Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. I now present you with a timelier update as we roll into the home stretch.
Chapter 38: It's Never Too Early for the Truth, (But It Might Be Too Late.)
Betty was completely exhausted and possibly covered in bruises from this unfortunate Target venture. Black Friday was brutal. She knew that after last year, when she had to pull Justin off of somebody who tried to take his designer sweater, but she wasn't expecting to spend the entire ride home to Manhattan in pain. Somebody actually elbowed her in the ribs for the last half price pre-lit Christmas tree. She's going to be purple in the morning. Fortunately, Daniel knew a florist that could work miracles and the fight for twinkle lights was less dangerous. She just wished Daniel had mentioned that before the great Christmas tree showdown of 2006.
The car was now stuffed to the brim with wrapping paper, real gifts that they would give to charity after the shoot, and ornaments. Lots and lots of ornaments in every color and shape imaginable because she had no idea what Marc would prefer. She stopped paying attention to his text messages after he said some very inappropriate things about the Sesame Street tree topper. Really if he wanted that much control over the decorations, he should have come with her instead of spending the night curled up on top of his boyfriend.
Daniel was sitting next to her on the driver side equally bruised. Actually he was worse because he had a black eye in addition to the black and blue bruises. Apparently, you should never try to grab the last Elmo doll ever. Really, considering the type of Thanksgiving they had, she shouldn't be surprised that the emergency trip to Target on black Friday turned into an all-out brawl.
She was actually glad DJ stayed behind with her sister. It was probably for the best because the teenager would also be covered in blood and bruises. Also, she's not sure if she could spend the entire ride just chatting with Daniel about silly little things if DJ was there. Daniel definitely would not have lifted his shirt to show her all of his bruises from the Elmo incident as they approached her apartment.
"I think there's a ring imprint still there and it's been two hours. I wasn't even trying to get the Elmo. I've done a lot of things in my life that warrant me being punched out, but that wasn't one of them." She really wishes he would pull his shirt back down. Actually, she wishes he would concentrate on driving. So what if there was hardly any traffic.
"Your hands were on it." Betty sighed.
"That's not the point. I am never going shopping at Target again."
"But I thought that was our thing?" She said, ever so sweetly.
"We're getting a new thing that's more peaceful, like Central Park with toddlers." Daniel joked. "The place was more vicious than Fashion Week." She was going to mention almost getting the hill to the eye last September, but thought better of mentioning it.
"Yet, on par with the closet during fall cleaning." Amanda ripped a designer back out of her hands last time. "I think that was just because it's Black Friday."
"I'm just going to stick to small shops and places with personal shoppers from now on."
"It wasn't that bad." Daniel responds by pointing to his split lip. "Okay, it really was that bad.
"And I wasn't even able to get you a hot dog." Daniel lamented.
"But you got me a frosty." They stopped at the first Wendy's they came across on the drive back to Chelsea. Betty was currently sipping at the remains of her beverage as Daniel circled her block for a parking space. She was hoping it would be easier than normal with half of her neighbors who own cars taking trips to see various relatives far away. However considering this is the third circle of the block; she's finding that not to be the case.
"You did enjoy dipping your fries in chocolate ice cream." Daniel remarked.
"That you kept stealing out of my hands before I could even eat them."
"I was driving so you had to feed me." Okay, she enjoyed feeding him. It was fun just letting things go and goofing around with him.
"True... Parking space! Parking space! Parking space!" Betty pointed as she noticed one of her neighbors going out to his car.
"They may not actually be leaving." Daniel rolled his eyes as he slowed the car.
"It's three in the morning, Daniel. If they're out here at this time of night, they are leaving."
"Fine, we will wait." Sure enough, the car was leaving and Daniel managed to miraculously get a parking space right in front of her building. This was convenient with as much stuff as they had, making it very easy to load things in the elevator (that was thankfully working that day).
Of course she invited Daniel to the apartment because she needed help carrying everything and he probably needed an ice pack. It had nothing to do with the few chaste kisses that they may have exchanged in the car (or in the bathroom at her father's stressed out when they were waiting for the pizza to arrive). Daniel's bruises were starting to look awful.
Maybe she should let him sleep over? On the couch, not in her bed. He had a bag of clothes there because Alex was just messy and they would have to start setting up the shoot in four hours anyway. This way Daniel could get a couple of hours of sleep before having to come back to her apartment. Really, it was practical.
