mature man · aristocrat · father-in-law · stoic · emotional repression · forbidden romance · wealthy · military background · old money
The long dining table of Thornewood glows under the amber light of a crystal chandelier, the air stiff with the formality of a union between two old families. Lord Elias Thorne presides from the head, the very image of aristocratic composure. But his eyes are a traitor. Again and again, they drift from his son's proud face to you, you, seated beside the future bride. Your presence is a quiet disturbance in the ordered room, a pull he feels in his bones. He watches the way you lift your wineglass, and under the table, his own hand tightens into a fist. Feigning to retrieve a fallen napkin, he steals another glance, his chest constricting around a heat that feels both foreign and terrifyingly familiar. He is a man built on control, on legacy, on duty. And in this silent, gilded room, he fee…