Hope surfaced that The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Liam (Scott Clifton) wasn’t going to succumb to his incurable illness when his physician, Dr. Grace Buckingham (Cassandra Creech), started acting suspicious.

What was Grace hiding? Quite a bit, it turned out. Liam wasn’t ill after all. Grace lied to him that he was dying. The question remained, though: Why would she be untruthful about something so important? The answer was found in a mother’s deep devotion to her darling daughters. Grace may lose her medical license but Creech has earned TV Insider’s Performer of the Week honors for making us feel empathy for Grace, despite her wicked ways.

B&B tapped into the history of the Buckingham family, specifically Reese’s (Wayne Brady) gambling debts, to explain why Grace did what she did. She lied to Bill Spencer (Don Diamont), Liam’s dad, that a cool one million bucks just might save Liam’s life. Everyone was so thrilled that Grace’s miracle, experimental (are there any other kinds on soaps?) surgery worked that nobody questioned how it worked.

Until, of course, Dr. John “Finn” Finnegan (the terrific Tanner Novlan) did some research and started asking questions. As a result, we saw Grace’s carefully constructed façade break away piece by piece as Creech delivered a series of emotionally packed performances.

At first, Creech played her character cool and collected, curious that Finn would even question what went down with Liam. But “who me?” only works so long when you’re guilty as sin! Creech made the decision to have Grace defensively hold files up against her chest, as if she were trying to protect herself. She had Grace look away from Finn as much as possible (guilty people tend to avoid eye contact, right?).

Dr. Finn proved to be an adept attorney as he unveiled his case against his fellow physician. He hammered away until Grace broke down and came clean.

Almost relieved that she no longer had to lie, Creech had Grace sit down as if she were feeling she was no longer a prisoner of her crimes. “You were right, I made the whole thing up,” Grace confessed as she began sobbing. Creech played agony and relief simultaneously.

Asked why she made a mockery of her vow to help others as a doctor, Grace slobbered that Reese’s gambling enemies threatened Zoey (Kiara Barnes) and Paris (Diamond White). So, she made a choice. “I needed the money! I needed the money! I needed the money! I was desperate,” Grace revealed.

Creech showed that Grace is a woman who is capable of both committing desperate acts and pointing out how things can work out for the best. She begged Finn to keep what she did between them as it all worked out — minus, of course, the small surgery scars on Liam’s head and that emotional trauma he suffered thinking he was going to die at a young age.

As the week progressed, Grace begged Finn to not tell a soul what she’d done. The more Finn argued that Grace had to come forward, the more we saw Creech play into knowing Finn was right.

Then, Grace did what few soap opera characters do: She told the truth. And she did something that even few doctors do: She made a house call. Grace visited Liam and Hope and shared the truth about what she’d done.

Grace could so easily be hated for her duplicity; however, Creech, a past Daytime Emmy nominee for her role as Grace, fully committed to the rationale that the B&B writers had given her and delivered raw, compelling performances. Brava!

The Bold and the Beautiful, Weekdays, CBS