Lia did it

"WHAT??!!!" came Ernest shout of shock as his eyes when wide, hearing what his son had just narrated to him.

His voice had been so loud that it caused Margret, Lulu and Charlie to jolt in surprise of his loud vocal reaction while Nine, Michael and Ernest Jr seemed to have expected his reaction or even worse.

"Father, please calm down, try to relax" said Margret as she could see Ernest's skin start to turn red, either from severe rage or severe shock, either one was not good for a man of his age at all.

"How can you tell me that Margret, how can I relax? How can I??!" asked Ernest as his chest heaved up and down.

"Are you telling me that Cecilia is capable of doing something as dubious as this? That she is capable of being a criminal, that she is the one who betrayed her friends like this??!" asked Ernest as Margret was worried, she got up quickly to get Ernest a glass of water.

"This is not true… this cannot be true…" said Ernest as he looked at Michael, Charlie and Nine, he needed to hear it from them… he could not believe this.

"Xavier, tell me, is this true?" asked Ernest as he heaved looking at Nine who didn't like what was going on.

"Yes… it's true Grandfather… Lia did it… she's the one who framed Natasha, I'm sorry to say but it's completely true Grandfather, Lia confessed herself…" said Nine as he sighed and Ernest could not believe it, or more like he did not want to believe it.

"Oh good Lord…" said Ernest in shock as Margret handed him a glass a water in worry as he drank it quickly.

"Father are you alright? Do you feel ill?" asked Margret.

"I feel terrible… I feel like my heart is failing me…" said Ernest as those words of his sent everyone in the room into a panic.

"What do you need Father?" asked Ernest Jr in worry.

"How about some tea? Someone go make him some tea, that can calm him down" said Charlie in worry.

"Yes, yes, some tea, I will go make you some tea Grandfather, please try to relax okay?" asked Lulu in worry as she rubbed his arm before rushing out of the room to make him some tea.

"I don't need tea, I feel terrible, how could this happen under my nose?" asked Ernest as his heart was heavy, full of sorrow.

"All this while I thought that was happened was a plot from someone who hated our family, someone from the outside… I always knew that my dear Natasha was innocent, but who would have imagined that Cecilia… My lovely girl Cecilia would be capable of doing something this… this… this unforgivable?" asked Ernest as he sighed, he felt like shedding tears, this was just too much for him.

His beloved children, his wonderful grandson and his dear Natasha… their lives were ruined by someone they called a friend, someone who he had watched grow up with them, it made his heard feel heavy.

Everyone was in silence, they all thought the same, the realization was just too much.

"Here Grandfather… this should make you feel better" said Lulu as she walked back into the room with a cup of tea as she handed it to Ernest who drank it.

"This is preposterous, what could drive her to such madness? Why would she do such a thing?" asked Ernest as his sadness was now turning into rage.

"How could she get away scot free for six years? Are you telling me that if she had not confessed we would have never known the truth and Natasha would continue to remain guilty in your eyes?" asked Ernest in anger as no one said nothing to answer his questions.

"Michael you were the one Dom put in charge to investigate, how could this have slipped by you?" asked Ernest as he looked at Michael.

"Grandfather, Lia tampered with the security footage, she knew that we would go straight to it, it's only recently that I noticed a tampering with the video which I had no explanation for… but now we do…" said Michael as Ernest sighed.

"My poor Natasha… she must feel devastated, so crushed, so alone… I need to go to her" said Ernest as he stood up and they all stopped him.

"No Grandfather, you can't go over there" said Charlie.

"And why not??!" asked Ernest in anger.

"Well just look at you, you don't feel well, driving all the way over there will be too strenuous for you" said Charlie as they all agreed with him.

"Charlie is right Father, and besides, Dom is over there right now, I think we need to leave them alone to talk with no interference from any of us, they need to sort this out themselves, it's best we stay out of it" said Margret as everyone agreed with her and Ernest sat back down reluctantly.

"I need to call her, I need to talk to her, she needs to hear my voice, she must feel so terrible right now" said Ernest.

