Chapter 237

The meeting room went dead quiet. No one really knew what to say. Most people looked scared out of their minds, thinking Lydia had called the cops on them. It finally made sense, why she’d insisted on an early morning meeting. Was she planning to catch them all at once?
The group that had stood up, ready to hand in their resignations, looked even worse. They were the ones closest to Parker and Peter-guys who were already locked up. They’d been involved in the embezzlement too, even if they’d just been following orders. They’d been anxious for days, waiting for Lydia to come after them next.
And now, it looked like the moment had come.
“Ms. Norwood, please, let’s talk for a second,” Nick stammered. He was the deputy head of purchasing and the first to speak up about quitting. Now, with the police here, he completely lost his nerve. “We… we really just feel like we haven’t done enough for the company in our roles. Honestly, I’m ashamed. I… I’ll give up my last month’s pay, is that okay?”
As soon as Nick started backtracking, the other three who’d planned to quit jumped in, all but begging to leave quietly. They didn’t even need severance or anything.
Lydia sat calmly at the head of the table, giving them a look that said she’d seen right through them.
The two police officers glanced at a phone, comparing a photo to Lydia. Then one of them spoke up. “Ms. Norwood, someone has reported you for assault. We need you to come with us and answer a few questions.”
The whole room froze. Wait, what? The police weren’t here for them? It was Lydia who was in trouble? Assault? So it turned out even people with connections crossed the line sometimes.
Still, everyone wondered who would actually dare to call the cops on Lydia? In less than three days, she’d already sent most of the company’s core leadership packing.
Josef immediately stepped forward. “Excuse me, officers, you must be mistaken. This is Ms. Norwood, our company president. Who exactly is she supposed to have assaulted?” Follow current novels on
The officers-Derek and
Terrance-looked a little surprised. They hadn’t expected the girl in the photo to be the new president of Greenward Power, the same one everyone had been talking about. Word about what happened at Greenward Power had spread quickly, especially since the old president, Parker, was an old friend of their chief. They knew exactly who Lydia was.
Should they really push forward with this case? This was suddenly a lot more complicated than they’d thought.
Derek and Terrance exchanged a glance, already thinking about how to say it was all just a misunderstanding. Before they could, Lydia stood up and walked over, totally calm and polite. “Officers, I’ve actually been meaning to speak to you. I’m glad you’re here.”
Her words threw them for a loop. She wanted to see them?
RI
Lydia didn’t give them a chance to interrupt. “Yesterday at lunch, I noticed a few people sneaking around and looking suspicious. glanced over, and suddenly, they surrounded me. They threatened to teach me a lesson it didn’t get on my knees and apologize f I refused, they said they’d have someone come hurt me.”
Everyone in the room stared at her in shock. Who could possibly be so clueless? Threaten Lydia Norwood? Demand she kneel and apologize? Or worse, threaten to kill her? Whoever did that had to have a screw loose.
Derek and Terrance looked even more confused. This was nothing like what Mr. Reeves’ sister had told them.
Lydia kept going, her tone still
relaxed. “Honestly, I had things to do and didn’t even want to bother with them. But they tried to attack me, so I just defended myself They ran off Now that think about it, maybe should’ve called the police myself and let them spend a few days in a cell.”
Now it all made sense to everyone. Lydia hadn’t even provoked them, but somehow,
the others had flipped the story and called the police on her, pretending to be the victims.