A/N: This story is going to take place in the middle of season 3. David is not alive because I find that totally unbelievable, and Emily and Daniel are still in the divorce process. Victoria has figured out who Emily really is but, like in the show, she hasn't told anyone.

Hannah's (An upscale restaurant in the city)

The minute they arrived at Hannah's, Victoria and Daniel Grayson were seated. One of the many perks of being the Queen of the Hamptons was you never waited for a table. The waiter took their drink order, champagne for her and scotch for him, before disappearing. Another perk, nobody judged you when had a drink at eleven thirty in the morning.

"Now, do you want to tell me what was so important that you came all the way into the city for lunch?" Daniel asked as the waiter returned with their drinks.

"Can't a mother just want to enjoy a nice dinner with her son?"

"Not when that mother is you," Daniel said. He looked over his mother's shoulder to see an attractive brunette sitting alone, reading a book. "Order me the veal, I'll be right back." Walking over to the woman's table, he took the seat opposite her without a word.

"Can I help you?" she asked looking up annoyed.

"You must be new, I'm Daniel Grayson," he said extending his hand.

"And you must be kidding," she said scoffing.

"Excuse me?" He found her to be extremely rude.

"Let me run it down for you," she said closing her book with a thud. "You come in here with an older woman, and while she is gorgeous, you don't strike me as being into older woman so I'm guessing she's your mother. Then you spot a poor girl sitting alone and reading a book so you feel it is your duty to go over and make conversation. Now if you're like every other guy I know, you haven't thought of anything to say so after your introduction you were going to remark on my book choice with some comment that is just general enough to apply to the book but just specific enough to tip an actual reader off to the fact that you are actually, in fact, full of shit."

Daniel started to speak up.

"I'm not finished yet," she said wagging her finger at him. "Now let's address the fact that you felt sorry for said girl and the fact that she was eating alone at a table in one of the nicest restaurants in town. As someone who has never had a problem finding someone to hang out with, you can't comprehend that she might actually prefer to be alone. It also doesn't dawn on you that maybe said girl is just extremely early for a lunch date who, in fact, is standing right behind you."

After blinking a few times taking in what just happened, Daniel turned and saw an older man with a grin on his face, standing behind him. "My apologies," he said standing and walking back to his own table.

"Hi Daddy," he heard the woman great the older man.

Sliding into his seat, he saw his mom giving him a smug look. Of course she was listening to the whole thing. "Don't say a word," he said opening his menu and trying to figure out where he went wrong.

Beach House

Emily was watching a security camera of the Grayson's house when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen seeing it was Nolan.

"How is my favorite revenger?" he asked before she even said hello.

"It's a light Grayson recon day."

"You mean the queen of mean actually has some downtime? Someone alert the media."

"What do you want Nolan?"

"I just thought you might want to know a rumor a little birdy told me. Apparently, your not quite ex-husband was the poster boy for pickup lines gone wrong at lunch with mommy this morning."

"Really?"

"Apparently Daniel Grayson isn't God's gift to woman as he thought he was."

"I wish I could have seen it. With all of the press that this divorce is generating, it would be nice for him to experience drama that doesn't involve me."

"Again you underestimate my abilities. I'm sending you the video now."

"You're the best Nolan," she said hanging up.

Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Brunch – Two Days Later

Daniel hated being dragged to all of his mom's events. Especially on a Sunday when all he wanted was a relaxing day at the beach. But he knew he had to show up. There were certain expectations that came with being the new CEO of Grayson Global.

Escorting his sister to the event, the two felt out of place among the mostly over 40 crowd.

"Oh Daniel, there's Grace. She's the one I was telling you about, from the boutique". Daniel vaguely remembered his sister carrying on about some "awesome" girl she had met while out shopping for a dress for this event.

Following Charlotte's gaze, his eyes landed on the woman from the restaurant. Suddenly his hands felt clammy and his throat went dry.

Charlotte didn't notice as she called out to her new friend. "Grace! Grace, over here!"

Grace spotted the younger girl and waved before making her way over to them. Only when she stopped in front of them did she recognize Daniel. "Oh if it isn't Momma's boy. I should have expected I would run into you sooner or later."

Charlotte either didn't notice the tension or she just chose to ignore it. "Daniel this is Grace… I just realized I don't know your last name."

Grace extended her hand to him in a friendly truce sort of way. "I'm Grace Vanderbilt."

"Daniel Grayson," he said shaking her hand. "I'm sorry for the way I acted the other day. I'm usually not that direct."

"Something tells me that's not true," she said smiling slyly at him.

"How about we start over? Can I get you a drink?"

"Please," she said and he walked off.

"So," Charlotte said linking her arm through Grace's. "How do you know my brother?"

"I kind of sort of yelled at him in the middle of a restaurant the other day."

Charlotte stopped in her tracks. "Wait, that was you!"

"Not my shining moment."

"My mom talked about that all evening. I think you might be her new favorite person."

"For yelling at her son?"

"Yeah, our family is weird like that."

As if on cue, Victoria walked up to the two women. "Charlotte, there you are. Molly Wagner was looking for you."

"Ugh," Charlotte sighed rolling her eyes. "I guess I should go say hi. She won't stop until I do." She walked away in search of the woman just as Daniel returned with their drinks.

"Thank you," she said taking hers from him.

"And you are that pretty woman from the restaurant the other day," Victoria said turning to Grace.

"My friends call me Grace," she said shaking the older woman's hand. "Nice memory."

"Well it's not every day that someone calls out your son in the middle of a public restaurant," she said grinning.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Grace said sheepishly looking down at her shoes.

"Don't be. Confidence and Self-pride are qualities I admire most in people. Now," she said changing the topic. "Grace…"

"Vanderbilt."

Victoria gave the smallest of grins at the prestigious last name. "Grace Vanderbilt, I insist that you sit at our table."

As they made their way towards their seats, they passed a blond woman arguing with one of the security guards.

"Ms. Thorne," Victoria said smugly. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to attend the event being put on by my family. I am a Grayson after all."

"A fact that will be remedied shortly, I'm sure."

The group moved away and Grace turned to Daniel. "Who was that?" she whispered.

"My wife."

The Docks on the Pier

Victoria moved along the dock, wrapping her coat around her tighter to help fight off the nighttime chill that had settled in. She saw a figure move in the dark.

"I think it's working," she said.

"We knew it would," The figure stepped out under a light post. Grace grinned smugly. "Never doubt a Vanderbilt."