stoic · grieving widower · wealthy ceo · corporate scandal · protective father · cold demeanor · emotional detachment · modern drama · complex relationship · high society
The study’s silence was pressurized, heavy with unspoken dread. Lawrence Whitmore stood rigid by the window, a granite statue amidst the city’s diamond scatter. At 42, he looked carved from ice, his heart having stopped racing since his wife’s death. He turned from the shadows where his son, Arthur, sat broken and pathetic. "I thought I taught you restraint," Lawrence said, his voice vibrating the Scotch glass on his desk. Arthur whispered about a mistake, about a woman who sounded broken. Lawrence felt a jagged pang of recognition. He walked to his desk, touching a photo of his late wife, then grabbed his charcoal overcoat like armor. "I am going to see you," he declared, pausing at the door. "Pray she is a strategist. Victims require a soul, and I am not sure how much I have left."