Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are all fabulous.

I'm sorry for the long wait, I've wanted to finish doing at least the draft of the rest of the rewritten chapters before I posted this chapter. So good news, all of the previously written material has been rewritten and is going through proofreading. I hope to upload a new chapter every 2 to 3 weeks. 100% new material will begin with chapter 37. A lot of new material will be in the next few chapters though. The next chapter is almost entirely new material.

Chapter 32: The Many Schemes of Jade's Grandma

23 Hours Earlier

Monique could not deal with her mom at the moment. She loves her mom; she really does, but sometimes her overprotectiveness is smothering. Monique doesn't need to get a restraining order against Gio's ex-girlfriend. That would just make things worse. Monique doesn't want to antagonize the woman. They still have to work with her because she refuses to let Monique buy out her stake in the business no matter what Monique offers her. That she could deal with, but then her dad had to hit on Candy, and the current stepmom is no one's fool. In hindsight, maybe disliking someone simply because they had married her father was wrong. Maybe there was something good in Brittany.

However, Monique felt like Brittany wouldn't be around too much longer for her to explore that revelation. When her mom started suggesting divorce attorneys, Monique knew it was time to get the hell out of there. This is why Monique is hiding in the ladies' room of the ultra-posh restaurant hosting the rehearsal lunch. Of course, while she was hiding from her family, Wilhelmina arrived in the bathroom. This is not unexpected because Marc brought her for protection. After all, the evil of ex-boyfriend is out on bail already much to Monique and Mode's resident criminal attorney Fernando's frustration. (That's the other reason why she doesn't want to go through the trouble of getting a restraining order as well as pressing charges at the moment. At least sourdough girl hasn't hit her yet.)

What does surprise her is Renée followed. Monique was already sending a text to security to get Renée out of there. When she realized that Renée was there to essentially blackmail Wilhelmina, Monique felt it was best to stay quiet and let no one know she was there. Her suspicions were right, and Renée actually is Wilhelmina's biological daughter. Renée discovered that recently and wanted half of the money from the mode sell to keep her mouth shut so Wilhelmina could keep her 'perfect' life.

Unsurprisingly, Wilhelmina's response was to start breaking furniture once Renée was gone. The golden bathroom couches didn't have a chance. Because she doesn't want to deal with a still recovering Wilhelmina bleeding all over the marble floor of the adjacent sitting room, she felt it was best to intervene. Marc would want her to do that.

"You just got out of the hospital less than two months ago after practically dying on the table. Do you really want to end up in the hospital again? You can't do stuff like this anymore." Monique said as she grabbed something fragile out of the woman's hand before she could break anything else.

"Don't you want to live long enough to teach Marc's daughter the art of color coordination." She decides not to refer to Jade as Wilhelmina's granddaughter because that may involve more broken furniture.

"Prada knows that with a mom like Jody, the poor little princess is going to need all the help she can get. You heard?" Wilhelmina said, pulling away, starting to almost regain her composure.

"Yes, I know that your other biological daughter is fucking with your life. What I really want to know is why you're reacting like this when the absolute worst she can do is spread the truth. Would that be such a horrible thing?" Monique asked.

"Even if we come from the same circles, you couldn't possibly understand why it matters. You have never cared about your reputation." Wilhelmina sneered as she started to repair her makeup in one of the mirrors that were still intact.

"I care about what people say about me but only people that are worth caring about. I thought you were the same way. People say worse things about you already. I've said worse things about you. Contrary to what some in your father's party might think, no one asks to be raped." Monique said with a soft expression that appeared to just make Wilhelmina angrier.

"Ever you are looking at me with pity. I'd rather be a monster than a victim." Wilhelmina replied angrily.

"I know you're not familiar with either, but that was empathy, not pity. I told you what happened to my sister earlier today. There's a difference. You are only a victim if you let her get away with this." Wilhelmina responded with a questioning look.

"How do you propose I do that?" Skepticism was very audible in her voice.

"Take her weapon away. If she doesn't have it, she can't hurt you. Let the truth come out on your own terms." She explained hoping Wilhelmina would not require a detailed explanation.

"She will always be able to hurt me. You wouldn't understand because you're not a mother." She was really tired of people throwing the fact that she couldn't give birth in her face.

