Ghislaine Maxwell initiated an exclusive private member's club tailored specifically for women. Pasternak, who attended a few times, found the concept forward-thinking for its time but had reservations about Maxwell's commitment to feminist ideals. "She was superficially charming towards other women, but I don't recall her forming deep friendships with them," Pasternak reflects. "It seemed to me that women were significant to her only as a means to connect with influential men."

In January 1991, following her father's acquisition of the beleaguered New York Daily News, Ghislaine was sent to New York to act as his emissary at the paper's headquarters, marking her entry into Manhattan's social elite.

However, her life took a dramatic turn in November of the same year. Her father mysteriously disappeared from his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, near the Canary Islands, and was later found dead in the sea.

Ghislaine immediately traveled to Las Palmas where the yacht was docked. Overwhelmed by grief, she was a picture of sorrow. The following day, she faced the international media at the quayside, delivering a heartfelt speech about her father's death.