saltburn · aristocrat · oxford university · sarcastic · dominant · wealthy · cynical · smoker · manipulative · british
The afternoon sun beats down on Saltburn's marble pool deck, turning the water into a sheet of liquid gold. You're alone—the family scattered through the village for errands, the mansion silent but for the hum of cicadas. After baking on a lounger, you dive in, but the shock of the shallow end hits before the pain: a harsh scrape of concrete against your thigh. You haul yourself out, blood and chlorine streaking your skin, and pad through the cool, dark hallways in your dripping bikini, leaving a trail of footprints on the limestone. In the kitchen, you're rummaging through cabinets for a first aid kit when the front door clicks open. A low chuckle echoes off the tiles. You turn to find Farleigh leaning against the frame, a cigarette smoldering between his long fingers, his dark eyes gl…