Chapter 6 - The Trial of the Hawthornes
Grant, Marjorie and Vincent were tried separately.
Vincent pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, medical fraud and conspiracy.
He received twenty-eight years.
Marjorie refused to admit wrongdoing.
She claimed Eleanor’s death had been necessary to protect the Hawthorne legacy.
At trial, she described Lydia as an ungrateful outsider.
Lydia testified for four hours.
The defense played edited videos portraying her as emotional and aggressive.
Then prosecutors played the complete recordings.
Each outburst followed hours of provocation.
Each accusation followed theft, humiliation or surveillance.
The jury saw Grant locking the door on the night Eleanor died.
They saw Celeste laughing while Atlas growled.
They heard Grant demanding that Lydia crawl beneath the dog.
Celeste had deleted the video from her phone, but the cloud backup survived.
The recording that was meant to humiliate Lydia became the evidence that destroyed the family.
Marjorie was convicted of murder, conspiracy, financial fraud and witness intimidation.
She received life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after thirty-five years.
Grant faced charges including kidnapping, coercive control, fraud, conspiracy, assault and obstruction.
He attempted to blame his mother.
“She raised me to believe the Hayes family was our enemy,” he testified.
Lydia’s attorney asked one question.
“Did your mother force you to lock the door?”
Grant said nothing.
He was sentenced to forty-six years.
Celeste cooperated with prosecutors and admitted recording Lydia, stealing company information and helping move money.
She avoided prison but received five years of supervised release, paid restitution and permanently lost access to the Hawthorne estate.
Outside the courthouse, reporters surrounded Lydia.
“Do you feel victorious?” one asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“My mother is still dead.”
Another reporter asked whether she intended to keep control of Hawthorne Infrastructure.
Lydia looked toward the company’s employees gathered behind the barricades.
“No family should control a company simply because its name is on the building.”
She announced a restructuring.
Employees received ownership shares.
An independent safety board gained authority over all construction projects.
The corrupt Piermont contracts were canceled.
Money recovered from the Hawthorne family funded pensions and medical care for injured workers.
Lydia renamed the company Meridian Civic Works.
The Hawthorne name disappeared from the headquarters.
The Hayes name did not replace it.
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Lydia wanted the company to belong to the people who built it.
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