Semua Bab Shadows of the Vow: Bab 231 - Bab 235

Annabelle’s POVGraduation days are supposed to feel loud. Full. Celebratory. With family. But mine felt… quiet, deeply, overwhelmingly still. I was all alone—no mother, no father, no husband, no siblings to cheer me on for two years of schooling.Like everything I had been building toward had finally settled into place, and for once, life wasn’t rushing me forward or dragging me backward. It was simply… letting me stand.I adjusted my gown slightly, fingers smoothing over the fabric as I stood among other graduates, laughter and chatter rising around me like a distant wave I wasn’t quite inside of.I smiled when necessary. Responded when spoken to. But my mind… My mind was elsewhere. Not in Spain. Not in the past. But in a space I hadn’t yet defined. A space that felt like waiting. Even though I told myself I wasn’t.My phone vibrated in my hand.I almost ignored it. Almost. But something…something quiet and familiar, made me look. Another transfer.My brows pulled together slightly.

Antonioni’s POV  Graduation days are supposed to feel loud. Full. Celebratory. With family. But when I saw her… It felt quiet. Deeply, overwhelmingly still. She stood there alone. No mother. No father. No husband. No siblings. No one visibly claimed that moment with her after everything she had endured to get there. And yet… She stood. Whole. Composed.Unshaken. Like everything she had been building toward had finally settled into place, and for once, life wasn’t dragging her backward or forcing her forward. It was simply… letting her stand. My chest tightened. Because I knew… She had learned how to stand without me.And that realization humbled me more than anything else ever had. I stayed where I was, watching her from a distance. Not approaching. Not interrupting. Just… observing.