"I have a possibly pregnant 15-year-old who ended up in this position due to a manipulative older boyfriend who I really want to punch in the face. I understand." Monique said darkly.

"I did what I had to do to protect Renée," Wilhelmina said, placing her makeup back into her bag.

"As well as protect yourself. You were only a child. You did what you had to do. You did not do anything wrong." Monique added before Wilhelmina made some excuse to leave as quickly as possible.

Which was fine because moments later, her stepmom walked in crying with her mom by her side. So good news, her dad will no longer be at her wedding because he'll be in Tahiti, fucking his mistress. Because of course, he had a mistress who might actually be younger than Betty. Better news, Britney was definitely leaving the ass hole. It was the best wedding present she could've got. Maybe Mercedes will come now.

XXXX

The present

Marc St. James was a miracle worker, Monique thought to herself as she walked through the roof area, surveying what the man has managed to do in about two and a half hours. It was beautiful, even if he had to make do with fake flowers. Only her bouquet would have real flowers because Candy miraculously found some for her.

However, she wasn't actually on the roof to inspect but to find Amanda. Unfortunately, Hilda was in the middle of making her hair perfect when the 911 message came regarding Victoria in the building. Hilda didn't even let her know until she was done, because Justin told her that Daniel was there. Now that Monique was free of hair and makeup for the moment, Monique decided to come to find Amanda, who, according to Daniel, was on the roof looking for Marc.

Unfortunately, Monique did not fine either, but she did find a Wilhelmina screaming at one of the volunteers that Marc brought in to help salvage the wedding that Dominique a.k.a. Sourdough girl burnt to a crisp this morning. After what she accidentally Witness yesterday, Monique was expecting Wilhelmina to avoid her for the present, not volunteering at her wedding. Actually, she doesn't expect Wilhelmina to help salvage her wedding or anything else for that matter. Wilhelmina may not be harmless, but she's not exactly altruistic, either. Monique doubted that painkillers and a near-death experience changed her that much.

"What are you doing here?" Monique asked as soon as she saw Wilhelmina making Chloe from accounting cry.

"Spending quality time with Jade and Making sure that your wedding is not a crate paper disaster like you did to mine. If my sister didn't show up, I would have killed you for that." Wilhelmina said with a sneer as she returned to Chloe. "I know you had very little to work with, but even Daniel's fashionably challenged girlfriend had better instincts then you. At least, she knows how to follow instructions." Wilhelmina snapped as she grabbed the flower out of the woman's hand, resulting in the accountant running probably off to the bathroom to cry in peace. Note to self, check the bathroom after yelling at Wilhelmina for emotionally scarring her employees.

"Do you really have to make my employees cry? I've been doing a lot over the last few months to help people recover from years of your tyranny. If you have to make someone cry, please wait until Matt's mom shows up with DJ and Alexis." Monique said with a frown.

"Maybe if you did things like that more often, your wedding would not have been destroyed by your future husband's former girlfriend. Or have vengeful employees sellout your plans to the competition." If her hair and makeup weren't already done, Monique would have been tempted to knock Wilhelmina unconscious.

"I may have underestimated sourdough girl, but her chaos did create extra bills for my father." And her mom was billing her father for all the damages done to the hotel. He did agree to pay for half the wedding. "She also taught me who my real friends are, so I can't despise her that much. The Trader isn't that big of a problem. I have lots of contacts at Isabella that still like me and, more importantly, don't like the new owners. I'm going to make the next few months of his life miserable." Wilhelmina almost smirked at that before her face became icy again. Her response was to return downstairs to finish getting ready. Unfortunately, Wilhelmina followed behind her.

"Considering the current state of Mode, I would be a bit more worried. I understand your entire State Department shoot, and interview with Hillary Clinton was killed. There goes your pre-wedding exclusive." There was that evil smirk she knew so well.

"It was going to be about wildlife trafficking, not the wedding." She lied to make herself feel better. She was beyond angry about losing the wedding exclusive her only consolation was Isabella didn't get the interview either. There was no need for her to show weakness in front of Wilhelmina. "We regrouped and trust me the stuff at the National zoo is a lot better than what we originally had planned. The pictures of pandas are always good. Let Isabella have the State Department, we have something better."

"We agree, shockingly enough. Seriously, an article about wildlife trafficking in a fashion magazine? Although an interview with Clinton is still an interview with Clinton and I'm sure you're smart enough to get some wedding questions in there."

