[ Sinking ] || A Colby Brock Fanfiction

Chapter 29

Note: This fanfiction does not follow the timeline of the TFIL videos or the videos from the channels from the mentioned YouTubers. In this fanfiction, they already live in that big mansion as roommates.
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Colby

Francine refused to go to the hospital after she recovered from her panic attack. In fact, she refused to even talk to anyone of us, especially Kenneth and Julianne. Only one name came out of her mouth and she remained silent until she was alone with him. Levin, her twin brother.

"Aunt Julie, she'll come through. Levin will make her understand." Penny reassured the worried couple who both stared at the closed door that leads to where Francine and Levin were in. "This was a last minute thing that we were not able to brief her about, she'll understand." Penny reached out to Kenneth and Julianne's intertwined hands and placed a comforting hand on top, a gesture of support and reassurance for the couple.

Still as confused as Francine, I gathered up some courage to ask about the issue that caused France to have a panic attack. "What... Exactly happened?" I was a bit hesitant but I wanted to know. "Why were you just letting them spit lies about France?" The couple flinched at my question.

Penny, on the other hand, shot me a glare. "Are you implying that uncle Ken and aunt Julie are not doing their jobs as France's lawyer? Is that what you're asking?" She sounded mad as the thought of me not believing at them to protect their adopted son's biological twin sister.

I flinched and immediately tried to clear my question. "No! It's not like that! I just... Wanted to know why they were not going against those videos that John and Cassidy showed, that's all!"

She narrowed her eyes at me before saying, "That's exactly what you were thinking! You don't believe in them!"

"It's not like that!" I sighed in frustration. Well, everything in this whole situation is frustrating, this argument was just adding to that frustration. Thankfully, before Penny and I could continue our argument, Kenneth sighed and told us both to calm down. With much reluctance, Penny backed down but still kept sending angry glares at my direction while I tried to ignore it.

"While the Lockharts were showing video evidences to prove their statements, we tried our best to reassure Francine that it was alright and that if she reacted harshly on their statements, she would end up looking too defensive and would raise suspicion among the jury and the judge." Kenneth explained in a defeated manner. He sighed once again before continuing his explanation. "We expected something like that to happen just a few days away from the court meeting and we were working on how to prove that those were fakes." He paused then looked at his wife who took it as a cue to continue the explanation.

"When we finally found a way to prove Francine's innocence against those videos, it was already the night before the court trial. We were not able to brief you and her about it because of that." Julianne sadly gazed at the closed door once again. "We thought that she would fully believe in us and just hold her protests but I guess with all the stress and all, it triggered a panic attack. I'm sure that once Levin explains it to her, she will most likely apologize for not trusting us... But the truth is, it is us who should apologize for not explaining to her what we had planned."

I sat in silence as I let the information sink in. It makes sense. They briefed us a week before the trial and focused on keeping France physically and mentally stable for the trial after the brief. Though her psychiatrist recommended to move the trial back a few more days to give her more time to stabilize her mental state, Francine insisted that she could handle the stress and relieving of wounds for a day.