PROLOGUE "We were never meant to be free." They say every story begins with love but ours began with disgust. With the sound of spit hitting the ground, and the burn of humiliation that carved his name into my curse. I never believed in monsters until I met one wearing Jeon Jungkook's face. He wasn't chaos he was the silence after it. An orphan built from ashes and arrogance, raised by power and politics, trained to kill not with bullets, but with charm, money, and influence. A man who smiled while the world bled beneath his hands. And me "Aralyn." The girl who believed honesty could save nations, and justice could tame beasts. I should've known better. Honesty doesn't survive in cities ruled by men like him. And justice? Justice only breathes when corruption sleeps and corruption never sleeps here. When I spat in his face, I didn't just insult a man. I declared war on his pride. He returned the favor with something far uglier he dragged me through the same dirt he ruled. He made the world point fingers at me, made me wear shame that wasn't mine. And when his cousin Kim Namjoon, the man built to be President decided peace was better than scandal, he chained us together in the name of politics. Marriage, they called it. Punishment, I called it. Now I share a name that tastes like iron and regret. Now I sleep beside the man I swore I'd destroy. He says he doesn't love me. I tell him I don't care. But between hate and heartbreak, something still burns. Not love. Something darker. Something that makes us both bleed when we touch. Maybe it's obsession. Maybe it's karma. Or maybe, as the universe loves irony it's both. Because Jeon Jungkook was born from hellfire, and I, Aralyn, am the match that keeps him burning. ============= Buckle up, 'cause this story isn't your regular sugar-coated romance. It's dark, messy, and dripping with thrill, power, and pain. Hatred? Off the charts. Chemistry? Even worse. And love? Let's just say it's a battlefield. -Xevia