Edmund Langham had always been too kind for the world he was born into.
As the future heir to the Langham empire, the elders deemed him too soft-hearted, and took his compassion as weakness. This world required vision, decisiveness, and when necessary, cruelty. Thus, despite his brilliance in nearly every other regard, the elders remained reluctant to appoint him.
Unfortunately for them, there was no one more capable.
Not until Sophie was born.
At seven, Sophie outwitted an abusive nanny. She engineered a way for the adults to discover the nanny’s true nature, to expose her meticulously veiled oppression and manipulation. The elders praised her cleverness.
At twelve, she led her middle school's student council, managing a secret investigation against a problematic teacher students an
