{DARKER} BxB

A story about Kaede and his husband Akira. Both forced into marriage and both unable to refuse.

Akira, a cruel and heartless man. Dangerous in every aspect. Heir to the Inugami family and crowned king of money.

Kaede, a disciplined and stubborn man. But broken beyond repair. One day he stood at the top of the world with everything he wished for beneath his feet, the next... he had been pulled from his throne by his demons.

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Akira Inugami hated his husband.

Every glance he gave Kaede was cold enough to wound him. And every word he spoke, carried the weight of dismissal.
To Akira, Kaede was nothing more than an obligation forced upon him through an arranged marriage neither of them ever wanted.

Kaede, a quiet and broken man who stayed out of his husbands way because he knew better than to ask for affection he would never receive.

While Akira treated him like a burden, Kaede spent years loving him from the shadows.
Silently and devoted. He wrote down every feeling, every wound, every fleeting moment of warmth into the pages of a notebook only he was ever supposed to read.

Even when fear settled into his bones. Even when Akira's cruelty left bruises deeper than the ones visible on skin. Even when Akira cast him away... Kaede stayed.

But when Akira is shot and left comatose, Kaede returns to his bedside. Day after day. Night after night. Caring for the same man who had destroyed him.

What begins as irritation slowly twists into something far more dangerous when Akira discovers Kaede's notebook and uncovers the horrifying truth hidden between its pages. Kaede never betrayed him. Kaede feared him. Loved him. And, survived him.

For the first time in his life, Akira is forced to confront the monster he has become.

But guilt cannot erase years of cruelty. And love cannot heal wounds carved too deep.

Especially not when Kaede still looks at Akira like he hung the stars in the sky, even after everything.