The Counterfeit Sterling Heiress

My new colleague, Chloe, dropped a screenshot in the company Slack channel.

It was a Met Gala invitation from the chairman.

With a note attached: “To my dearest daughter.”

She deleted it moments later with a quick, “Sorry, wrong channel!”

I frowned, instantly recognizing it. It was the one my father had sent me a week ago.

The colleagues who caught it started buzzing immediately.

“I heard the chairman’s daughter, who’s never been seen in public, is on bad terms with him.”

“So the heiress has been slumming it with the rest of us. We were so blind!” The channel was instantly flooded with fawning messages. Even my social-climbing husband, Ethan, joined in.

I couldn’t stop myself. I typed into the channel: “I happen to recall the chairman has always disliked ostentation.”

I received no support. Instead, my husband and the others piled on.

“Look at you, green with envy. How can you even compare to Chloe? Why did I marry someone so pathetic?”

“Like you’d know the chairman personally! You’re just jealous!”

I scoffed.

In full view of everyone in the office, I dialed my father's personal assistant.

“Alfred, I hear Dad's plus-one for the Met Gala this year… isn’t me?”

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1

A new hire, Chloe Summers, joined the company. On her first day, she dropped a screenshot in the Slack channel.

It was a Met Gala invitation from the chairman.

The entire channel instantly lit up. “Oh my God! A Met Gala invitation?”

Chloe quickly deleted the screenshot and apologized, “So sorry, total accident. Posted in the wrong chat.”

She followed up with a string of apologetic emojis. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

She capped it all off with a single, teary-eyed emoji. From that moment on, everyone in the company knew Chloe’s name.

“Is that an invitation from Chairman Sterling?”

“Good heavens, so this is the chairman’s legendary daughter we’re dealing with.”

“Rumor has it William Sterling is passing the company to his daughter soon.”

“Could Chloe be Chairman Sterling’s daughter?”

“The New York elite circle is tiny. This can’t be a coincidence.”

“The Met Gala! I could work my whole life and never even get close to something like that.”

The Slack channel exploded, hundreds of messages flooding the screen.

Chloe, sitting at the desk across from me, watched the feed with a self-satisfied smirk playing on her lips.

After a long moment, she replied in the channel: “I can’t reveal my identity just yet, but I can say one thing—I took my mother’s surname. Please keep this quiet. If my dad finds out my identity has been exposed, he’ll be upset.”

It wasn’t a denial. In everyone’s eyes, it was a confirmation.

I had no intention of getting involved, but the channel was so frenzied that even my husband, Ethan Vance, chimed in, jokingly begging to ride the “heiress’s” coattails.

I pretended not to care, but my hands trembled under my desk. Affection for sale is the cheapest kind.

I zoomed in on the screenshot Chloe had shared. That invitation was identical to the one my father had sent me last week.

Just as I was about to challenge her in the channel, I was interrupted.

Ethan placed several cups of coffee on a nearby table, carefully selected one, and wiped the condensation from the cup before presenting it to Chloe.

Chloe took a sip and grimaced. “What is this garbage? Don’t bring me this swill ever again.”

Ethan froze, but shockingly, he didn’t fly into the rage he would at home. Instead, he practically bowed as he apologized, “My mistake, I should have known better. Someone like you deserves much higher quality!”

Bitterness churned in my stomach. At home, he complains if I ask him to do a single load of laundry.

I couldn’t stand Chloe’s smug act any longer. I spoke up, my voice calm. “Chloe, which designer are you planning to wear on the red carpet?”

The bustling office fell silent in an instant.

Chloe glared at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Are you implying my invitation is fake?” she snapped.

“Do I need to wear it around my neck to prove it’s mine?”

Sensing Chloe’s anger, Ethan jumped in. “Ava, stop making a scene. What is your problem?”

My colleagues quickly took her side.

“Some people have a lot of nerve, questioning someone over a single screenshot.”

“Exactly, Chloe shared it by accident—it’s not like she was showing off.”

“Ava, if you’re so jealous, why don’t you go get an invitation yourself?”

“Not that someone like you would ever get the chance.”

Chloe was dressed head-to-toe in designer brands, the picture of elegance. In contrast, I was in a simple, understated outfit.

Chloe turned to me, her voice dripping with false magnanimity. “Thank you, everyone, for defending me. Ava must be curious because she’s never seen anything like this. It’s only natural to have questions.”

“For my sake, can we please just let it go?”

With that, Ethan’s face darkened, a flush of secondhand embarrassment creeping up his neck.

What a joke. Here I was, the true heiress to Sterling Media, being publicly shamed in my own company.

Starting from the bottom and hiding my identity was my plan to learn the ropes and understand every facet of the business.

Judging by Chloe’s taste and attire, she didn’t come from a poor background. She must have gone to a lot of trouble to get her hands on my invitation and pass herself off as me.

An idea sparked. Playing innocent, I said, “You’re right. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Chloe, why don’t you host a fitting party before the Gala? You could give the rest of us a glimpse into that world.”

My colleagues’ eyes lit up with excitement, while the color drained from Chloe’s face.