บท 559: Hear me out

Natasha sighed, she was really bored here. She really had nothing to do other than eat and remain standing and eat some more.

Pete had already left to speak to some people he knew, which left her all alone. All the other members of the family were busy talking to guests, greeting them and discussing business, meanwhile, she had nothing else to do.

She was all lonely here, Chloe was busy accompanying her husband and Natasha could not blame her for that.

Natasha decided that she was tired of standing here, it would be better to go find Joy so at least she would have someone to keep her company.

Natasha walked from the buffet table through the crowd. Dom spotted Natasha leaving as he was speaking to someone else. He could tell that she was lonely, and he felt really guilty about discussing work when this was supposed to be a relaxing evening, Unfortunately he could not get out of this discussion any time soon.

Natasha tried to remain as natural as possible, she didn't want anyone calling out to her and derailing her from going her way. She was only here because of grandfather, if it was up to her, she would have left as soon as she had arrived.

Natasha stifled a sneeze causing her to momentarily stop. She thought that she had contained the sneeze when she felt like sneezing again and she did so lightly, softly pushing her to back into the person she would have least expected to bump into.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Natasha quickly apologized a she turned around and froze in shock when met face to face with the person she had bumped into.

"It's oka..." replied Lia as she was also frozen in shock when she saw that it was Natasha who had bumped into her.

"You... you're here..." said Natasha, her voice was a mix between surprise and anguish.

"Yes..." replied Lia as she was speechless, she knew that it was inevitable that she would bump into Natasha tonight, but now that she was face to face with her, she could not bring herself to say all the things that she wanted to say.

"What are you doing here?" asked Natasha taking a step back.

"Peter... invited me as his plus one..." replied Lia as she smiled.

"I see..." said Natasha as she cursed Pete internally, he should have told her that Lia was here, then she would have been more careful, she really did not want any drama to unfold here.

"Yes... so how have you been?" asked Lia in an attempt to lift the awkwardness that was heavy between them.

"I really don't have time for this..." said Natasha as she proceeded to turn around and leave when Lia summoned up all her courage and blocked Natasha from leaving holding her hands in the process.

"Let go of me, what do you want?!" asked Natasha in a hushed tone, she did not want to cause a scene.

"Please Natasha, don't leave, please, I beg you, can we talk? Can you give me just two minutes of your time to talk?" pleaded Lia as Natasha pulled her hands out of her grip.

"Don't you dare cause a scene Cecilia!" replied Natasha in the same hushed tone.

"I'm not! I'm not trying to, please Natasha, please sweetie, just give me two minutes..." pleaded Lia in the same hushed tone.

"Don't call me sweetie!" Natasha retorted, almost losing her composure, she could take everything except hearing that fake sweetness and concern in Lia's voice. She had been fooled by it for far too long.

"Okay, you're right, I won't, please Natasha I won't call you that again, just hear me out please." pleaded Lia.

"You have two minutes." Natasha stated sharply as she could see that people were starting to look this way.

"Thank you Natasha." said Lia smiling in relief, for a moment there she thought that Natasha would refuse.

"You have one minutes and fifty eight seconds left." replied Natasha sternly.

"Natasha, I just want to say that I'm sorry... I am really sorry, and I'm not just saying this because I've lost you guys my best friends, but because I know that I deserved what I got, because I should have never done that to you... I considered you the sister I never had, and sisters don't do that to each other, I'm so sorry for letting my jealousy and envy get the better of me, I would like to say that I never meant to hurt you... but at the time I did, and I can't change that, I can't change what I did..."

"But, what I can change is what I do now, and I am truly sorry Natasha. If I could go back, if I had a second chance, I would never have gotten in between you and Dom, never." said Lia sincerely as she watched Natasha closely, her heart broke seeing how stern Natasha was with her, and she knew that she could only blame herself for causing it.

"Is that all?" asked Natasha in annoyance, she would not lie, she really felt all the hurt come back seeing Lia here, and it really wasn't helping her put it behind her.

"I just want to know... can you ever forgive me?" asked Lia her face full of hope.

"Forgiveness is not the problem Lia... to be honest, I have already forgiven you." Natasha said, causing Lia's face to light up.

"The problem is... does forgiving you mean that we'll move on and I'll accept you back as my friend like nothing happened." said Natasha.

"The answer is no, you crossed some lines... lines that are unforgivable, but not forgiving you would drive me crazy in sorrow, and I chose not to go down that route. I get that you were envious and jealous, and I'm glad that you can see your mistakes. I'm happy for you that you have someone... who genuinely cares for you."

"But you and I can never be as close friends as we used to." said Natasha as Lia's smile dropped in understanding as she nodded.

"I can't chase you away from family engagements since Grandfather still considers you family, but as for me... I just need some time... I can never trust you again, and don't take it the wrong way." said Natasha as her eyes flashed in pain, this woman had killed her in her previous life.

For the sake of her sanity and safety, she just couldn't continue to be friends with someone who used to be her enemy. She would never be able to allow herself rest whenever with Lia.

"I understand Natasha... it's not your fault. I know that I deserve this... thank you for forgiving me." said Lia as she smiled and gave Natasha a quick hug before she could react.

"I won't bother you anymore, enjoy the rest of your evening." said Lia as she let go of Natasha and walked away.

Natasha stood there watching her leave. Natasha suddenly did not feel so good, she felt a little bit lightheaded. She needed some fresh air.

Natasha turned around and walked towards the exit. Dom who had been watching from afar quickly excused himself and rushed after Natasha. He just hoped that she was okay.

Natasha walked out the exit into the parking lot as she took a deep breath.

She just felt like crying right now. Seeing Lia unleashed some terrible memories. It had occurred to her that Lia was a seriously wicked person, from blatantly trying to kill her, and all for what? Just for one person.

Natasha felt terrible right now, her eyes were tearing up. Yes, she knew she said that she had forgiven Lia and that was true, but her emotions were a mess right now. That was someone she had trusted with her life.

"Natasha, are you okay?" asked Dom from behind as he heard Natasha release an audible groan on exhaustion, as if asking him 'why are you here?'.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she had her back turned to him.

"I saw you leaving, I thought to come check on you." he replied.

"Natasha, are you okay?" he asked again.

"I am fine, just fine." she replied as she groaned and covered her face with her hands, she felt so stressed right now.

"I saw you talking to Lia." he said.

"Oh, so you knew that she was here." she replied with a scoff.

"I didn't know that she was invited, but she spoke to me..." he said.

"That's great, as you can see, I am fine, so you can leave me alone please." she replied.

"Natasha... if you're really okay turn around and let me see for myself." he said.

"Why would I?" she asked as she wiped away the lone tears that had managed to slip out of her eyes.

"If you want me to leave, then please do that." he said.

"You know what, I don't know what's making feel this confident to demand things from me." she said as she turned around and Dom could see her watery eyes, he truly felt bad.

"There, you see, I'm alright, perfectly fine." she replied as she sniffed subtly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you alone, or at least, I should have warned you that she was here then you wouldn't have been surprised." said Dom.

"You have nothing to do with this, let's just go inside..." said Natasha as she sighed and walked away. She had a feeling that Dom had no intention of leaving her, so there was no point staying here.

Dom stood there for a while with an unreadable expression on his face as he looked ahead before heading back inside.