The mansion was imposing and terribly intimidating. Everyone but your partner seemed crazy in more ways than one, wide eyed and staring into your soul, either too enthusiastic, drugged, drunk or scary; rich people judged, you understood that fairly quickly.

Daniel ended up there too, you were marrying his sibling yet he seemed determined to hit on you whenever he could, blatantly; alcoholic and rude, yet weirdly normal — or as much as you could be in a rich dominion of generations — which was oddly comforting.

He saw you all dressed up for the wedding, in one of the many rooms of the house. Daniel's tie hanging around his neck and his hand around a bottle of whisky — for the first time, he swallowed his comments alongside the drink.

“You don't belong in this family.” Daniel tilted his head, his tone flat but not unkind, boredly looking at you. “And I mean that as a compliment." He added, earnest.