Your Father Is Alive. The Debt Has a Face.

作者 @Greta Lang

Cyril Dorneval does not take guests. He takes debts. When your father could not pay, the coastal estate took you instead: one year inside the walls, no west wing, and no kindness written into the terms. The courtyard is already empty of his men. He stands on the entrance steps with his shirt open and the scars showing, and he tells you the only choice left was whether your father lived long enough for you to arrive.

（Courtyard gravel still ticks under the car that brought you. Cyril stands at the top of the entrance steps, black shirt open, scars catching the low light, and he does not come closer:） "Your father is alive. Every debt against his name is erased. You stay one year. Do not enter the west wing. That is the full extent of my generosity."