ELITISM, PRESTIGE, AND SUCCESS HAD BEEN CERTAINLY THAT OF WONTED FOR ANY MEMBER OF THE FORD FAMILY. AS SUCH, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS HARBORED AND HOUSED THE ORNATE LIFESTYLE AND MODUS VIVENDI OF THE FORD MÉNAGE. IT INCLUDED THREE SIBLINGS, TWO GIRL AND ONE BOY. ONE OF WHICH WAS EDIE GRACE, WHO WAS INGRAINED AND INDOCTRINATED WITH THE RIGORS OF HIGH SOCIETY FROM AN EARLY AGE. HER CHILDHOOD WAS A TENUOUS ONE; HER PARENTS WERE HARDLY NOTEWORTHY, AND WERE, IN PARTICULAR, QUITE COLD AND DISTANT. A MANSION FILLED WITH ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING SHE EVER WANTED, A PERSONAL CHAUFFEUR TO TAKE HER WHERE EVER SHE WANTED, AND MORE MONEY ANY CHILD HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE WAS THE CRUX OF HOW THE FORD HOUSEHOLD WAS ON A DAILY BASIS

ONE WOULD THINK GROWING UP FOR EDIE WOULD HAVE BEEN A CAKE WALK, A TYPICAL JOYOUS TIME IN A RICH FAMILY WITH EVERY WHIM CATERED TO AND THE VACATIONS RESEMBLING EXOTIC PHOTOSHOOTS RATHER THAN FAMILY GETAWAYS. SHE HAD THE LUXURY OF THE WORLD ADORING HER FAMILY AS THEY'RE TRUE LINE REMAINED HIDDEN BEHIND PLASTERED SMILES AND WAVES TO THE CAMERA. BUT IN TRUTH, THE UNDERBELLY THAT CIRCLED THE FORD FAMILY WAS THICK, DEEP AND HEAVY WITH TOO MUCH DECEIT FOR THE YOUNG GIRL TO HANDLE. PRESSURE IN HIGH SCHOOL CAUSED HER TO HAVE SELF DOUBTS WHEN HER FATHER WOULD CRITICIZE HER FOR NOT BRINGING HOME A'S EVERY TIME. YOU COULD ALWAYS DO BETTER, HE TOLD HER, AND SHE JUST SIGHED AND DREAMED OF BETTER TIMES AHEAD.

AS A TEENAGER, EDIE TRIED TO REASON WITH HER FATHER. SHE DID THE THINGS HE ASKED OF AS BEST SHE COULD, NOT OUT OF A DESIRE FOR PERSONAL GAIN SO MUCH AS FROM A NEED FOR A NORMAL TEENAGE EXISTENCE. WHO WOULD RUN THE FORD EMPIRE HAD ALREADY BEEN PREDESTINED. WALTER HAD NO QUALMS WHEN IT CAME TO EXCLUSIVELY GROOMING HIS SON FOR THE POSITION. AS FOR HIS TWO DAUGHTERS, THEY WERE EXPECTED TO AGE IN THE FABULOUS ENVIRONMENT HE HAD STEERED FOR THEM WITHOUT ANY COMPLAINTS. THAT'S HOW EDIE FOUND HERSELF ENROLLED AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. THANKS TO DADDY'S MONEY AND INFLUENCE WAY BEFORE THE LOUGHLINS AND HUFFMANS OF THE WORLD.

THE ATTENTION EDIE COULDN'T FIND AT HOME WAS ALSO FULFILLED BY THE PUBLIC'S EYE. WHAT WAS EDIE WEARING? THEY SAID. EDIE GOES TO COLLEGE! IT READ. OPPORTUNITY WAS THE FOUNDATION OF SUCCESS. HER FATHER SUCCESSFULLY DRILLED THAT INTO HER HEAD. LIKE MANY HEIRESSES BEFORE AND AFTER HER, EDIE HAD A SMALL FANBASE SHE LEARNED TO FINANCIALLY EXPLOIT. HER COLD DEMEANOR, GOOD LOOKS, AND EAGERNESS TO ACHIEVE ATTRACTED AN AUDIENCE BIG ENOUGH FOR A PRODUCTION COMPANY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OFF. IT WAS RIGHT BEFORE SHE HEADED OFF TO COLLEGE WHEN SHE WOULD BECOME THE STAR OF A REALITY TV SHOW, FOCUSED ON THE ONLY THING THAT WAS IMPORTANT - HER.

