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Ryu and Elara's first encounter is orchestrated—fate shaped by invisible hands. Neither realizes that the other is a pawn in a game larger than themselves.

Ryu sees Elara as just another person trying to use him, but something about her ignites emotions he’s long buried. For Elara, Ryu is supposed to be a task, but she can’t ignore the loneliness in his eyes, one that mirrors her own. As they are drawn to each other, the lines between duty and desire blur.

Despite the manipulation, a passionate and toxic love begins to grow between them. Ryu, realizing he is being used, feels conflicted. The more he uncovers Elara’s role in the plot against him, the more he feels both betrayed and addicted to her presence. He’s intoxicated by the only person who has ever made him feel something real. Elara, meanwhile, is torn between her growing feelings for Ryu and the web of lies trapping her.

As they spiral deeper into their dangerous connection, Ryu begins to plot against those who control him, using the very chains they bound him with to fight back. But will his love for Elara be his downfall, or will it be his salvation?

Elara, too, faces her own reckoning. She must decide if she’s willing to betray her family and risk everything to break free from their control—or continue down the path that will destroy the one man who ever truly saw her.

Table of Shackled Hearts

Table of contents

Volume 1