The Billionaire's Maid Bride novel Chapter 624

Allison was a piece of work, no doubt about it. Penelope mulled it over and said, “Alright, here’s the deal—I’ll spot you ten grand to start, and I’ll figure something out for the rest.”

“Pen, you’re a lifesaver,” Nathalie said, her jaw clenched with obvious disdain for Allison. “That witch has gone too far. My friend got canned because of her.”

“Your friend? Who?” Penelope asked.

“Sophie, the journalist. Her paper fired her after she got caught snapping pics of Allison at the hospital last night. Poor girl’s been there for three years. The editor just kicked her to the curb. Pen, you’ve gotta help her land on her feet. Maybe set her up with a new gig? She was only doing it for us when she got the sack.”

Nathalie eyed Penelope, but internally she was rolling her eyes. Sophie had been trying to get dirt on Allison for Penelope’s sake, and now she was out of a job and out of touch.

“Let me think on it,” Penelope said. She didn’t have a ton of media contacts to pull from, but she owed it to Nathalie’s friend, and by extension, to herself as well.

She whipped out her cell and dialed Charlie. “Hey, Charlie, got any connections in the magazine world? A friend of mine’s an editor and just lost her job. Think you could help her out?”

Charlie’s network was as wide as the sky, and hooking up a magazine job was child’s play for her. Plus, Penelope was still in with the Lindberg clan. As long as Penelope’s request wasn’t outrageous, Charlie was happy to oblige.

“Send me her resume, and I’ll get things moving.”

After wrapping up the call, Penelope grabbed Nathalie, and they hit the mall. Before long, Penelope was toting bags from high-end boutiques, and they wandered into a jewelry store. Penelope scoped the display and picked out an understated pearl necklace that set her back a couple hundred bucks.

Nathalie scoffed, “Pen, what’s with the dowdy choice? You picking out something for Aunt Leah? That’s not really her style.”

Penelope simply said, “It’s for Grace.”

“For Grace? You can’t be serious, Pen. You’re not actually planning to play caretaker to Grace, are you?” Nathalie was always surfing the latest trends and caught the buzz on Twitter in no time.

“It’s just for show, to snap a few pics. The online chatter’s all in my favor right now—gained a bunch of followers on Twitter, too. Allison tried to set me up and expected me to fall for it, but she probably didn’t see this coming. Now, the net’s all praise for how I’m stepping up for Grace. Allison’s the one who should be looking after her own mother, but she’s too busy shooting her film. Might as well milk this for all it's worth—it’s good for my image.”

“Ah, I see what you’re up to,” Nathalie remarked, impressed with Penelope’s shrewdness.

Penelope pointed to a diamond necklace, “That one, please. Wrap it up for me.”

This one was going to be a gift for Leah.

The sales associate promptly fetched the diamond piece and mentioned the price, “This is a limited edition that just arrived today—one of only two we have in store. It’s sixty-eight hundred. Are you sure you want it?” It wasn’t that the salesperson doubted her on purpose—Penelope had just been eyeing a necklace for a couple hundred. It was just in case Penelope couldn’t stretch to the pricier diamond necklace.