Chapter 6 - Lydia’s Desperate Gamble
By nightfall, the news of the canyon blockade had struck the Nevada financial markets like an earthquake.
Stock in Monroe Consolidated fell twenty-four percent in after-hours trading. Without rail access through Silver Creek, three hundred tons of high-grade ore were trapped at the pit heads, and international refinery contracts carried brutal non-delivery clauses.
At eight o’clock, while Evelyn sat in the library reviewing the geological survey maps with Julian, the house security intercom chimed.
The guard at the gate spoke through the speaker: “Miss Hart, Lydia Monroe is at the gate. Alone. She says she needs to speak with you privately. She’s hysterical.”
Evelyn exchanged a glance with Julian. “Let her up to the front courtyard. Have two guards search her at the door.”
Ten minutes later, Lydia stumbled into the foyer.
Gone was the polished socialite with the immaculate blowout and designer coat. Her mascara was smeared down her cheeks, her hair whipped by the mountain wind, her designer clothes rumpled.
“Evelyn,” Lydia cried, dropping to her knees on the cold slate entrance floor. “Please. You have to tell your men to move the barriers!”
Evelyn stood at the top of the three stone steps leading into the living room, looking down at her like a queen regarding a trespasser. “Why would I do that, Lydia? You didn't tell your driver to hit the brakes when my car hit the guardrail.”
Lydia began to weep, clutching her head in her hands. “I never meant for you to get hurt! I swear to God! Grant told me... Grant said that if we could scare you into moving back to Ohio, Arthur would give the management contract to Mercer Capital! It was Grant's idea! All of it!”
Julian remained silent in the shadows, his smartphone quietly recording the entire exchange from his pocket.
“Grant told me he loved me,” Lydia sobbed, looking up with desperate, reddened eyes. “He promised we’d get married as soon as the probate cleared! But when the news broke about the canyon closure two hours ago, he cleaned out our joint account in Reno and left for the airport! He abandoned me!”
Evelyn descended the stairs slowly, her silk slippers making no sound. She stopped two feet from the kneeling woman.
“He abandoned you because men like Grant Mercer don’t love women, Lydia,” Evelyn said softly. “They love leverage. When I had the Hart name, he pretended to love me. When you had your mother’s trust fund, he pretended to love you. And the second the leverage broke, he ran like the sewer rat he is.”
“My mother is going to disown me,” Lydia whispered, rocking back and forth. “The board... they’re voting tomorrow morning to remove her as CEO because of the contract defaults. If the Monroe family goes under, I have nothing. I’ll go to prison, Evelyn! Please, tell the sheriff you won’t press charges for the accident!”
Evelyn leaned down, her eyes locking onto Lydia’s terrified gaze.
“Fourteen months, Lydia. Do you know what fourteen months of silence sounds like? It sounds like your own heartbeat mocking you in the dark. It sounds like waiting for a phone to ring that you can’t hear. You stole my senses, you stole my peace, and you tried to steal my heritage.”
Evelyn straightened her spine.
“I won’t lift the barriers. And tomorrow morning, when Julian hands that recording to the district attorney, you will face every single felony you earned.”
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Sheriff Barnes stepped out from the library door. “Come on, Miss Monroe. Let’s take a ride.”
Lydia screamed as the handcuffs clicked around her delicate wrists, her shrieks echoing through the cavernous hall until the heavy cedar doors slammed shut behind her.
