Vow Or Never Novels & Stories

I will never be twice the loser. Never.

Theron walks up to officiate. Kai's vows come out steady despite the visible tremor in his hands, promises about choosing her every day, about building, lasting, surviving and never once taking a single ordinary morning together for granted again. When it's her turn, Ivy's own voice breaks twice, and nobody in the crowd seems to mind waiting for her to find it again. Before the final vow, Kai turns to face the gathered crowd, still holding both her hands.

Knew this was real. "I wrote vows." Carter pulled out paper with shaking hands. "Grace, four years ago I made a bet that destroyed us. Today I'm making a different kind of bet. I'm betting that choosing you every single day for the rest of my life will be the best decision I ever make. I'm betting that loving you honestly is better than performing love perfectly. I'm betting that our messy real family is worth more than any perfect fake one. Grace Monroe, I choose you. Today and every day. That's my vow."

Read it again. A loan,‍ ta⁠ke‍n‌ out against a prop‍erty years ago. The number at the bottom wa‌s bigger than an‌ything sh‌e’d ever‍ heard mentioned at a family dinner, or in a‌ny conversati⁠on about t⁠h‍e estate. “What is this?”

I demanded silently and breathlessly. “Never.” Sincerity and truthfulness. My heart froze for a milli-second at his reply. Pure and raw terror dawned on me at that moment. The fear had my throat constricting, my body going numb and my eyes widening. I’ve never been so scared of that word before. “Never.” It wasn’t just an answer. It felt like a promise. It felt like a vow. A vow of forever. A forever I never asked for. A forever I never wanted. I forever I feared and detested.

Unfortunately, no matter how similar they were, they were never Serena. Serena Vale was irreplaceable.

“Or did you forget the purpose of marrying me? You’re not my wife… you’re just my servant.” The words were sharp. Piercing. But Livia didn’t react. She only stood there. Remembering something. The contract. The one she signed… without truly understanding its contents. “Did you forget what you signed?” Adrian asked again, this time with more pressure. Livia took a slow breath. “I didn’t have the chance to read it properly,” she answered honestly. “So… I don’t really know what’s in it.” That answer made Adrian’s jaw tighten slightly.

The description read, "You're the joy I waited for and the only one I'll ever need for the rest of my life." The playlist was filled with Sienna's favorite post-rock and indie folk songs. Every single track had a record, showing when they had listened to it together, from 2:00 am to 5:00 am. Those were the countless nights Sienna used overtime as an excuse not to come home. A sharp pang of bitterness hit me. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. A new message popped up. "Shawn, happy New Year! No matter how far you go, you'll always be the closest person to me."

She'd always saved it only for the most important of occasions, spraying just the faintest touch. That night, I never saw her. But through the whispering wind, I heard a voice. "Frank… goodbye. I'm sorry." I stood at the window in stunned silence, murmuring into the night, "No matter what became of you later… the nineteen-year-old you never did anything wrong."

Madison Young stared at me, stunned. "What did you just say?" Under the weight of everyone's stares, I repeated myself slowly and clearly, "I said, I'm willing to marry Grace." Madison's neatly shaped brows pulled tight. "Caleb Vaughn, have you lost your mind? You really want to marry a blind girl?" Connor Vaughn let out a laugh. "Come on, bro. Even if you're mad at Maddie, you don't have to throw your future away on a blind girl."