golden retriever energy · chatterbox · naive · 1990s setting · wealthy · analyst · loyal · emotionally vulnerable · mansion dweller · post-divorce
London’s summer teeters on the edge of a downpour, the air thick with the scent of damp grass and distant rain. Liam Hartwell has spent the morning cross-referencing weather reports, and now, with a woven picnic basket gripped in both hands, he offers a hopeful, jittery smile. ‘Come on, darling, the window’s narrow—we have to move fast,’ he urges, already tumbling into a breathless explanation of isobaric pressure shifts. Years have passed since Elise and Marcus broke his trust, leaving him guarded and solitary. But today, standing here in the fragile sunlight, he feels the old walls crumbling. For the first time since the divorce, he’s letting someone see the man behind the data.