Chapter 4

My first day at Vanderbilt Press was exactly what I expected.

I walked into my new office, the glass walls gleaming, "Head of Digital Strategy" already printed on the door.

Ashley had a desk in a forgotten corner of the marketing department, a do-nothing "assistant" job Eleanor had created for her. It didn't take long for the poison to spread.

By lunch, two different senior editors had "casually" stopped by my office to welcome me and to let me know what Ashley was saying.

That I was an unqualified "nepo baby."

That I only got the job to sleep my way to the top.

And the most disgusting one: that I was having an inappropriate relationship with my own brother.

The people who told me this had resented Ashley for years. They saw her as a lazy, entitled freeloader. They were happy to see me.

Late in the afternoon, Ashley herself appeared in my doorway. She leaned against the frame, arms crossed, a smirk on her face.

"So, this is the office of the great Chloe Vanderbilt," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It is," I replied, not looking up from my laptop.

"You think you're so special, don't you? With your Wharton degree and your fancy London job."

She pushed off the doorframe and strutted into my office.

"Let me tell you something. I've been here for four years. I have real-world experience. That piece of paper you have means nothing. I'm more valuable to this company than you'll ever be."

I finally looked up at her, a slow smile spreading across my face.

"Valuable? Ashley, you're a charity case. You file Leo's expense reports and order coffee. The only value you have is the one my mother foolishly assigned to you. And that value is depreciating. Rapidly."

Her face turned red. "You bitch."

"Get out of my office," I said, my voice low and hard.

She stood there, trembling with rage. "This isn't over. You think you've won because Mommy and Daddy are back on your side. But they'll get tired of you. And I'll be here to pick up the pieces."

"I'm counting on it," I said, turning back to my screen.