The Tide's Bitter Charade

Senara Pelos is exhausted. Surviving the sinking city of Soval as an artifact scavenger is hard enough without an aggressive syndicate boss stalking her every move. Cornered at her cheating ex's lavish engagement gala, Senara is rescued by the last person she expects: her bitter rival, the scandalous and insufferable aristocrat Dario Cenzar. To protect her, Dario proposes a fake courtship, leveraging his formidable family name to keep her stalker at bay. It is meant to be a simple, sarcastic charade while they secretly race to uncover the Sunken Crown - a mythical artifact promising absolute freedom. But the lines begin to blur. Dario, the careless playboy, turns violently red whenever Senara offers him a genuine compliment, and when her ex dares to insult her at a party, Dario shatters his jaw with one brutal punch. His protective act turns terrifyingly real when he violently rips her male best friend away from an innocent hug, eyes dark with raw possessiveness. But as Senara finally beats him to the artifact, she discovers a horrifying truth: the prize is a sacrificial trap. Will Dario's newfound obsession be enough to break the curse, or will their fake love end in a watery grave?