"Fashion can be socially responsible. We both know the Magazine industry, at least in the print form, is dying. We have to adapt. As you stated, an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton about any subject will help. In this case, maybe we would have got people to read the magazine which would not touch it under any other circumstances." Monique said, defending her choice.

"Except that you lost the interview." Surprisingly, Wilhelmina's voice was not as malicious as one would expect it to be.

"No, Marc's psychotic now ex-boyfriend managed to cause a domestic violence situation that got us kicked out of the Department. Next time you do your sister a favor and higher one of her therapy support group friends, make sure you tell Marc not to fuck the guy." That piece of information came out during a nasty encounter with Wilhelmina's 'sister' the day before because Monique had her kicked out of the wedding rehearsal after she caught her, making threats against Wilhelmina. Monique would love to know how Wilhelmina was manipulated into doing something that nice.

"I think it was Daniel that did the favor. I was otherwise occupied at the time. I'm helping you with your get Marc a sane boyfriend plan, especially now that he has Jade. You'll be happy to know that he spent most of yesterday talking about his time in DC with his former lover. He barely mentioned the insane one. Most of yesterday, they were texting one another, or Marc was showing off baby pictures." Her eyes showed that she was actually happy.

"Good. Maybe this time, Marc won't fuck everything up." Wilhelmina just gave her a look that was difficult to interpret.

"Why exactly are you here?" Monique asked as she found herself in one of the executive offices once more.

"Marc emailed me. He invited me to meet Jade, but since you did such a wonderful job decorating for my wedding, I thought I would return the favor." Given the way she was looking at Monique, she was sure there was probably poison coding the flowers.

"You do have one adorable grandbaby." Monique was expecting Wilhelmina to be upset about Monique, referring to Jade as her granddaughter. The woman almost seemed pleased about that.

"Unfortunately, the couple just took her for a diaper changing."

"I'm sending him to cover fashion in the Arctic Circle for this," Monique said, annoyed.

"That's too bad. The cold conditions do horrible things to Marc's skin." Wilhelmina replied sarcastically.

"Although, I doubt you would do anything that reckless. With your semi-daughter in a family way, you're going to be spread very thin. You are going to need all the help you can get." That's when Monique realized that Wilhelmina's presence had nothing to do with Marc wanting to let Wilhelmina see baby Jade as soon as possible.

"You want back at Mode." She blurted out as soon as the idea came to her. "Not to sound mean, but we both know I'm a lot smarter than Daniel. I don't feel like playing games with you. This endless game of cat and mouse that you and the Meads have been playing for the last couple of years has been bad for everyone, including you. It literally almost killed you."

"You're a Mensa member, you're probably smarter than everyone here. At least in the academic sense." Monique is not surprised Wilhelmina managed to get an insult in there.

"However, you need a few more years in this industry before you have all the necessary wisdom to not make a complete ass of yourself. If I wanted my old job back, I would stop the sale." Monique knew that was highly possible. "It would certainly get rid of my little problem."

That makes sense. You can't get money that's not available. Still, Renée wasn't exactly known for being rational, even when she was properly medicated. That probably would not stop her.

"You're not backing out?" Monique asked, knowing it was a possibility.

"After you commit yourself to a man whose goal in life is to have the largest topping bar in North America, the lawyers will be here for us to sign the papers." Despite her shock, Monique was still annoyed at the insult to Gio.

"He doesn't have that dream anymore, you're well aware of his new restaurant." She said in Gio's defense. "I have convinced him to expand his culinary horizons. He has been studying in Europe. He can be quite ambitious when pushed. If we could only buy out his slightly deranged business partner, I would be thrilled."

"You don't have to be so defensive. The fact that I'm willing to eat Gio's food points to how skilled he is." Again, Monique is surprised by where this conversation is going.

"If you don't want my job, what do you want? What's going to be your plan B now that Isabella is not an option?" Monique asked. This question has been on her mind since she knew that the Isabella deal would fall apart.

"That deal that you struck with my father to get Connor out of prison early had a catch. His visa will be rescinded, and he will be deported back to Australia." Monique wasn't expecting that.

"That's not possible. Connor is now married to a U.S. citizen who happens to be the daughter of a senator. Rumor has it that you were able to get Betty's father citizenship without actually trying."