However, when she walked in to see Kenny and her stepmom asleep on her couch, Betty knew that wasn't going to happen.
"Amanda?" A half sleepy Kenny asked with a completely asleep Alex rested on his chest.
"Not Amanda. I'm the other person who lives here. I thought Amanda was with you anyway." She whispered so as not to wake Alex up. She did not want to have to deal with putting the toddler to sleep again. Besides, he looked really comfortable on top of Kenny.
"She was until she abandoned Kenny and Alex in the middle of nowhere and I had to go get them." Her stepmother answered bitterly
"What? Fuck!" Daniel yelled a little too loudly as he stubbed his toe on the box of decorations she accidentally left in the middle of the living room. Of course Daniel woke up Alex, who still likes to scream when he's woken up in the middle of the night. Before Betty could react, Kenny was already rocking Alex in an effort to get him to calm down and go back to sleep.
"Swear jar fund. You should be well aware of how long it takes to get him back to sleep." Betty hissed at Daniel as Kenny started to actually get Alex to calm down.
"A while." Daniel sighed. "Just tell me why Amanda abandoned you and my son in the middle of nowhere."
"Look, it wasn't exactly the middle of nowhere. It was my parent's house in Jersey City."
"Still the middle of nowhere because you said the wrong thing." Faye replied in annoyance.
"I didn't realize she was there." Kenny said in his own defense. Although Betty has no idea why he was defending himself.
"Your ex-girlfriend was at Thanksgiving?" That was the only thing Betty could think of that could cause Amanda to leave like that. And Betty was not happy that her stepsister left her son with her boyfriend like that. Although, technically, Kenny was actually the one babysitting Alex because they all actually trust Kenny more that Amanda after the DJ babysitting incident.
"No." Kenny side. "Actually, that would've been preferable."
"Kenny was having a conversation with his stepmother and accidentally let it slip that Amanda's biological father is the star of her favorite soap opera." Both Daniel and Betty's mouth opened in shock.
"You know who Amanda's father is?" Betty asked surprised because she knows for a fact that they were searching for the guy.
"Between the private investigator and Monique's mother's ability to remember most of 1981. I found out it was Spencer Canon a couple of months ago." Faye admitted reluctantly.
"That's not exactly how it went. My grandma said something stupid about me dating a white girl again and I sort of mentioned that she was Puerto Rican and Jewish. Amanda called me on it so I had no choice except to tell her about Spencer. Then I told my stepmom about him being the star of her favorite soap opera." Faye just glared.
"It still doesn't matter. She found out before she was ready to find out. I had plans." Faye placed her head in her hands.
"Spencer is the guy you introduced me to at the Halloween ball?" Betty asked slightly confused.
"Yes. Don't worry your father knows and is not worried about it because Spencer is very very very gay." Faye interjected.
"If that were true, Amanda wouldn't be here. He has to be at least Jamie gay." Daniel remarked.
"Jamie is not even gay. Jamie is attracted to people regardless of physical trappings, which makes her the perfect person for your sister, now that she is your sister." Faye explained. "Let's just say there was enough cocaine involved at the time that gender was not an issue and let's leave it at that."
"And you told Kenny before you told anyone else?" Betty didn't think that was right. She was Amanda's stepsister and friend.
"I did not tell Kenny anything." Faye defended herself
"Marisol accidentally uses the company card to pay for the DNA test." Kenny started to explain. "After he found a mistake, Henry was going to make a big deal out of it, but I fixed it and then promptly reminded him what Faye told him last time. Afterwards I confronted Faye about it; we both agreed that it would be better to wait until Amanda has a little bit more time to get to know Spencer."
"Which she obviously needed since she disappeared." Daniel mumbled under his breath.
"Did you try Marc's apartment?" Betty asked slightly worried.
"Yes." Kenny sighed.
"I doubt she would go there. It would be the first place we would look." Faye yawned.
"Especially because it's across the hall." Daniel snickered.
"Her parents' house?" Betty suggested.
"I don't know. They are not actually there. Their visiting 'friends'." Betty knew exactly what Faye met by friends.
"If she doesn't show up by morning, we'll go out to Long Island and check." Faye sighed.
"We could go now." Daniel suggested."
"No, you need to sleep, you all do. I'll take Amanda's room and Kenny can sleep on the couch. Daniel you can share a room with Betty because I know that's what you want anyway."
