"Alright..." said Lia as she took a deep breath in and out, she could feel her heart beating out of her chest.
To be honest, she didn't really want to do this, Natasha and Dom had just been living their lives, she didn't think it was necessary to bring up old wounds that everyone had long forgotten about.
But then she remembered what Pete had said to her, and she knew deep down that this was the right thing to do... even though it felt like she was throwing herself into the fire, it was the right thing to do.
Oh how she wished that Pete was here with her, she felt like she could not do this alone, it felt like there was a huge weight on her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe even thought everything was perfectly fine.
Lia wished that she would change her mind, that she would be unable to speak, but that was all nothing but wishful thinking, she knew deep in her mind and in her heart that she needed to correct this mistake herself.
And not just because of Pete, but because of herself and the people whom she had hurt intentionally back in the past.
"Lia, do you feel alright? Should I get you a glass of water? Would that make you feel better?" came Natasha's soft caring voice as she snapped Lia out of her thoughts and Lia turned to look at her as she shook her head.
"No Natasha... I am alright" said Lia as she smiled and she held Natasha's hand tightly.
"But you don't look so good, you look so pale, if you don't want to tell me it's fine" said Natasha as she was very worried, Lia rarely behaved strangely like this.
"No Natasha, you need to know this, and you promised that you wouldn't hate me and that you would understand right?" asked Lia as Natasha nodded.
"One hundred percent" said Natasha as she smiled and Lia smiled and took another deep breath as she prepared herself for what she was going to say.
She could not believe that she was actually doing this, never in a million years did she think that she would confess her terrible crime in front of Natasha, she always thought that it would be a secret that she would go to her grave with... but that had changed now.
"Natasha the thing is that I... I have a confession to make" said Lia as Natasha frowned in confusion, not sure of what Lia was talking about.
"Okay... a confession about what?" asked Natasha gently, she could see that Lia was struggling to say this out and she wanted to make it easier for her, she didn't want to make it harder for her to speak.
"Natasha I..." said Lia as she stalled, looking at the eyes of genuine warmth and love that her friend had for her... if only she had the same love for her, she wouldn't have done what she did.
"Natasha you need to know this, you deserve to know" said Lia.
"Know what Lia?" asked Natasha as now she was seriously confused, Lia seemed like she didn't know what she was saying.
"Natasha... you know, I've liked Dom... ever since we were children" said Lia as Natasha smiled.
"Yes I know about that Lia, you told me, didn't you have a crush on him when we were like 10?" asked Natasha as she giggled remembering fond memories, those were the good old days where nothing was hard and there were no trials of life.
"Well I lied to you Natasha, I didn't have a crush on him... I loved him, I always loved him, ever since we were children..." said Lia.
"Is that what you want to tell me Lia? Because if it is, that's nothing to confess, it's normal to develop feelings for someone you are always so close to, I mean it happened to me as well... unfortunately" said Natasha as she smiled.
"You don't get it Natasha... I wanted to marry him... to be his wife" said Lia.
"Oh well look at that, you should have said this sooner, then things would have been much more different, it would have been better if you had married him" said Natasha.
"That's... that's what I thought as well Natasha..." said Lia as she paused, she was trying to take this slowly, but so far, it seemed that she needed to stop beating around the bush and tell the truth already, it would be better for the both of them that way.
"I never wanted you to marry Dom... I was never happy that you married him, I only pretended that I was... I wanted the two of you to split up and break up" said Lia.
"And now looking back, I should have listened to you, I mean just look at where we ended up?" asked Natasha as she scoffed, she really could be stubborn at times and she hated that.
"No Natasha, it's not like that... I... I wanted to break you two up because I wanted Dom to marry me instead" said Lia as Natasha chuckled lightly.
"What spell does that man have on the both of us? I unfortunately fell head over heels for him, and you were also in love with him as well" said Natasha as she shook her head and chuckled as Lia looked at her, seeing how much Natasha truly disliked Dom, and it only made her feel more guilty that she was the one responsible for that.
"Natasha when you told me that you fell in love with him... I was angry, I knew that he loved you too, and I knew that you would be happy together, so I did something to break you two up... I separated you in the worst way possible" said Lia as Natasha looked at Lia in confusion.
"Natasha I did something terrible, something that I am not proud of" said Lia.
"What are you talking about Lia?" asked Natasha as she wasn't too slow to get that Lia was about to say something terrible, but what confused her was that this was Lia they were talking about, the sweet, pretty princess who cared for her friends, so for her to say that she did something terrible that signaled warning bells in her head.
"Natasha I..." said Lia as she took a deep breath and she looked into Natasha's eyes that were filled with worry.
This was it, this was the moment of truth, this was everything that Lia had dreaded, and yet here she was saying it anyway, preparing herself for destruction.
Who was she lying to? Once Natasha heard the truth, there would be nothing... nothing left at all.
"I wanted to separate you two so bad... so I did..." said Lia as Natasha narrowed her eyes at Lia.
"How exactly did you do that?" asked Natasha as something was telling her that she might have known the answer, but she refused to believe it.
"Natasha, five years ago when you were accused of drugging yourself and Dom... it wasn't you who did it... it was me...." said Lia as she looked at Natasha, hoping that nothing would change, but that would be too much to ask.
As soon as Natasha heard the words that came out of Lia's mouth she froze... as she looked at her, her eyes searching for this to be some sort of joke, that she had heard incorrectly or something.
"What do you mean it was you?" asked Natasha as she slowly pulled her hands out of Lia's hands as she rested her back on the couch.
Lia looked down, she didn't want to repeat what she had just said, there was no way to soften her words, what she did was unforgivable and she knew it.
"I... I... Natasha... I was the one who drugged you and Dom five years ago, I did it...me" said Lia her voice barely a whisper as she kept her head down, she wouldn't dare look at Natasha right now.
Natasha looked at Lia with a mix of shock and coldness, she could not believe this, she refused to believe this, maybe it was a prank or something, but deep down she knew that this was no prank at all.
Lia who was worried when she didn't hear Natasha say anything ceased the opportunity to confess totally, she needed to tell her the full truth.
"Tha...tha...that valentines day when you said you were ready to tell Dom how you really felt I... I knew he would feel the same and I didn't want that so I... I came up with a plan..." said Lia as Natasha kept silent, internally deciding whether to believe this or not.
"I convinced you to go to the mall with me, buy some things for dinner, buy a new dress and also go to the spa with me..." said Lia as she paused there... did she really have to tell Natasha this part? Well yes if she wanted her conscience to be free she had to.
"I had a friend at the spa who I paid to make a mask of your face... I convinced you to get a face mask treatment even though you didn't need it, and my friend well she... she used some chemicals to make a realistic mould of your face..." said Lia as she took a pause.