"You don't have to worry, I will make sure that Miss Thomas answers for all her crimes." said Pete, his eyes were heavy and tired. They were red, it was hard to tell if they were like that because of the stress or because of the few tears he allowed himself shed after the arrest of Lia.
He had arrested Lia, ordered her to be taken to the station and he had gotten statements from those that were present when the altercation happened, and that included Joy.
It wasn't until after everything died down and Joy was asleep that Dom gave his statement, and as Pete sat there, hearing everything he said and described, seeing the complete agony that he was going through.
Pete thought right there and then, he felt incapable of continuing to be involved in this case. It just hit to close to home.
If not for his years of experience and professionalism, he would have felt like strangling Lia himself. She was such a vile and wicked woman, how did she think that the terrible act she did would be excused by one silly notion that she needed to do this all for the sake of her stupid useless love.
Pete shrugged off all his doubting thoughts, there was no way he would leave this case, no, not now, not when the truth had finally come to light. He owed Natasha this much so she could finally rest in peace once justice had been served.
"I know you will Peter... I know you will..." replied Dom as he just felt so terrible, so bad that Natasha was gone because of him, because of his ignorance, because of his naivety and his failure to see the truth while it was always staring right at him.
"Get yourself together, you can't let Joy se you like this." said Pete as Dom nodded, even though he was currently going through the same emotions internally.
"Morales my partner is interrogating her as we speak, if she claims that she is innocent, this process will take much longer." said Pete.
"She can't do that, there is video evidence of her assault this evening, and she stands to gain nothing if she continues to deny everything she said." replied Dom as he rubbed his eyes.
He was exhausted emotionally, physically, internally, oh how he wished that this was all a bad dream that he could wake up from, but at the same time, if this was truly a dream, the truth would have never been revealed.
"You never know... criminals like her will fight till their last breath." said Pete as he stood up.
"It's late, get some rest, I will call you to come to the station tomorrow if there is any new development." said Pete as Dom nodded and Pete left.
Pete got into his car as he let all the emotions of loss, of grief of relief wash all over him as he let out his tears.
"I'm so sorry Natasha, I'm so sorry that you had to die in the hands of such a vindictive woman, I'm so sorry." he said as he cried, he bent down his head and rested it on the steering wheel.
"I'm so sorry, but I fulfilled my promise, I promise you that woman will pay for what she did, she will spend the rest of her miserable life behind bars, I promise you." said Pete as he took a deep calming breath before starting the car and driving away.
...
"How is this possible?? How can this be possible?? How can they accuse my sweet girl of a crime as heinous as this??!!" asked Cecil in rage as he paced around the room.
The Thomas household had been in a state of unrest once they were informed of the arrest of their daughter late last night.
"This is a lie, this is a false claim, they just want to ruin my daughter's life!!" said Cecil as he continued to pace in furiousness as Alyssa remained silent, her eyes blank as she said nothing.
"Alyssa!! WILL YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL??" asked Cecil as he turned to his wife and shouted at her as that seemed to be the last straw, something within Alyssa seemed to snap.
"AND WOULD YOU BE SILENT FOR ONCE CECIL!! YOUR DAUGHTER JUST CONFESSED TO COMMITTING SUCH A TERRIBLE CRIME AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS DEFEND HER AS ALWAYS??!"" said Alyssa in rage as she stood up.
"SHUT UP CECIL, SHUT UP, IF I AM SURE OF ANYTHING IT IS THAT CECILIA IS GUILTY AND SHE WILL AND SHE MUST PAY FOR HER CRIMES." said Alyssa.
"FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD AND HOLY YOUR DAUGHTER KILLED SOMEONE, SHE MURDERED AN INNOCENT LIFE, SHE KILLED HER FRIEND AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS HOW SHE IS INNOCENT WHEN SHE TRULY DESERVES TO BE LOCKED UP, SHE CONFESSED TO IT HERSELF!!" said Alyssa as her voice was strained, she was on the verge of tears.