"That's not…" Faye just glared at Daniel. "Okay maybe."
"Don't worry about it Daniel, Betty. Focus on the shoot."
"Wilhelmina could take over. Oh God, I can't believe I just suggested that."
"Neither can I." Faye shook her head. "However, that's not an option because Wilhelmina is unavailable.
"Wait, where's Wilhelmina?"
"Probably being bailed out of jail by the Senator." Faye snickered.
"Why?" "What?" Both Betty and Daniel asked simultaneously.
"I assume you both were too busy making out to check out the news. They said as she turned on the television only to see the cell phone video of Wilhelmina, slapping her ex-husband. That was not good.
"So, what are the chances that you're not breaking up with me after I left you to spend the afternoon with my mom so I could go rescue Nico with Wilhelmina, only for you to have to get me out of jail in the middle of the night?" Monique asked as the officer led her to her boyfriend at 4:27 AM the morning after Thanksgiving.
Monique is positive her mom must know a judge in whatever upstate New York jurisdiction she managed to get arrested in. She wasn't even quite sure where she was. Monique did not have time to look at signs, the way Wilhelmina drives when she's angry.
"Surprisingly high." That's when Jim gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. She was really thankful for the mouthwash earlier. "I managed to win over your mom with my cranberry apple stuffing and Wilhelmina's assistant used to be a police officer in a former career life." Still a police officer, Monique thought to herself, but it's best that her boyfriend not know about the investigation into Wilhelmina. Besides the officer that walked her out was just now retreating.
"She used to work with somebody on the force here before being transferred to suburbia and she helped out. She has a soft spot for women who tell their deadbeat ex-husband's to get fucked. Thanks to the new wife videotaping the incident, it's all over the news." Monique groaned to herself. This was going to be a media relations nightmare.
"So, mom's lawyers are not involved?" She asked wistfully. If her mom had to bring out the legal team to fix this situation, Monique may be attempting charity balls for the next three years without complaint. Or country club dinners. She hated country club dinners.
"They're involved. They had to be because of the cell phone video and the ex-husband trying to blackmail the Senator with it." That just sounds like something he would do.
"Which was released anyway," Monique remarked.
"Because even though the Senator wanted to pay the money, your mom said no way in hell. Now, her team of professional pit bulls are doing everything possible to make Wilhelmina's former husband look like the true bastard that he really is."
"That wouldn't be hard." Monique heard Wilhelmina say as she was brought out by another officer. For some reason the cops had the good sense not to put her and Wilhelmina in the same holding cell. They probably heard about the Fashion Week incident a couple years ago. "All we have to do is open his mouth. Where's Nico?"
"At the Hilton up the road with your assistant and Vivienne. Your mom said she needed sleep and it would be best if she didn't see you like this." Monique still looked impeccable because the only thing she did in the fight was pull Wilhelmina off of her ex-husband. Wilhelmina's white dress had streaks of blood on it.
"A Hilton?" Monique asked slightly annoyed. You really needed that name.
"You're too good to stay at a Hilton?" Wilhelmina asked annoyed.
"I'm not too good to stay anywhere. I just have Hilton issues."
"Paris Hilton issues." Wilhelmina snickered and Gio just gave her a weird look. "They had a mutual ex-boyfriend." How did she even know that? That relationship was never public.
"Who she sucked the soul out of and who still is not in a good place because of it. It was a long time ago, but we're still friends. I'll tell you about it later. However, because of that, I prefer not to give that family any more money than I have to."
"All the other hotels in the area are owned by the family of the woman who killed your first husband." Her boyfriend explained.
"The Hilton is fine." Monique just gave up. "All I need is a shower and a pillow and maybe something from a vending machine or an IHOP." That's when she noticed the bag that Gino was carrying. He quickly pulls something sandwich-shaped out of it.
"I would never subject you to IHOP after what you've been through. I brought you a Turkey with cranberry relish on a real baguette. For the one who doesn't need cards, freshly roasted turkey on spinach with a cranberry vinaigrette and blue cheese on the side, if you feel like indulging."
"This is why I like you." She almost said love, but it was way too early in the relationship for her to say something like that, even if she was joking.
"You can eat when we get to the hotel." Wilhelmina said, taking the sandwich from her. Thankfully, she just gave it back to Gio. Monique was sure she was going to throw it into the nearest trashcan.
