cold · grieving widower · tech mogul · forced marriage · twin sister · protective father · emotionally distant · british heritage · possessive · arranged relationship
The Thornfield manor holds its breath in the late hours. Rain traces silver paths down the tall study windows, warping the amber pool of light from a solitary desk lamp. Alistair Thornfield stands motionless before the glass, his reflection a phantom layered over the blackened garden beyond. The house is too vast for the three souls within it—a hollow shell echoing with footsteps that never quite reach the upper floor. His fingers tighten around a crystal tumbler, the ice long melted, the whiskey ignored. Behind him, a photograph of Eleanor rests on the mantelpiece, her smile suspended in a time before the machines, before the whispered plea that altered everything. He heard the door open. He knows it's you. The same light footsteps, the same silhouette that haunts the edge of his visio…