WHILE CLOSE TO THE FORD ESTATE, THE INDEPENDENCE THAT THE UNIVERSITY GAVE YOUNG EDIE WAS ENOUGH TO HAVE HER CREATE HER OWN PATH IN LIFE, CARVED OUT OF THE STRUCTURE WALTER HAD FORMED WITH PERFECTION. DADDY STILL PICKED UP THE TAB. WHERE WALTER'S LOOMING EYES WEREN'T FELT, EDIE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE A WORLD HER FATHER WOULD'VE DAMNED. COLLEGE PARTIES BECAME HER COMFORT; DABBLING IN DRINK AND SOME DRUGS, EDIE REVELED IN THE FREEDOMS OF COLLEGE EVEN AFTER RECEIVING HER DEGREE. THE GAZING LENS OF REALITY TV FOLLOWED SUIT. EDIE WAS WELL-AWARE, BUT HER NEWFOUND FREEDOM COUPLED WITH THE REALIZATION THAT SHE WAS EIGHTEEN CREATED A DEFIANT TEEN WITH A FALSE SENSE OF PROTECTION.

BUT, IT WAS RATINGS GOLD. FOR ONCE, EDIE CREATED A LANE FOR HERSELF AND GLADLY TOOK CREDIT FOR ITS SUCCESS. WHETHER IT WAS TOO MANY PARTIES OR THE UNNECESSARY FACE INJECTIONS, UPON ENTERING HER EARLY TWENTIES, WITH A REPUTABLE INSTITUTION TO BACK, EDIE DECIDED TO DELVE IN RECKLESSNESS. JOB SEARCHING COULD FRANKLY WAIT. SHE TOOK A ONE-WAY TRAIN DOWN TO MANHATTAN WITHOUT ANY INTENTIONS OF LOOKING BACK. USING HER LAST NAME, INSTEAD OF ATTENDING PARTIES, SHE DECIDED TO THROW THEM WITH PHILANTHROPIC INTENTIONS, OF COURSE. SHE SURROUNDED HERSELF WITH THE PEOPLE YOU'D WANT TO KNOW AND SOON, THROUGHOUT HER YOUNG ADULTHOOD, HER SOIRÉES EASILY BECAME KNOWN. TABLOID HEADLINES WERE HER THING AND SHE RAVISHED IN THE IDEA OF MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF. ENDORSEMENTS WERE INEVITABLE. PARODIES WERE A COMMON THING. AND, A SHORT-LIVED MARRIAGE WOULD FOLLOW TO CASH IN ON HER GROWING SUCCESS THAT EVEN RAKED IN A TV HOSTING GIG.

UNTIL IT BECAME PASSÉ. MATURITY STRUCK EDIE LIKE A RUNAWAY TRAIN AND NEW YORK CITY SOON WAS MEMORY. DESPITE THE INDEPENDENCE SHE HAD GARNERED, WALTER'S TYRANNICAL RULE WAS NEVER FAR. NOW IN HER LATE-TWENTIES, SAN FRANCISCO WAS HER NEXT DESTINATION WITH A FLOURISHING TECH START-UP FOUNDED BY YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN SILICON VALLEY AS A BACKDROP. UNBEKNOWNST TO EDIE, WALTER OWNED A STAKE OF THE COMPANY AND A FEW CALLS FROM DADDY FORD POSITIONED HIS DAUGHTER AS A PARTNER IN THE BUSINESS. EDIE, ALONG WITH A SELECT GROUP OF TECH-SAVVY PEOPLE, WERE CHOSEN TO HELP JUMP-START THE COMPANY'S NEW APP CALLED THE INNER CIRCLE. SHE'D ACCEPT IT, DESPITE HER FATHER'S HANDLING OF IT, WITH THE THOUGHT OF ONE DAY TURNING SILICON VALLEY INTO HER BITCH.