The Quietest Vow

"We'll be each other's backup plan."

It was a joke made over cheap pizza at twenty-two. But at thirty, with two failed engagements behind Maya and a string of empty apartments behind Liam, the joke becomes a legal reality. The plan was simple: get married for the tax breaks, the shared rent, and the comfort of never having to explain her coffee order to a stranger again.

Maya thought she was marrying her safety net. She didn't realize she was walking into a museum of a love she had been too blind to see. From the way he remembers the exact date of their first meeting to the hidden sketches of her in his notebooks dating back a decade, the truth is coming out: Liam hasn't been waiting for a backup plan. He's been waiting for her to come home.