Chapter 9 - Lydia’s Father
Cassidy met Trent eight years ago.
But they separated briefly before their wedding.
During that separation, Cassidy reconnected with an old friend.
Evan Mercer.
No relation to Elaine's adopted surname as far as Cassidy knew.
They spent one night together.
Weeks later Cassidy and Trent reconciled.
Then she discovered she was pregnant.
Dates made paternity uncertain.
Cassidy told Trent.
He chose to raise Lydia as his daughter.
For six years, he did.
Whatever else Trent became, that relationship had been real.
Then two years ago, during a medical test, Trent discovered his blood type made biological paternity unlikely.
He secretly ordered DNA testing.
Lydia wasn't biologically his.
He confronted Cassidy.
She admitted Evan could be the father.
That was when Trent's resentment intensified.
But why would Lydia's biological father affect an inheritance?
Because of Evan's full name.
Evan Mercer Timmons.
Brock's son.
My head actually hurt.
Brock had a son?
He and his former wife raised Evan mostly out of state after divorce.
Evan used his mother's surname, Mercer, professionally.
Cassidy knew Brock was his father.
She simply never thought it mattered.
Until now.
Brock looked devastated when informed Lydia might be his biological granddaughter.
He had known Cassidy and Evan dated.
He didn't know about the possible pregnancy.
“Does Evan know?”
Cassidy shook her head.
“No.”
Evan lived in Alaska and worked as a helicopter mechanic.
Investigators contacted him.
He agreed to testing.
The result took days.
Lydia was his biological daughter.
That changed family relationships.
It did not automatically change Trent's legal status as the father who had raised her. Family law would handle that carefully.
But Caleb's warning still made no sense.
Why would Lydia being a Timmons threaten Cassidy's inheritance?
Then Daniel found the answer in North Range's original corporate charter.
Mercer Basin Holdings had an unusual restriction.
If Rebecca Cross or her descendants became legally connected to any member of the Timmons controlling family, certain mineral rights reverted to another trust.
A bizarre anti-conflict provision created after Rebecca's dispute with Warren Timmons.
Could Lydia's biological relationship trigger it?
Attorneys weren't sure.
Probably not automatically.
But Trent had apparently believed it could.
He learned about Evan from Cassidy's old messages.
Then found the charter.
He feared that if Lydia's paternity became public, Cassidy could lose millions.
Not because Trent cared about Cassidy.
Because he expected to control the money as her husband.
That explained his increasing panic.
He needed Cassidy to transfer the mineral interests into another company before Lydia's paternity surfaced.
The night of the attack, he demanded her signature.
She refused.
Then Caleb arrived.
Trent lost control.
The hidden family secret hadn't caused the violence.
Trent's choices had.
That distinction mattered.
Then Evan flew to Montana.
He didn't arrive demanding to be called Dad.
He met Cassidy first.
Then, with a child specialist's guidance, they planned what Lydia should eventually be told.
Lydia's stability came before adult guilt.
Trent remained the man she had called Daddy for six years.
Biology didn't erase memories overnight.
But something bothered Evan.
He recognized Caleb's name.
“Caleb contacted me too.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Caleb asked whether Evan had ever received letters from his grandfather Warren Timmons.
Evan had.
A sealed envelope Warren left for him.
He had never opened it because his father Brock told him Warren was a difficult man and Evan wanted nothing from him.
Now he retrieved it.
Inside was a confession.
Sheriff Warren Timmons had helped Rebecca Cross become Elaine Mercer.
Not Caleb.
Warren himself.
The man Elaine feared had eventually helped her disappear.
Why?
Because Rebecca had become pregnant.
Not with Megan.
Years later.
In 1994.
The year she vanished.
I stared at the letter.
Elaine and I met in 1981 according to the life story she'd given me.
But that story was false.
We actually met in late 1994.
Cassidy was born in 1995.
Six months after Rebecca disappeared.
My stomach dropped.
Warren's letter said:
Frank must never know why Rebecca chose him.
I stopped reading.
Cassidy whispered:
“Dad?”
May you like
Then I saw the next line.
Because Cassidy's biological father was already dead when Frank met her mother.