"How has my ex been trying to spin what happened?" Monique was going to mention the cell phone video being everywhere, but Gio stopped her.
"Vivienne said that the lawyers would be meeting you at the hotel as soon as we get there. That's why I brought food, so you could eat on the way there." Why does Monique have a feeling that this is worse than the cell phone video extortion?
"Wilhelmina Slater does not eat in cars." Did she have to refer to herself in the third person?
"Wilhelmina Slater barely eats." Wilhelmina glared at her. What did she expect? One road trip did not make the two friends. The only thing Wilhelmina did was convince Monique that she actually cares about Nico and maybe she didn't pull the metaphorical trigger when it came to Bradford. "If your ex-husband is going to be dragging you through the mud, you are going to need the calories. I assume that's what he's doing because you won't say anything." She knows that's what he's doing, but it's best for her to play dumb, especially considering the look she's getting from Gio.
"That's what he's doing?" Wilhelmina asked.
"I was told not to say anything until we get to the hotel."
"Come on. Even though you've only been dating Ms. Osborne for about a month, you should know that the paparazzi follow us everywhere. The moment we walk out the door, I will know the truth. I think I should be prepared." Wilhelmina pointed out angrily.
"I have to agree with Wilhelmina. God, I can't believe I just said that. If there is a hell, it just froze over." Monique remarked angrily.
"Actually, your mom took care of the press." Oh fuck! That is not good. The last time her mom handled the press like that was when Monique was sent to rehab after her post husband being murdered breakdown finally caught up to her.
Wilhelmina also realize how bad this was and that was when Wilhelmina put her hands in Gio's pocket to grab his phone. It was the new Sony Ericsson that Monique got him earlier."
"Thankfully you got him something that at least gets cellular Internet." Wilhelmina said as she made her way to CNN. Monique wanted to take the phone away from her, but knew it was a bad idea.
"I really don't think you want to do that." Gio told her, but by that point it was already too late and Wilhelmina saw exactly what her ex-husband was doing. That's when the phone went flying across the room and the two police officers walking by started to stare.
"It slipped out of her hands. Wilhelmina has always been fairly clumsy." Monique covered quickly. Thankfully, the cops excepted Monique's excuse, even though Wilhelmina looked very angry. At that point, Monique and Gio thought it was best to get Wilhelmina to the car as quickly as possible before she gets arrested again.
"He's trying to use what happened to get custody of Nico." Wilhelmina screamed as they made it to the parking lot. "That bastard didn't even want to have anything to do with her until Bradford left her a small fortune in his will."
"Now, I bet you wish you didn't off the guy." Gio joked and Monique glared. Really this is not the time for that joke.
"That's what you think? That's what everyone thinks?"
"Well, not everyone." Monique personally didn't feel that way anymore.
"I didn't love Bradford, but I wasn't just using him to get Mode. We were both two very lonely people who needed something. Contrary to what you think, I did care about him greatly." That's when Wilhelmina actually grabbed Monique's Thanksgiving on a baguette and proceeded to eat it. Wilhelmina Slater eating bread is never a good sign for anybody involved.
"Emotions are running high. Let's just go back to the hotel."
"No. If you want to know what happened the night Bradford died, then I'll tell you."
"I think you should." The impeccably dressed Vivienne Windom-West said as she opened the door to her rental Audi. "If I'm going to help you with your ex-husband situation, I should know if I'm going to have to deal with possible murder charges as well. I like to plan ahead."
"Mom. I thought you were at the hotel?" Monique was not happy to see your mom.
"I felt it was best if your boyfriend went alone to get you out of jail. Now get in the car and tell me all about what really happened the night Bradford died, if you want me to take care of your ex."
"Fine." Wilhelmina said before starting her story. Even Wilhelmina Slater was not impervious to the power of Vivienne Windom-West.
August 2006
"I thought you were working late? I'm surprised that you asked me to come over." Wilhelmina said as soon as Bradford opened the door himself. That was odd. Usually, his housekeeper was the one who did that. Actually, the fact that Bradford called her over was unusual. When she proposed that they had dinner earlier today, he said he had a business meeting.
"My meeting with a possible EIC for MYW did not go as planned."
"I can make it better." Wilhelmina moved in to kiss Bradford, but he pulled away.
"I don't think you can." He looked wary. He also looked angry and Wilhelmina wasn't sure why.
