully in my ear. "Honey, I know how much you love surprises, so I had a batch of roses flown in straight from overseas to build you a flower bridge and hired your favorite live band. "Every business titan and prominent media outlet in Hartwell is right here in this room to celebrate you. Do you like it?" She stands on tiptoe to press a kiss against my cheek. "Don't worry. I promised you that even if you never see again, you'll still get everything you deserve." She has no idea that my vision is back and that I can see every single thing in the room as clear as day.

For seven years, I've been dating Celeste Monroe, a CEO who never keeps her promises. Every time we make plans, she's either late or doesn't show up at all. The first time, her newly hired male assistant, Grady Keller, lost an important contract. I waited at the restaurant until closing, had my food reheated three times, and never heard a word from her. The second time, Grady called to say he was lost. Celeste was already downstairs when she got the call, but I sat through the entire movie without ever seeing her. After that, whenever Celeste and I had plans alone, Grady would suddenly have some kind of emergency. She would disappear without a word, then laugh it off afterward and promise she'd make it up to me next time. Then came the day I planned to propose. Once again, she vanished without warning. But this time, I didn't wait. I boarded a ferry to another country. That was when she started flooding my phone with messages, desperately begging me to forgive her.