What should we call what she had for him?

Pure, unyielding love?

And what should we call what he had for her?

She had loved him since she was a mere sixteen, and the moment he pressed the vermilion into her hair, it felt like a dream fulfilled. A lifetime of yearning, finally realized.

But she never saw the truth coming. This marriage was no fairy tale. It was a trap.

He was no longer the man she fell for eight years ago.

But still, she saw glimpses of him. The boy he once was.

All she wanted—no, craved—was to be loved by him, to see his joy, to feel the warmth of his affection. But he... he wanted only to destroy her.

He wanted to break her, ruin her in the cruelest way possible.

He thought he had orchestrated everything. He believed he was in control of every twisted, calculated move that would unfold.

But what he didn’t know was that there was someone else playing too.

Someone else? Who could that be?

Another lover, perhaps?

Or a shadow stalking his every move?

Or... A psychopath, lurking in the corners of his life?

He believed himself to be the puppet master, pulling every string to bend her to his will.

But was he truly the one controlling this twisted game?

He thought she was fragile, easily manipulated, just as she had been years ago.

But was she really?

He thought she was the fool who loved him blindly, letting him trample over her heart, her spirit, her very soul. But...

Was she the one who loved him?

Yes, she was.

But something—something dark and twisted—was shifting beneath the surface. Something was wrong.

Who was pulling the strings from the shadows?

Shh... You never know.

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Tropes:

•Arranged Marriage

•She fell first, he fell harder

•Obsessed stalker

•Possessive Female lead

•Thriller Murder Mystery

•Dark Romance

Trigger Warnings

-bloodshed

-abuse

-Sexual assault

(Not by the ML and definitely not romanticized by the author in any aspect)

-Childhood Trauma

-matured scenes