"Why did you blackmail Betty into breaking up with Daniel and hiding the fact that Alex is my grandson?" Wilhelmina was not expecting that question. She was sure that Betty was too afraid to say anything.
"So Betty finally told you the truth." Wilhelmina asked keeping her emotions frozen.
"No, I figured it out on my own. You're not the only one who can hire a private investigator. Was the money that important to you? Is that all I really am to you." He asked bitterly.
"Of course not. If that's all I care about, I would still be married to Nico's father." The man was an abusive bastard who hit her treated her like crap. He was worse to Nico, verbally anyway. He never hit Nico because Wilhelmina was his preferred target for that, but he almost did. That was why Wilhelmina was left with no choice, but to send Nico away to boarding school for kindergarten and start looking for a way out of hell.
"I doubt that. According to multiple sources, he is having severe financial problems."
"Because he pissed off my father." That's not true. He pissed off her future step mother. Vivienne Windom-West was a powerful woman who has no trouble ruining anybody financially. In this case, she sent the ex-boyfriend of one of Monique's friends to destroy his company from the inside. Connor somebody. Apparently it worked.
"You have the connections to get whatever you want." Bradford said bitterly as he poured himself a scotch.
"Not everything." She couldn't protect Renée or Nico when she needed to.
"Not Mode." He consumed his drink in one go.
"It's not like that."
"Then what is it like?"
"Nico's father was supposed to be nothing more than a fling. If I knew what a horrible person he was, I would've never gone anywhere near him. Unfortunately I became the victim once again of faulty contraceptives. The senator could not deal with his oldest daughter having an illegitimate child so he paid Nico's father to marry me despite him being an abusive bastard. I really had no say in the matter. If I hadn't become one of the top creative directors in the business, I would've never had a say." With the job and Faye's assistance as Nico's godmother, she could finally afford to leave with full custody of Nico.
"Your father forced you to get married for the sake of appearances?" Bradford looked at her appalled.
"Yes." She answered bitterly.
"But what does this have to do with Betty and keeping my grandson away from me."
"I heard what you said to Alex." She confessed.
"Of course I'm going to talk to my grandson."
"Not your grandson. Your son. The one that's dead because you couldn't handle the fact that inside, she was someone else entirely. I know you made him keep Jamie his dirty little secret. You forced a public relationship with Jordan and it literally killed her." Granted it was at a plastic surgery clinic upstate. Maybe if they weren't in such a hurry to do the physical transition they would've discovered Alex's heart trouble earlier.
"That's not…"
"That's exactly what you did. Would you have done the same to Betty? Force her in a loveless marriage with Daniel that she wasn't ready for just for the sake of appearances?" Wilhelmina asked bitterly pouring herself, her own drink. She needed it for this conversation.
"I would do no such thing."
"Yes, you would have. You already did it once. You kept DJ a secret from Daniel and Alex for years. I just made it easier for you this time around." She said bitterly. She was well aware of that sordid story now.
"That wasn't why I did what I did." Bradford said defensively.
"Right, you wanted to keep Daniel and Alex from tearing each other apart." She scoffed. Wilhelmina did not buy that excuse for a moment.
"Some may consider that a good thing."
"If your motives are pure, but they are not always pure with you." She spat out. Bradford was cut too much from the same cloth. Nothing was pure. She wanted to protect Betty from her fate, but she also wanted Mode. "I know you're sick. You're dying. You don't even know if you will make it to our actual wedding and you're making it worse by not taking your heart medication because it interferes with your Viagra. You're trying to put things together for the future like moving Faye into position to take your place. So yes, I can see you forcing Daniel and Betty to get married to make him the perfect person to take care of the company after you're gone. We both know that Faye is just a temporary Band-Aid." Wilhelmina said angrily.
"If you think I would do that, then I don't think we should be together anymore." Was he really breaking up with her? Now!
"I don't think that now. I did, but not after I saw you with Nico and DJ after Lucy's funeral." She told him. It wasn't a complete lie. She doesn't think of two things exactly like her father, but she's wary. Although there's no way he can be worse than Nico's father. At least he can have a conversation with her without reducing the girl to tears.
"I think you were more honest before. I think you should leave."
"Bradford." She wouldn't take that. She would at least try to convince him that this is not a good idea.
"I also think that you should take a leave of absence. Go to France for a couple weeks and see Nico and then we can decide about your future at Meade Publications." That did not sound good, but Wilhelmina knew when it was time to leave.
