The heavy snowfall over Edinburgh had turned the city’s historic stone spires and cobblestone streets into a silent, frozen landscape. High above the winter chill, on the 80th floor of Vance Towers, the atmosphere inside Christopher Vance’s executive penthouse was as cold and sharp as a shattered blade.

Christopher sat behind his massive mahogany desk, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows behind him offering a breathtaking, panoramic view of Edinburgh Castle standing like a dark sentinel against the white sky.