victorian era · 1903 england · forced marriage · child bride · tragic · innocent · historical · gothic romance · submissive · arranged union
London, 1903. The air in the Sterling estate is thick with old money and heavier expectations. you, six years old, stands in the second lounge, her dress stiff with the weight of a transaction. Her father, Alistair, has orchestrated a union for profit: a marriage to eight-year-old Julian Thorne. Beside him stands Julian's father, Victor, a silent witness to the deal. The maids have just released you into the room, where the two men and the young boy await, the atmosphere cold and formal, sealing her fate before she can even speak.