She didn't think it was odd that her town car was still there waiting for her. Maybe Bradford knew this was going to happen and called ahead to have the car wait for her, despite the fact she was supposed to drive Carlo home. She didn't care because it was pouring right now and Wilhelmina Slater does not get wet. She was so upset by what happened that she didn't think to question why Carlos was no longer there. Maybe he decided to walk and the driver refused to leave.
The Present
"Wait, you went through all of that because you were afraid Bradford was trying to force Betty into a loveless, abusive marriage with Daniel just like your father because he needed Daniel to be ready to take over the company when he died?" Monique asked, still blinking back shock.
"This was apparently happening sooner than any of us thought." Her mother added from behind her.
"Yes." Wilhelmina answered, not making eye contact
"You are aware that Daniel is not your ex-husband?" Monique asked incredulously.
"Yes." Monique wasn't so sure about that. "At least now I do. Originally, I thought he was just a spoiled rich boy who had daddy fix all his problems. Now, I know better."
"Do you also realize that Bradford is not your father?" Monique asked on the verge of screaming.
"Yes."
"Yet you completely ruined that family by…" Monique threw her hands in the air. "I just don't even know what to say. You're insane. You need to be in the room next to René."
"Considering mental illness is genetic, this might actually be a problem." Vivienne said a little too calmly.
"You are a little too obsessed with Daniel." Monique added after a moment.
"In light of this, I think maybe you should spend the next couple of weeks at Pinecrest." Vivienne suggested. Actually 'suggest' was not a strong enough term. She made it sound as if Wilhelmina had no choice in the matter. She did the same thing when she forced Monique into rehab after the Valentine's Day incident.
"What?" Apparently Wilhelmina had yet to realize you don't go against Vivienne when she's like this.
"After today's incident you decided it would be best for you to spend some time reflecting on what you need to do to be a good parent to Nico. We could play the grieving almost widow card or say it's 'exhaustion'. I really don't care. Although, it's best that the courts do not know that you are showing symptoms of mental illness or other issues. It will make the custody thing worse than it already is. Regardless, you'll be spending at least the next month at Pinecrest."
"Why?"
'Because you're out of your mind and need professional help before you do something along the lines of burning down somebody's house with them still inside like your sister.'
"Because you projected your ex-husband and daddy issues on your fiancé and his son." Monique said out loud instead.
"Because in addition to going to Pinecrest, you are also going to be signing over custody of Nico to me so I can prevent an emergency order. If your daughter is in the care of somebody who has a long illustrious history with New York child welfare, it might be a little bit harder for your ex to take her, especially when she doesn't want anything to do with him in the first place."
It may not be public knowledge, but Vivienne Windom West has served as a foster parent for dozens of kids throughout New York City. Most socialites would just write a check, but Vivienne actually invites these children into her home.
"Is it really this bad?"
"Yes it is, mostly because you never told anybody how bad things really were. Also, as of 30 minutes ago, your former assistant just sold you out for 30 pieces of metaphorical silver. Carlo is having just a little too much fun talking about your affair while you were engaged to Bradford."
"I did not sleep with him at any time I was dating Bradford. It was a moment of weakness."
"Maybe in light of this you should go with sex addiction. That's always popular." Gio suggested.
"Fuck." Wilhelmina actually mumbled under her breath.
"This may be the only way I'm going to be able to keep him away from Nico. He has too many friends in low places and unlike your father, I've refused to just pay him off to make him go away like last time. Even though Nico is obviously old enough to be able to make her own decisions, I trust him to make the process as unpleasant for her as possible, to the point where she might just leave with him anyway for the sake of peace.
"Fine, but I want Monique to have custody of Nico instead of you." Wilhelmina said, completely shocking Monique.
"What?" Her mouth was still open wide in shock as she asked for clarification.
"I don't want Nico near my father either and at least she actually likes you."
"I understand. It may be a little bit harder because Monique is not a registered foster parent, but she did try to keep you from doing something stupid this afternoon, so maybe that's the point that will work in her favor."
"Do Nico or I get any say in this?" Monique asked, her mind finally catching up to what was going on.
"No." Both answered simultaneously and Gio shook his head in a way that told her he knew she needed to do this.
"Fine. Nico can move into my guest room until you are released from Pinecrest." Which may be several years from now, because Monique is positive Wilhelmina is out of her mind.
To be continued.