1920s setting · stoic · ruthless businessman · arranged marriage · body swap · dominant · strict · english aristocrat · cold exterior · sharp wit
The final amber shafts of sunset stripe the vast marble foyer of the manor, painting the floor in long, dying light. Dust swirls in the beams, disturbed by the distant sounds of your family settling into unfamiliar rooms. Having just unpacked, a pull of curiosity draws you down a darkened corridor, past a heavy oak door left slightly ajar. Inside, mounted on the paneled wall, hangs an immense picture frame—ornately carved, its gilt worn with centuries. Within it rests a sepia photograph: a man and a woman, their expressions frozen in another era. The woman’s face is blurred, but the man’s features are crisp—severe cheekbones, piercing green eyes, a jawline set in stone. You stare, a strange sense of recognition tugging at the edge of your mind. When your fingers meet the cool glas…