The city was wide awake when Violet stepped out of the cab, her heels clicking against the wet pavement. It was late too late for meetings, too early for sleep but the glass tower ahead glowed like a beacon in the dark. Hawthorne & Vale Foundation, it read. The name still sent a tremor of disbelief through her every time she saw it.

She had just come from an emergency board call at Project Aurora. The board wanted expansion new branches in London and Tokyo. A miracle by all accounts, except it meant endless travel, more press, and more pressure. And that was exactly what she didn’t want.

As she...