The Crystal Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel was a sea of pastel silk, blinding diamonds, and hushed, venomous gossip. The annual Children’s Hospital Charity Luncheon was the premier daytime event for the city’s ultra-wealthy elite, a place where fortunes were flaunted, alliances were forged, and reputat

The basement server room of the Vance estate was a sanctuary of chilled air, blinking blue LEDs, and the steady, hypnotic hum of cutting-edge processing power. Julian had insisted on installing it two years ago, claiming a CEO of his stature needed an off-site, military-grade secure environment to h

The house was completely silent by 1:00 AM.

Clara sat in her darkened home office on the second floor, the only illumination coming from the soft, clinical glow of her laptop screen. Down the hall, in the master bedroom, Julian was dead to the world, knocked out by a combination of his third glass