Chapter 4 - LYDIA
Lydia Bellamy had always been good at staying out of photographs.
Thirty-two.
Polished.
Quiet.
The person who remembered seating charts, tax deadlines, vendor deposits, and which relative hated which wine.
Deline trusted her completely.
So did Carmen.
Or claimed to.
When investigators reviewed the wedding messages, Lydia appeared everywhere.
Not as sender.
As coordinator.
Deline received messages from an account labeled:
JM Private Office.
The address used a domain one letter different from Julian’s family office.
The emails were cautious.
Never:
I love you.
Never:
Will you marry me?
Instead:
Mr. Marzano confirms continued private intention.
Please avoid public disclosure until governance review concludes.
The ring will serve as confirmation.
Ceremony details will remain flexible for security reasons.
Deline filled in the emotional meaning herself.
Then Lydia reinforced it verbally.
“Chairmen don’t text like normal men.”
“He has lawyers for everything.”
“You know how powerful families operate.”
Deline believed her because she wanted to.
That mattered.
She was not hypnotized.
She ignored obvious questions.
Why no direct call?
Why no dinner?
Why no marriage license?
Why had Julian never kissed her?
Her jealousy did the rest.
For years Deline had competed with Simone.
Grades.
Clothes.
Parents’ attention.
Jobs.
Then Simone began dating “someone serious” but refused to say who.
Deline became obsessed.
When Lydia hinted Simone’s mystery man was not who everyone thought, Deline decided the opposite:
Julian had actually chosen her.
Then one message pushed everything forward.
JM Private Office:
Public alignment may occur at the Bellamy winter gala if family conditions are satisfactory.
Deline read:
Wedding.
Julian’s lawyer read:
Meaningless corporate language.
Simone looked at Lydia’s role.
“Why would she do this?”
Daniel said:
“We don’t know.”
Julian asked:
“What does Lydia gain if Deline humiliates Simone publicly?”
Simone thought of family voting rights.
Carmen controlled the Bellamy Foundation.
Deline and Simone each held future beneficial interests in Bellamy Properties.
Lydia held less.
Then Daniel said:
“Maybe the target was not the marriage.”
He placed another document on the table.
A Bellamy Properties consent form.
Signed by Deline two days before the fake wedding.
May you like
She thought it was a venue liability document.
It was not.
