i swear to be fulfilled

death tw

ACCESS: GRANTED FILE NAME: DALY, P.; AMERICAN HEIR

Priyanka Daly grew up knowing that one day she was to inherit and run the prestigious Elizabeth Daly Foundation, a nationwide medical conglomerate based in New York City that had been around for nearly a century, named after her great-grandmother. It was one of the most respected foundations in the medical community, owning several hospitals around the US, and highly regarded. By the time Priya was born, her mother, Elizabeth Daly III was already seated at the head of the table of the board, her husband, Mark Daly (who had taken her name, agreeing that their daughter would have her mother’s and the foundation’s name) a voting member as well. The married couple were two extraordinary surgeons at the top of their respective fields, general and cardiothoracic surgery. Priya had almost no choice but to dream of being a surgeon like them one day, and to run the foundation with pride, and of course she strove toward it all her life. It was the end-goal, the only thing she could ever see herself wanting, and she grew up to work like hell for it.

Needless to say, the family had not only the money of two world-renowned doctors, but the family’s foundation. Priya, however, never took it for granted, at least not in her adolescence. She was raised to respect both her last name and the hard work that had gotten them all here today, raised to be a good girl, a respectable girl and never complain-- except for when she asked about her name. 

“Why am I named Priyanka? We’re Iranian, and why can’t I be Elizabeth like you and grandma?” she’d asked at seven years old when she’d caught the discrepancy. 

“My little darling, you are named after my very best friend,” her mother had told her with a ghost smile. “One of the greatest women I’ve ever known.”

“Where is she, Mama?”

Elizabeth Daly only smoothed the hair on her daughter’s head. “I’ll tell you that story some other day, sweet one.”

She believed her, because she trusted her mother with her life. As Priya grew, her mother had been her own best friend, and the person she relied on more than anyone, through childhood and adolescence alike. Her idol. In her later teenage years, though, she watched as her mother became Chief of Surgery at the hospital, and the foundation forced her to step back more and more from being a mother, working harder and longer days to give the hospital and the Elizabeth Daly Foundation her full attention. Still, she never stopped loving her daughter.

In early 2019, Mrs. Daly suffered a heart attack. Pretty cruel that one of the nation’s leading surgeons died unexpectedly in the middle of a hospital. Surrounded by doctors, sitting in a building full of medicine’s finest, there was simply nothing to be done, and not enough time to save her. It didn’t make sense to Priya, even as she processed the fact that this happened in part because she worked herself ragged, because she made her career her entire life outside of loving her daughter and husband, and because heart attack symptoms are so much harder to catch in women. What she started to feel instead of devastation was anger.

A beautiful funeral was hosted, and Priya endured kind words from almost every esteemed colleague her mother worked with, every mentor that shaped her, and every student she taught. She was loved, so loved-- that much was evident in the community around her that felt this loss at their core. But Priya wouldn’t cry with them, wouldn’t empathize, because all she could see was people that took her mother from her, people that her mother chose over her own life.

The tipping point was when she dropped out of med school. She fought with her father, she started acting out and behaving in all the ways she’d never been allowed to, feeling herself find some sort of relief in the freedom it brought. She’d stay out late drinking, partying, blowing money and maxing out her cards, though she knew she’d never run out. It felt good, like she could push and push the limits. Priya knew it was a common symptom of people who cheated death to try and chase extremes. She hadn’t been the one to come close to death, but it had affected her all the same.

After a year of her reckless behavior, her attitude and personality turning sour compared to the girl who always said yes and always tried to be the best, the foundation was more than sick and exhausted with the girl who was running their name through the mud of the streets of New York’s elite. And though secretly Priya still desperately wanted her birthright, to one day inherit the foundation, she couldn’t hide her disdain for it in turn.

Then she found her mother’s old medical journals, different ones all filled with notes on her residency as a young woman, plans for medical trials, love letters she’d drafted for her husband. It was an array of the woman she was in all her many sides. And in one of them, Priya found a photo of two young girls: one with long black curls and the same demure smile she’d always seen on her mom, another with short dark hair, brandishing a wicked grin as she held a young Elizabeth Daly close in the sunlight.

Penned on the back read, Lizzie and Priya, Gallagher ‘87, together til the end.

The page it had fallen out of described a place Priya had never heard about. She’d always known her mother had attended medical school later than usual, but she’d never known where exactly she’d been before then. And every time throughout her teens that Priya had asked about her mysterious namesake, her mother had always said, “When you’re older, darling.” She was older now, but she didn’t have her mother by her side anymore. All she had were broken dreams, a broken home, and a journal with a ticket to the last of what her mother hid from her.

