The poor consultant didn’t need to be told twice, quickly scurrying from the room like a frightened mouse. Lydia turned to face her future mother-in-law uncertainly.
“Mom? Is something wrong?” She could tell by Constance’s thunderous expression that she was livid about something.
Constance sneered, advancing on Lydia in a predatory manner. “It was your idea, wasn’t it?”
Lydia blinked owlishly. “I’m sorry, what was my idea?”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Constance’s voice turned shrill as she closed what little distance remained between them. “Now you’re going to pretend ignorance?”
Lydia shrank back, thoroughly bewildered. “Mom, clearly you’re upset about something that’s happened. Why don’t you take a breath and explain it to me?”
Instead of responding, Constance held Lydia’s panicked gaze as she loudly recited a string of numbers – an apparent code or identification of some kind.
Lydia felt the blood drain from her face as paralyzing fear gripped her. Sweat instantly beaded on her brow as she began to tremble violently. “Y-You…you know…?”
The corners of Constance’s mouth curled into a cruel smile. “Did you honestly think I would let just anyone into my family without doing my due diligence?”
She moved even closer, their bodies nearly flush now as she stared down at the terrified young woman. “Know your place, Lydia. Don’t go around whispering idiotic notions in my son’s ear or you’ll be very, very sorry.”
Lydia could only gape, rendered utterly mute by the explicit threat. She had no idea how Constance had come to know about her most guarded secret – but it was now a loaded weapon pointed directly at her head.
“If you know what’s good for you,” Constance hissed venomously, “you’ll tell Clinton to call off whatever investigator he’s hired to look into me. Or the consequences will be…” She let the implication hang heavily in the air.
“Everyone has secrets, Lydia. Secrets that they don’t want a soul to ever know. Only a dead man’s secret is safe. Don’t go poking your dirty, busy nose into my business if you don’t want your own secrets exposed. Trust me, I will gladly take you down with me.”
Lydia stared back at Constance, feeling a sickening mixture of fear and revulsion curdling in her gut at the other woman’s undisguised threat. “Why?” she managed to ask, her voice smaller than intended.
“Why what?” Constance arched an imperious brow. “Why did I investigate you or why do I not want my secrets to come to light?”
She was met with silence as Lydia swallowed hard, thoroughly cowed by the viper’s piercing stare.
“Well if it’s the latter, then it’s none of your goddamned business,” Constance practically spat. “But if it’s the former, well let’s just say I like to thoroughly cover all potential threats.”
The cold-blooded calculation in her tone made Lydia’s blood run cold. This woman clearly saw everyone and everything as potential risks to neutralize through any means necessary.
Constance leaned in uncomfortably close, her gaze boring into Lydia as she spoke in a deadly whisper. “Any other questions? No? Good.” She reached out without warning, gripping Lydia’s trembling hands like vises.
“Now be a good girl and have Clinton call off that investigator he hired. Or I’ll make sure all your dirty little secrets are brought into the harsh light right along with mine.”
The undisguised venom and malice in Constance’s eyes left no doubt she would stop at nothing to preserve her twisted vendettas and power plays. Lydia could only nod shakily, feeling utterly powerless and trapped within this scorpion’s grasp.
As Constance finally released her in a swirl of smugness and Chanel No. 5, Lydia sank back onto the couch. Her hands were still trembling uncontrollably as the stark gravity of her situation dawned.
Taking a steadying breath, Lydia realized with dawning horror that she had irrevocably gotten herself entangled in Constance’s web of lies, malice and deceit.
There was no line Constance wouldn’t cross to hold onto her secrets and perceived power. And it seemed Lydia had no choice but to obediently fall into lockstep beside this unhinged tyrant, lest she and Clinton both be consumed by the ensuing inferno.
Trembling from head to toe, Lydia rapidly nodded in numb acquiescence. She was powerless against this malevolent force of nature. Bile rose in her throat over Constance’s ruthless intimidation.
❦❦❦
It was well past midnight when Clinton finally returned home, exhausted from another endless day of meetings. The preparations for the upcoming nuptials his mother had forced upon them did not make things any easier.
He sighed wearily as he shrugged off his suit jacket and loosened his tie.
“Lydia? You still up?” he called out, making his way to the living room.
His fiance was curled up on the plush sofa, a book lying forgotten in her lap as the fire crackled in the hearth. Lydia looked up at the sound of his voice, managing a warm smile despite the tension that had been gnawing at her all afternoon.
“There you are,” she murmured, rising to greet him with a tender kiss. “I was starting to worry you got held up again.”
Clinton sighed, melting into her embrace. “You know how mom is – always demanding one more thing be perfect before calling it a night.”
He stroked Lydia’s cheek affectionately, shaking his head. His mother’s manic, vindictive obsession was really taking its toll lately. But at least he had Lydia’s calming presence as a buffer.
“I’m just glad to finally be home with you, away from all the madness,” Clinton confessed, pulling her close.
Lydia leaned into him, breathing in his familiar comforting scent as her eyes slid shut. She fought to keep her body relaxed, to not tense up at the thought of the bombshell Constance had dropped mere hours ago.
How could she tell Clinton the truth? A secret once revealed could shatter both her world and Clinton’s?lives How could she tell Clinton , that his beloved mother was now using that closely-guarded secret as leverage to force Lydia’s compliance?
She shuddered inwardly at the memory of Constance’s cold, cruel smile as she’d issued her chilling ultimatum. If Lydia disobeyed and allowed Clinton to keep digging into his mother’s past, there would be dire consequences.
❦❦❦
INKED IMAGINATION
