Chapter 857

 857:
He was sending a crystal-clear message: he could plant moles right in her inner circle without her blinking.
Even if Linsey booted Caylee out now, Gorman would just slip another pawn into place, keeping his grip tight.
And if Caylee ever became dead weight, Gorman wouldn’t hesitate to pull the plug on her grandmother’s lifeline.
“Linsey, I’m so sorry…” Caylee’s voice faltered, words drying up under the weight of her guilt.
She felt naked, her shame laid bare for exploiting Linsey’s generosity. Linsey shut her eyes for a heartbeat, steadying herself, before her voice came, soft but loaded. “Caylee, level with me. How much does your grandmother’s care really cost?”
Caylee kept her head down, her voice a faint murmur as she spilled the number.
It was a jaw-dropping amount.
“She’s not out of the woods yet,” Caylee added, her voice rough and raw.
“The doc says more bills are coming.”
Linsey’s heart sank as she took in Caylee’s words.
Right then, it hit her like a ton of bricks: Caylee had made the only call she could.
𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲: g⍶𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝗍𝖊𝗅𝘀﹒ⅽ𝗼𝗺
Deep down, Linsey knew she would never have scraped together the cash for that surgery, not with her own two hands.
Still, she was gutted, her faith in Caylee shattered by what she had done.
But even after all the time they had spent together, Linsey couldn’t just stand there and let Caylee’s grandma suffer over a stack of unpaid bills.
A wry, self-mocking grin tugged at her lips.
If she had been in Caylee’s shoes, she would have jumped at Gorman’s deal too—anything to keep the last piece of her world from slipping away.
“I get it,” Linsey finally said, eyes fixed on the floor, her voice flat. “You can keep working for Gorman.”
Caylee’s head snapped up, eyes wide as saucers, brows knitted in shock. “Linsey, no way! I’m done with that, I swear. I’m not passing another word to Mr. Green, cross my heart.”
“What about your grandma?” Linsey asked, her voice cutting through the heavy air.
Caylee’s face froze, her eyes swimming with confusion, as if she had been thrown into deep water without a lifeline.
Linsey held her gaze, silent for a beat, until a strange calm settled over her like a quiet tide.
She reached out, gently grabbing Caylee’s hands and pulling her down to sit next to her on the bed’s edge.
“Listen up,” Linsey said, her voice steady as a rock, gripping Caylee’s hands like they were her anchor. “Your grandma’s medical bills can’t stop. Not now, not ever. You’ve got to keep feeding Gorman his reports, same as always. And don’t breathe a word to me about what he’s got you doing.”
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