"But as always, you will always side your daughter and no one else, well congratulations Cecil, you have come to the end of the line, there is no way you can protect her now." said Alyssa as she cried.
"You're wrong, I have money, I will do whatever it takes to get Cecilia out of there, I will pay the best lawyers." said Cecil.
"Oh to HELL with your money!" said Alyssa as she shouted.
"Damn you Cecil, damn you! Even in this situation you can't see your faults, you can't see that you need to let Cecilia suffer, if you can't train her then life will train her for you." said Alyssa.
"It doesn't matter what you do, who you pay, or who you say, Natasha was a member of the White family, the loss greatly affected them and it doesn't matter the many years of friendship we have had, they will make sure not to rest until Lia answers for her crimes and justice is served." said Alyssa as she cried.
"And I do not blame them, at all because Lia deserves it." said Alyssa.
"You know what, I am done, years and years of staying with you and I can't take it anymore Cecil I can't, this was the last straw, I am done, I am not the mother of a child that is a criminal, so do whatever you want." said Alyssa as she wiped her tears removed her wedding ring, threw it at Cecil as she walked to her closet, brought out a suitcase and began to pack all her belongings.
It did not take her up to five minutes as she took the bare essentials, she turned around and walked away and refused to look back.
Meanwhile Cecil could do nothing other than stand there and look in complete shock as he could not speak, he stood there dumb.
Two days later.
"What is the report on the case Morales?" asked Pete as he sat in his office, he had avoided going to interrogate Lia, he did not want his emotions to get the better of him.
"Well boss, the lady in question has admitted to all her crimes, she has not once denied any allegations brought against her." said Morales.
"I see... so what is going on at the moment?" asked Pete.
"Her father has brought a lawyer to defend her." said Morales.
"I see..." said Pete.
"If you ask me Pete, we're looking at an offence of first degree murder, it was clearly premeditated and done out of hatred." said Morales.
"I am sure of the same, and I am also certain that the judge will give the right punishment for a woman like her." said Pete as there was anger evident in his tone.
...
"So how did it go?" asked Cecil as he was waiting outside the interrogation room when a man in a grey suit walked out of the room and shook his head.
"Mr. Thomas, I am afraid that I am unable to do anything, Miss Cecilia does not seem to be cooperating, she informed me that she has already told the police that she is guilty of every crime they have issued against her." said the lawyer as Cecil felt blood drain from his face.
"I am afraid that there is little I can do, Miss Cecilia is not ready to be released." said the lawyer.
"In my defence, from what I know, the evidence against her is very, very clear and condemning, along with her own confession, so by my advice if she pleads guilty at the trial, then she might get off with a less serious sentence, and maybe even get out of on good behaviour." said the lawyer as Cecil was enraged.
"What do you mean get out on good behaviour?? She hasn't even been trialed yet and you are here speaking as if she already behind bars, am I paying you for you to say nothing but absolute nonsense??!." asked Cecil.
"Look Mr. Thomas, you are indeed paying me, and I am a good lawyer, the best in the country, there is only so much I can do when the client is unwilling to defend herself, so as my advice to you, she might be sentenced twenty years or more without parole, but if she's good, she might get out earlier on good behaviour." said the lawyer as the look on Cecil's face was one akin to murderous.
"I will take my leave now, see you in court on Monday." said the lawyer as he made his escape, he had had his fair share of rageful clients and he was not about to stress himself over this simple case.
"Cecilia, my dear, my child why won't you cooperate with the lawyer? He is trying to help you." said Cecil as soon as he entered into the interrogation room.
He looked at Lia and felt a chill run down his spine. He had never seen her like this before, her face was blank, her eyes void of any emotion, she looked as if she was half dead, she looked as if she had no reason to live anymore.
Lia didn't say anything, she just looked at her father, she was done, she had given up, what was the point of getting out when no one wanted her? When everyone hated her.
"My darling, please try to help us help you, I don't want to see you behind bars, locked up like this. I want you to be free." said Cecil softly with a warm smile as he sat down and tried to touch Lia's hands as she pulled away.
"I don't want to be free." she said