Silver Bonds
Haruto Takahashi, an 18-year-old high school student, has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of his family’s immense wealth and power. Born into the Takahashi Zaibatsu, one of Japan’s most influential conglomerates, Haruto has always felt like an outsider in his own family. His parents, consumed by their corporate empire, have little time for him, and his childhood was marked by loneliness and neglect. Determined to live a normal life, Haruto moves out at 16, working part-time jobs to support himself and attending a public high school where no one knows his true identity.
Everything changes when his grandfather, Hiroshi Takahashi, the family patriarch, summons him with an ultimatum: Haruto must return to the family and accept his role as the successor to the Takahashi empire. As part of this arrangement, Haruto is to marry Aoi Nakamura, a 16-year-old girl from an ordinary family. The marriage, orchestrated by Hiroshi as a fulfillment of his late wife’s wish, is meant to secure the family’s future and bring Haruto back into the fold.
Aoi, with her striking silver hair and piercing blue eyes, is everything Haruto didn’t expect. She’s graceful, intelligent, and seemingly composed, but beneath her calm exterior lies a deep resentment for the wealthy elite. Aoi’s family, though ordinary, has its own struggles, and she sees the marriage as a betrayal of her values. Despite her initial politeness, Aoi’s true feelings soon surface, and she makes it clear that she has no intention of playing the role of the obedient bride.
As Haruto and Aoi navigate their forced relationship, they find themselves at odds with each other and with the expectations placed upon them. Haruto, who has spent his life rejecting his family’s wealth, must confront the reality of his inheritance and the responsibilities that come with it. Aoi, who despises the world of privilege, must grapple with her growing feelings for Haruto and the possibility that he might not be the person she thought he was.
From strangers to reluctant partners, Haruto and Aoi’s journey is one of self-discovery, trust, and the slow unraveling of the walls they’ve built around themselves. As they learn to understand each other, they begin to question what it truly means to be family, to love, and to find one’s place in the world.