By the end of the summer, she’d succeeded in following the trail to Gallagher Academy, dangling her mother’s name and the foundation’s glittery reputation in front of her long enough to get herself an entrance exam. Suffice to say, the material covered was a lot crazier than anything she’d seen in her own college and med-school exams, but Priya had managed to keep her wits about her, using her already advanced intlellect to navigate the test, part of it feeling strangely natural. 

It wasn’t until her acceptance letter arrived that she marched up to her father’s office, slamming the paper down with a bitter grin, and for a moment, Mr. Daly could have sworn he was looking at the spitting image of his late wife’s best friend. Priya only stayed long enough to fight about it, to argue about ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’, ‘can’ and ‘can’t’. By the end of the fight, her father could do nothing to stop her from changing her mind, but what he could do was offer a promise. If Priya saw this thing through, and graduated from her mother’s alma mater, he’d do his best to secure her place at the foundation’s board. But if she let her newly reckless behavior screw it all up, that was it. She’d be cut off for good.

“You’re on,” Priya had responded with steely confidence, once again shocking her father with her resemblance to her namesake.

The next morning, she was gone, on a plane to the school her mother had never let her know existed, but had given her both some of the best years of her life, and the woman she’d name her daughter after. Though Priya still holds so much turmoil in her heart, she wants so badly to be able to feel close to her mom again, and this might be the only way forward to do just that. Maybe spy school isn’t anywhere in the plan she’d crafted for herself at eighteen, but it beats staying in a broken home, waiting to be told she’d never inherit her family name the way she’d always wanted. And really, how hard can it be?

TL;DR - THE FACTS

Priya is daughter to two world-renowned American surgeons, also in line to inherit the Elizabeth Daly Foundation, a super fancy and huge medical conglomerate

her mother was the head of the foundation and Chief of Surgery at her hospital, both based in New York City

Priya grew up to be prim and proper, always saying yes and being the good girl

her mom was pretty much her best friend for all her life, even as her work took over she still managed to love and care for her family just as much

they’re Iranian-American, and she was named after her mom’s late best friend

in early 2019, after her mom worked her self ragged for both her jobs, she suffered a heart attack and tragically passed, forcing her father to take over the foundation

Priya knew it was because she worked so hard, that she barely took time for herself outside of others

she started to get angry, angry at the foundation for putting so much on her mom, angry at her mom for letting it happen, just angry at everything

she acted out the way she was never allowed to, starting to blow money left and right, drinking and partying, causing chaos and basically being an embarrassment to the whole foundation

eventually she found out her mom was a Gallagher alum, something that had been a secret to her all her life, so she gets herself an entrance exam

when she passes, her father gives her a promise: if Priya can manage to graduate from Gallagher, he’ll secure her place at the foundation, but if she screw it up, she’ll be cut off for good

Priya takes it on, her biggest reason for going to try and somehow be close to her mom again despite still being so conflicted and angry about everything

wild child is back to school!

let’s go lesbians!!

Medical Training major, because yeah that is the only thing she knows and she was always gonna come back to medicine eventually

reckless and rash, flirtatious and confident, a bit of a spitfire

CONNECTIONS

Nico Casiraghi: knew each other from richy-rich circles, always thought he was an ass; he’s now extra-condescending to her after she’s become such a menace and she hates him even more

Cecilia Casiraghi: also knew her before Cecilia ran away; pretty much just sees her as the ‘baby’ Casiraghi and has no idea how tough she now is

Margot Lusignan: met her at Gallagher, Priya pretty much became infatuated with her after their first meeting, definitely has the hots for her! fwb?

Jo Tran: knew her from New York; didn’t know a whole lot about her before, but now Priya thinks Jo is actually way cool

Ophelia Spencer: didn’t realize they met at the Gala, only sees her as some super rude girl who needs an attitude check!

Mary Sakamoto: the first person to really get her to smile at Gallagher; she’s been pretty happy to slowly become better and better friends with Mary

Stella Manchesi: Medical Training buds! Priya’s a little annoyed with the very casual way Stella takes on medicine, but she’s down with her anyway!

Juno Choi: knew each other from family in New York! Priya definitely thinks Juno is both super cool and considers her a good friend

Raina Virani, Beatrice Fitzsimmons, Calypso Marshall: her awesome roomies who she hasn’t allowed herself to get super close to, but she’d also fight anyone for any and all of them, do not mess with them!