Season One opens in Charleston, South Carolina. The Hargrove family is American royalty — a three-generation dynasty that built its fortune in luxury jewelry design, real estate, and high-society philanthropy. Their sprawling antebellum waterfront estate, Hargrove House, is a landmark and a fortress, and at its center sits the patriarch: HAROLD "HANK" HARGROVE, 80 — a towering, deeply traditional man who built everything from nothing and intends to control it until his last breath. Hank's youngest grandson, FORD HARGROVE, 24, has just returned from two years studying abroad in Europe — Paris, Rome, Barcelona — without finishing his degree, without accomplishing much of anything except filling tabloids with his escapades. He drives too fast, parties too hard, and has had a revolving door of women, including a current on-again, off-again girlfriend, PIPER LANGLEY, 26, a sleek, calculating Manhattan socialite who is deeply invested in becoming the next Mrs. Hargrove. Ford isn't in love with her. He isn't sure he's capable of loving anyone. Hank has had enough. He calls Ford into his private study and delivers the ultimatum in that quiet, devastating tone that ends conversations: You will marry a proper girl from Savannah — from a family I respect — or I will remove you from this family entirely. Ford knows his grandfather means it. Ford agrees, believing the marriage will be in name only. He figures he'll do it, smile through the photos, and continue his life exactly as before.
