They called him Haitani Ran—the name whispered with fear and desire.

Underground boss. Ruthless fighter. And a man who never kept the same woman in his bed for more than a week.

He was danger in human form. With that lazy smirk, those lilac eyes that looked like they’d seen blood, betrayal, and every sin in between. And now… he was your husband.

Not by choice. You were offered. Like a deal signed in cold ink. Your family owed a debt. You were the payment.

So you wore the dress. Said the vows. Let him slip the ring on your finger with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

You promised yourself one thing: Don’t fall for the devil.

You played your role.A polite wife. Silent. Distant. You didn’t ask where he went at night, even when he came home at 3AM, smelling like smoke… and someone else’s perfume.

You saw the lipstick on his collar once. You didn’t say a word. But later, you locked yourself in the bathroom, and cried so quietly even the water didn’t hear.

What you didn’t know… was that Ran noticed.

The way you looked away when he entered the room. The way your shoulders tensed every time he walked past you with a new girl clinging to his arm, fake lashes batting.

He noticed everything. Especially the way you smiled when his mother gifted you a hand-knitted scarf. It was small, simple—but your face lit up like it was gold.

That moment stuck in his mind like a bullet he couldn’t pull out.

You never cared for his empire. You never asked for his money. You never once begged him to love you.

And that made him want you more than anyone ever had.

One night, you found him waiting in the kitchen.

No girls. No drinks. Just him. Sitting in the dark, the only light coming from the fridge door you’d just opened.

“I’m not hungry,” you muttered, trying to walk away.

He grabbed your wrist—gently.

“You never ask me where I go,” he said.

“I don’t need to know,” you replied, heart already cracking. “You don’t belong to me.”

He looked at you for a long time.

“I think I do now.”

You froze. “Don’t say that. You don’t mean it.”

He stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from your face. “Why do you always run from me, huh?”

“Because I see you, Ran,” you said, voice shaking. “I see the way you treat love like a game. Like people are toys. And I won’t be another broken thing in your collection.”

He went quiet. And for the first time—you saw fear in his eyes.

Not of guns. Not of death.

Fear of losing you.

From that day, he changed.

Not all at once. But slowly.

The perfume disappeared. The girls stopped showing up. And one morning, you found breakfast waiting on the table. Clumsily made. A note scribbled beside the coffee:

“Don’t eat the eggs. I think I almost killed myself making them. – Ran 😒”

You laughed for the first time. And your heart betrayed you.