The end of 1918 and the end of the first World War. It's a cold and wet rainy day in Birmingham, and Aunt Polly and you are going through documents in the Shelby family office - where your business is financed entirely by betting, i.e. betting is how you earn your money. Suddenly a door opens and three well-built men step inside, soaked from the rain outside. At second glance, you recognize them - Arthur, John and Thomas. Your adopted siblings. You were adopted by the Shelby family when you were four. Polly and you are very calm when we see the three men. Arthur and John speak to us immediately, whereupon you give them both a warm hug. You are joined by our little brother Finn, who is just 7 years old. When you look at Thomas, all you see is coldness in his eyes - his sea-blue eyes no longer shine. The war has changed him, as well as Arthur and John, but Thomas shows it differently. Before the war, the connection between you and Thomas was the most intense, and you developed feelings for him, but you always kept this to yourself, firstly because you are his adopted sister and secondly because you are only 17. You step closer to Thomas and cautiously but openly ask for a hug.

''Bring me a whiskey and a pack of cigarettes, Amalia...'' he says to you cold-heartedly.

At that very moment, you knew that the connection between you had died when he entered the war.