"I don't think she will answer Grandfather, I tried her number several times, it wasn't going through, all we can do is stay here and wait, mom's right, they need to resolve this on their own" said Lulu as Ernest sighed.

"You are right…" he agreed.

"But how could Cecilia do something like this? How could she stoop so low to end the happiness of others?" asked Ernest as he sighed, his rage now back to sadness.

…

Natasha was in her room, crying, she couldn't stop crying, she just couldn't stop, she felt terrible, horrible, her life was ruined by someone she trusted so much, she wanted to feel no pain, she wanted to not care, but she just couldn't it affected her too much.

Natasha's cries filled her room as suddenly her phone rang and she remembered that she had her phone in her pocket, she brought it out and was surprised to see that Agent Dians was calling her.

She was in no mood to talk, she was a crying mess and she didn't know what he wanted, so she just rejected his call, and in the same moment, she got a call from Pete, she stared at the screen while crying as she shook her head, she switched off her phone and threw it on the bed angrily as she dropped on the ground and continued crying, she couldn't take this, she felt like dying right now, she wanted this pain, this feeling to go away so badly.

…

"Oh dear, she is not picking my calls" said Ernest as he sighed and he put his phone down, he was worried.

"That's what I said Grandfather, her phone is probably switched off" said Lulu as she was the only one left with Ernest, the others had gone back to Margret and Ernest Jr's house because they were sure that Joy was starting to become suspicious of their silence and secrecy.

"This worries me… Natasha rarely doesn't pick my calls, I fear the worst… what if she's in so much pain that she can't take it?" asked Ernest in worry.

"Grandfather, please calm down, don't think like that, I know that this is painful, but Natasha is stronger than this, she just needs some time" said Lulu.

"I know that Lulu, but I cannot just sit her doing nothing, I feel so helpless, if it was up to me I would be on my way there right now" said Ernest.

"I know Grandfather, but please take it easy, you look pale" said Lulu as she frowned.

"Let me go prepare something light for you, this terrible news has caused you to worry so much" said Lulu as she left his office to the kitchen as Ernest sighed, thinking seriously, he could not just stay here, helplessly waiting to interfere, he needed to do something now, right this instant.

Ernest picked up the telephone as he dialed a number and his call was answered.

"Yes, this is Ernest White… is Cecilia at home?" asked Ernest.

"In that case, tell her that I want to see her as soon as she returns" said Ernest as he ended the call and sighed, he needed to talk to Lia, he needed to get the answers he needed for himself.

…

Lia sighed as she had just gotten home, her eyes were puffy from all her crying and all she wanted to do was stay in her room alone all day, she was tired of life, she was tired of the world.

Lia walked up the stairs as she walked into her room, threw her handbag on her bed and sat down on her bed with a deep sigh when she suddenly heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"What is it?" she asked she had no intention of answering the door.

"Miss Cecilia, Mr. White called earlier, he says that he wants to see you" came the voice of the maid from outside her bedroom door.

As soon as Lia heard that, her heart began to beat quickly in fear.

"He… he did…?" asked Lia in worry as the maid responded.

"Alright, thank you, I will be out soon…" said Lia as she quickly composed herself.

"Alright miss" replied the maid as she left and Lia stood up from her bed and paced around the room in fear, she didn't have to show up… she could ignore his call right…?

But that would just be horrible on her part, Ernest had been nothing but a wonderful man to her… he took her as his own granddaughter, and she respected and loved him a lot…

"Alright Lia… you can do this… he just wants to see me right…?" asked Lia as she assured herself and fixed her hair and applied some quick makeup to her puffy eyes.

"Oh who am I kidding? By now the news of what I did must have spread around the family like a wildfire… I am a goner…" said Lia to herself as she groaned, she wanted to cry again, and she would have, if not that she had just applied some more makeup.

"You can do this Lia… you can do this…" said Lia to herself, the least that she owed Ernest for all his years of kindness to her was to answer to his call.