I closed my eyes, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. It grew until fars streamed down my face.
Laurel Rose has been faking cancer. And I’ve been helping her do treatment, bringing specialists like Dr. Clarke. But really… I’ve bee
I laughed harder, the sound turning hollow.
All this time, I thought some kind soul was funding my helping Laurel Rose manipulate Blake.
How perfectly ironic. The woman I despised for Jaking illness to gain Blake’s sympathy was using my real illness as her cover.
Blake probably researched gastric cancer treatments… for her. Using my actual case data.
Every time Laurel had an “episode,” she was mimicking my symptoms. Using my pain. My illness gave credibility to her lies.
And nobody told me. Not Dr. Evans, not any nurse who must have known who we all were.
Without Scarlett’s outburst and that news article, I might have died never knowing I was helping the woman
from me.
The tears flowed, but my laughter had turned to silent shaking.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, wiping away the tears
Enough.
who took everything
I sat up and started ripping off the monitoring equipment. The machines beeped in protest as I pulled out wires and IV
lines.
I refuse to be Laurel Rose’s puppet any longer.
I dressed quickly, grabbed my bag and mask. With one final glance at the medical equipment that had been transmitting my deteriorating condition to Blake as if it were Laurel’s, I headed for the door.
This charade ends now.
Blake’s POV
I walked into Mayo Clinic to find Laurel bent over a trash can, Scarlett holding her hair back. Her face was chalk–white. Nothing left in her stomach but bile and blood streaks after vomiting repeatedly.
Scarlett heard me at the door and turned.
“Laurel, look up. Blake’s here,” she said, moving the trash can away and dabbing Laurel’s mouth.
Laurel raised her head with effort. When her empty eyes found me, she mustered a weak smile.
“Blake darling… did you find her?”
She slumped back against her pillows, breathing hard. “Don’t worry about me. Audrey matters more finding her means finding Rachel too.”
1/2
Chapter 261
“I let Rachel down,” she whispered. “She’d be safe if I hadn’t dragged her to our engagement.”
“And Audrey… I’ve been unfair to her.”
Each word of hers twisted the guilt in my chest. The engagement had been my idea, after all. I’d insisted Rachel attend.
A strange feeling came over me, seeing Laurel so broken yet concerned about others. She’d changed since Europe, but maybe not completely. Somewhere inside was still the woman who pulled me from darkness five years ago, who stayed when I had nothing.
She was sick, and I’d brushed her off. Repeatedly.
I sighed and moved to her bed, putting my arms around her thin shoulders. “This isn’t on you, Laurel.”
“What happened to Audrey was an accident.”
“We’ve been searching for two days – no sign of them yet. But we found the truck driver’s body that night, which makes me think they survived.”
I squeezed her hand. “I’ll find Rachel. I promise.”
Laurel pressed her face against my chest. “You’ve been through hell for this. Your skin’s burned from being out on the water so long.”
“I’m doing what I should,” I said, my voice softer than I intended. My hand moved across her back in small circles.
Just as the moment between us settled into something genuine every monitoring machine in the room blared to life with warning alarms.
I stiffened, and Laurel went rigid in my arms.
“What the hell?” I said.
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