Love Rents A Room
Chapter 153: The Forgotten Promise

Chapter 153: The Forgotten Promise

Joanne gasped softly as Jeffrey’s arms crushed her against him, his hold full of something desperate and unspoken. His breath was warm against her temple, and the tremble in his chest betrayed just how close he was to falling apart.

"I’m not leaving," he whispered, his voice raw and thick with emotion. "I’m not going anywhere, Jo."

And in that single breath, she believed him. His voice cracked with truth—undeniable and pure. Her heart, once racing in terror, began to slow, syncing to the steady beat of his.

"Don’t ever cry for me, Jo," he murmured, pulling her even closer. "I don’t deserve it..."

There was pain in that confession. She could feel it in the way he held her, the way he buried his guilt beneath his tenderness.

He wanted to tell her. About Caruso. About everything. That he had been the one who, in a moment of weakness and ignorance, put her in harm’s way. That he was the bastard who left her the night before their wedding.

But just as he summoned the courage to unravel everything, she began to cry again—for him.

And that broke him in a different way.

Joy and guilt tangled inside him like vines—twisting and tightening—but the happiness was winning. And maybe that said something about the man he had become now. Maybe her love was healing what shame had left hollow.

"I thought you were leaving me..." Joanne whispered, her voice small, lips trembling into a soft pout.

Jeffrey cupped her face with gentle hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How could I?" he said. "I’d die if I did."

There was no hesitation in his voice, no pause between thought and truth. It was raw, simple, and absolute.

Joanne blinked up at him through her tears. Her heart swelled, and the smile that spread across her face felt like sunlight after years of rain. She could see it in his hazel green eyes—there was no doubt in them, only her.

"Oh, Jo..." Jeffrey pulled her against him again, his voice trembling with something that had waited years to be said. "I have something important to tell you."

He took in a deep breath, one meant to carry the weight of his past mistakes, to spill the truth—but the moment she looked at him like that, the courage unraveled. His shame was no match for the purity of her love.

So he said what he could. The most honest truth he knew.

"I love you," he breathed.

He hadn’t said it before. Not like this. Not out loud. And now that he had, it felt like a vow he would never take back.

Joanne leaned into his chest, smiling wide and true. The warmth of her love wrapped around him like a blanket.

"I love you too, Jeffrey," she whispered, her voice soaked in joy.

It was the first time they said it aloud, but it didn’t feel new. Their hearts had spoken it long before their lips ever dared to catch up. Still, the words grounded her. They freed her.

She looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes.

"You’re mine," she said, fierce and soft all at once. Like a promise. Like a prayer. And she meant it—no matter who came for him or what storms tried to pull them apart. She would fight. She wouldn’t let go.

Then something stirred in her memory. His voice, younger, softer—fifteen years ago under the old oak tree. The camera in his hand, his eyes alight with something she hadn’t understood then.

"You’re mine."

She gasped silently, heart skipping a beat.

Jeffrey... did you feel this way that day? Was your heart already mine?

Tears welled again, but this time they were joyful. She met his gaze, her smile radiant.

"I’m yours," she said, sealing it like an eternal promise.

She wasn’t going to leave him. Not in this lifetime.

Jeffrey held her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away the remnants of her tears. His gaze locked with hers, unwavering and deep.

"You’re mine," he whispered.

The words echoed in the air like a vow—and in an instant, he was pulled backward. Back to that day. That moment. The old oak tree, the filtered sunlight, the scent of summer clinging to the breeze.

And then it struck him—like lightning cracking through clouded memory.

He had said it first.

He had handed her his camera, heart pounding in a child’s chest, and said those very words. You’re mine.

Pang.

A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through his heart, knocking the breath from his lungs. His knees threatened to give out.

That day. That day when they almost died. When he thought he was too weak to protect her. When fear swallowed his courage, and everything blurred into trauma and smoke. And after that... he forgot her.

Not completely. Not her eyes. Not the way she looked at him like he could rewrite the stars. But the memory itself had been buried—lost under guilt, shame, and the desperate need to move forward without facing his failure.

But she remembered.

She waited.

Not because of a single magical day. No—she waited because of the words he said that day, the promise he made without even realizing its weight.

You’re mine.

And then he left her. Without a word. Without a face to put to that vow. He sowed the seed of love in her heart and let it grow in silence, while he walked away with no memory of it. While she carried it alone.

He could only imagine how her heart must have soared when his grandfather told her she’d marry the man who once made her his with nothing but innocence and truth. She must’ve believed fate had returned him to her.

And he—he had forgotten.

The war inside him grew louder, love and guilt clashing like thunder. And this time, guilt was winning. It wrapped around his ribs and tightened, suffocating.

All he could do was lean into the shelter of her love, hoping—praying—that it would be enough to save him.

That somehow, her heart could rescue the boy who broke his own promise... and the man who was still trying to keep it.