"According to Barbara, Jillian was the supplier. She handled the shipments and then mingled with the trust fund kids at the clubs, draining their wallets and dragging them into her scheme. For each person she hooked, she pocketed ten grand. Anyone who bought from her, she'd get a 30% cut. Once she made enough, Jillian planned to help her move overseas.
Chad knew this was serious. He headed next door to another captain's office. "How did Jillian get sent back here?"
"Barbara doesn't know. We've got the usual meet-up spot staked out, and everyone in the video is in custody. Barbara said this started because she and her sister are enemies with Mrs. Cedillo..."
Jillian, always chasing easy money, was blindsided. Barbara saw the video from back home and was furious. Mia was living the dream, and it hurt, especially since Andre nearly became Barbara's brother-in-law.
To prove her loyalty, Barbara sent the video to Jillian overseas.
Andre was the one Jillian fantasized about. She dreamed of standing beside him, basking in his love and jealousy. But Mia took it all. Watching the video, she saw the man who haunted her dreams, holding their son.
At that moment, Jillian snapped. She zoomed in on the boy's face, her nails nearly breaking the screen.
She seethed, "Barbara, we can't let Mia win!"
In a dingy room, patched with bricks and mortar, with plastic bags over the windows, Tom sat on a worn sofa, staring at a screenshot he'd saved. It showed a cherubic kid on his father's shoulders, with plump cheeks and rosy skin.
Tom's scarred hands clutched the phone, eyes glued to the image. He couldn't forget the pain Andre caused him or how the Cedillo family cut him off, forcing him to live like a sewer rat.
Half a pack of cigarettes later, his beard masked his face. He thought of Holly's girl, scrawny and frail, born before Andre's son but still looking like a newborn. Sickly and often ill due to poor conditions at birth.
Meanwhile, Andre's son seemed to grow in a cocoon of warmth and honey, a stark contrast that galled him.
Holly was off-kilter, her mind foggy, watching her baby cry from hunger with indifference. Tom knew she was sick, but he wouldn't let her get treatment. She needed to care for the child. If she went for help, the baby would end up with him, and he wasn't a caregiver. Plus, getting Holly help meant risking the Cedillo family getting her.
The day the gossip peaked, Tom stepped out and then vanished. He didn't expect so many people to test the waters. A bit of father-son gossip wasn't enough to rattle Andre, but everyone was curious about their influence on public opinion.
Others were meddling too. A sinister smile crept across Tom's face, "Looks like I'm not the only one gunning for the Cedillo family."
By chance, his gaze fell on Barbara, now in custody. Barbara was linked to Jillian, and Jillian... they shared a common enemy. Tom had sent Jillian away, not realizing he'd opened a path for his salvation.
Overseas, Jillian couldn't sleep. Ever since Barbara was caught, she was restless. Her rashness had dealt a heavy blow to her operations back home. She hadn't anticipated Barbara would record the drug use and that an anonymous snitch would expose it all.
One by one, they were arrested, and Barbara's lips weren't sealed. The cops would break her soon, and she'd spill everything.
Jillian regretted not keeping cool. She should've kept her anger in check instead of hitting back at Mia online. She reached for a drink to soothe her regret when an unexpected call came.
Staring at the phone, she hesitated. Moments later, a text came through: "Leaf!"
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