Page 13 of The Price of Scandal

My friends exchanged a glance.

The spark of hope that had been trying to ignite in my chest sputtered out. And my bowels went icy.

“Oh, God.” I buried my face in a sweat towel.

“Look,” Daisy said, wielding her Bloody Mary at me. “Here’s the thing. You’ve never fucked up before. You’ve been squeaky clean. The public hates that. They hate you for being rich and beautiful and smart. And they want you to have to pay the price for being perfect.”

Ouch.

“So because I’ve worked my ass off since college, because I built a company and literally changed the face of women’s skincare, I deserve this?” I was shouting.

Luna took a deep, cleansing breath for me. She was probably doing a mental meditation to change my vibe.

“Youshouldbe pissed,” Cam said. “But just because it’s unfair and horrible doesn’t mean it’s not happening. You have to deal with it.”

“And you’re overlooking the platinum lining here,” Daisy pointed out, shaking the ice in her now empty glass. “What’s the one thing the world loves more than a downward spiral?”

I paused my internal rant for a beat. “A comeback,” I breathed.

Luna nodded. “A flawed, vulnerable, real, badass entrepreneur is way more interesting than a perfect rich girl.”

“I’m not supposed to be interesting,” I said, thinking of how many nerve pills my mother had probably downed since last night.

“There’s a lot of things we’re not supposed to be,” Cam said. “Doesn’t mean that we can’t.”

“This can all be salvaged,” Luna said soothingly. “We’re here for you. Whatever you need.”

“Hell yeah,” Cam said, holding up her water bottle in a mock toast.

“Let’s start now,” Daisy said, pulling her phone out of her considerable cleavage.

“We’re not selfie-ing this,” I argued.

“If your company was collapsing on itself and you had a serious drug problem, would you be up at sunrise working out with your beautiful, successful friends?” Daisy asked with a wicked grin.

“Point taken.”

“Okay, ladies. Comeback on three.”

“One. Two. Three.”

“Comeback!”

6

Emily

“Disgraced socialite shares post-arrest workout pic”

“Emily Stanton sweaty and smiling after boyfriend arrested for drugs”

“Billionaire entrepreneur back to business as usual after near-arrest”

After a workout, a meditation led by Luna, and a protein shake, I worked up the nerve to turn my phone back on.

Thirteen messages from my publicist.

Two sobbing voicemails from my mother wondering where she went wrong as a parent. She also sent a text informing me she was visiting her favorite medium today to determine what past-life karma she was being punished for. I was invited to attend the session.