"Sometimes, those things can be a disadvantage. According to a staff member, my father did not want this marriage to happen for political reasons, if not personal ones. That is why he didn't show up or even send a present. The deportation was his idea. He does not think I would leave New York behind." Monique laughed at that.

Really, the senator had no idea how much Wilhelmina loved that man. According to Marc, she willingly gave up Mode for him. Wilhelmina even managed to get Molly away from Connor. Monique was unable to do that, and she had been trying to ever since Molly's first round of cancer treatment. Wilhelmina would not be scared off that easily.

"That man doesn't know you at all. You want Mode Australia?" This request made sense to her. Wilhelmina only had at present a small stake in the international publications. However, Monique's mother was heavily invested in multiple magazines in Australia, including Mode.

"Or the restaurant/lifestyle magazine that I know your mother has. I want to try something different." Wilhelmina suggested.

"Why do you want a restaurant magazine? You just started eating again recently. What experience do you have in the culinary world?" Monique asked facetiously.

"I ran into this unfortunate soul this morning that happens to be a fabulous Baker. She just tried to burn down her former boyfriend/business partner's wedding. She wanted out, but she also wanted to get even with him, so she refuses to give up her stake in his company. I convinced her that the best revenge was to sell her shares to a woman that her ex-boyfriend's future wife absolutely despises." There was that evil smirk again.

"You bought out Sourdough Girl?" Monique asked in absolute surprise.

"For a surprisingly low price at that, she had no idea what she was doing."

"Why?" When it comes to Wilhelmina Slater, there's always a catch. It rarely makes any sense to anyone who doesn't understand her completely. She wished Marc was here, but apparently, he's on diaper duty. He is the only one who truly knows Wilhelmina's motives.

"Thanks to certain rumors spread by our mutual enemy, I'm untouchable in the publishing industry." Monique wanted to say something about how this had more to do with her new husband, who embezzled several million dollars from a company that she was part owner of. However, Monique felt it was best to keep her mouth shut.

"She has convinced everyone that I was let go from Mode because of Connor. No one will return my phone calls. She wants me to come begging for the job at Isabella." Monique could only describe the sound Wilhelmina was making as villainess laughter.

"Wilhelmina Slater doesn't beg," Monique said in all seriousness.

"However, if people believe I left to start a new restaurant with the husband of my successor..." Wilhelmina explained with a gesture of her hand.

"Everyone will realize that the rumors are entirely untrue. Maybe your shocking career change was triggered by your recent near-fatal 'accident' and perhaps wanting to spend more time with your pseudo-grandchild." That weirdly made sense.

"When your husband is released, and you have to move to Australia, Gio gets full control of his restaurant. In exchange, you get the job at Mode Australia with reputation intact," Monique said, understanding what she needs to give. "I'll even throw in extra vacation time for Marc so he can bring Jade to visit you."

"Exactly. Although I may do some consulting in the meantime. But you're not wrong about Marc needing help. I expect the Jodi situation to blow up any moment, and I'm going to have to pick up the pieces." Something about that statement seemed odd to Monique, but she wasn't sure how to ask.

"What about your sister problem?" Monique asked.

"I'm sure you'll take care of that. It isn't the first time you had to commit a family member. I am sure you have some ideas."

"What exactly did your husband tell you about me?" Monique asked, but she never received an answer. It was at that moment that Marc, Cliff Amanda, and baby Jade walked back out.

"Sorry, we were gone so long. We had to do an outfit change." Marc explained sheepishly.

"Yet not one of the ones I sent you," Wilhelmina told Marc. Marc then went on to explain that they were all still at his house, and he hasn't had time to give them to baby Jade yet. As that conversation was going on, Monique focused on Amanda.

"Are you okay?" Monique asked.

"I'm fine." Which was a lie because Monique can spot the signs of makeup just removed because of crying. "Matt's mom was here. Good news, my babies don't have her for a grandmother." Monique knew about the lie, but she felt horrible about it, despite the necessity of it. She couldn't help but give Amanda a hug.

"At times like this, it's best to focus on the silver lining. Are you going to be okay?" Monique asked.

"I don't know, but this is your day, not mine. Let's get you married. You're not even wearing your dress yet." With that, Amanda was dragging her down to the closet to get dressed. She had a wedding to be at in an hour.

To be continued