#lexysama

Intermission Part 1: ~Adrien Agreste after the first phone call~

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The moment he hung up that phone, the smile slid off of his face, and with speed he thought he could only achieve while cloaked with miraculous magic, Adrien Agreste raced to his unnecessarily enormous bathroom....

And vomited.

He puked, and puked, and puked some more, until absolutely nothing was left. Throughout his heaving, he could faintly feel Plagg gently rubbing his back, showing concern he often buried under snark, sass, and mountains of Camembert cheese.

When his stomach finally deemed itself empty enough to stop him from heaving any longer, Adrien flushed the toilet and sat on the cold tiled floor, and began to cry. His body, already trembling from muscle spasms due to vomiting, began to tremble even more as he descended into sobs. Tiredly, he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, and burying his face into what little space his arms had left to offer.

He hurt.

Oh did he hurt.

It took everything within him to not break down after hearing of Marinette's ordeal with Lila and her lack of faith in him as a friend. He held it back for the most part, but he did crack a little. And that crack just expanded more and more as he continued to listen about the monster Lila Rossi; The monster that he'd help to run rampant. The nausea he felt building with every realization, with every painful impact that Lila's foul lies had caused, and even the damage Chloe had done that he'd dismissed or shrugged off, was almost too much to bear. He'd been forced to steel himself, to not give away the storm of emotions that burned inside him like acid.

And even now, the guilt, the shame, the anger, the self loathing he felt towards himself was absolutely eating him alive.

And yet there was nothing. No sounds other than his sobbing. No wind from the open window, no dripping from the faucets. Even the water in the toilet next to him was absolutely still.

More importantly, however, is that there was no fluttering of butterfly wings, and no voice in his head trying to convince him to steal the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous.

He guessed that was for the best. Being akumatized on top of everything else that had occurred would only make him feel even more like a failure. Because that's what he was.

A complete and utter failure.

No matter how much anyone tried to say he wasn't, there was no changing just how much he'd utterly failed when it came to the current situation. He failed to realize just how dangerous Lila was, despite numerous examples. He failed to notice just how much the class dynamic was shifting to Lila's advantage. He failed to have common sense.

And most importantly, he failed Marinette.

And apparently, he'd been failing her for a long time, as evidenced by her admission of her lack of faith in him. His stomach lurched as he realized that he'd been failing Marinette since the day he met her, when he decided to bite his tongue about who actually put gum on her seat. And with that memory, more began to flip through his mind like some kind of sick film. He could do nothing but watch as his multiple failures to help and protect his friend replayed in his head over and over again. Forcing to him to relive his failures. But with each replay, he learned something new about his friend that he never realized before. He saw how she tried to hide her disappointment and hurt. He saw the frustration that tightened her jaw before smiling like everything was okay.

He saw how resigned she looked when she was denied justice, and forced apologize or take responsibility for things that were in no way her fault. He saw her exhausted smiles, and bags under her eyes as she tried her best to be their Everyday Ladybug. He saw how sad she looked when her concerns were dismissed, and how frustrated she was to stick to his idiotic advice about taking the high road with Lila, even though it hurt and infuriated her to let Lila lie and take advantage of their friends.

And as he saw this, strangely, his grief began to lessen as resolve took it's place. Resolve to be better, to do better. Resolve to learn from his horrible mistake.

Resolve to make things better for Marinette.

After all, he was at fault for failing to recognize the threat that Lila was and is, and was at least partially responsible for the people she hurt because of her lies. He could have and should have exposed her a long time ago. If not because of her making promises she couldn't keep to their classmates, but because she clearly hates Ladybug enough to side with Hawk Moth, a terrorist, in order to take her down. Why he didn't expose her after that he can only chalk up to pure naive stupidity.

The last of his sobs and sniffling quieted as he took one last shuddering breath before his breathing evened out. His mournful expression faded as he reached over to the toilet paper to wipe his mouth. Tossing it into the toilet and flushing, he stood up a bit shakily, trying his best to ignore the pins and needles feeling of circulation returning to his legs. As he walked to the bathroom counter to brush his teeth, he heard the light 'whooshing' sound of Plagg's flight near his head.

"Well, that happened." Plagg said, as he took in Adrien's expression in the mirror. Adrien scoffed, clearly not in the mood for Plagg's snarkiness, as he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste.

"You were there to hear everything, so yeah." Adrien said as he began depositing a dollop of toothpaste onto his toothbrush. "Do me a favor. Just tell me 'you told me so' and move on. I don't think I can take any more reminders about my utter stupidity and failure tonight." He said as he shoved the toothbrush into his mouth and almost violently began scrubbing his teeth.

"I told you so." Plagg said as he shrugged his tiny shoulders, before gently perching on Adrien's shoulder. "But I don't think you're stupid. Naive, definitely. Soft hearted, check. But stupid, absolutely not."

Adrien spat into the sink. "Plagg, don't patronize me. You heard everything they said. You saw how hurt Marinette was. How could I not be stupid? I could've nipped Lila's nonsense in the bud the very same day she lied to me on her first day of school. I could have stopped the spread of her influence. But instead I allowed her to run rampant, and mistakenly put her feelings above everyone else's. I allowed her lies to infect our classmates like a virus, and didn't notice how she was slowly turning everyone in our class against Marinette. She threatened Marinette and then had the nerve to try and con me into believing her lies like she hadn't just threatened someone."

Plagg's ears and tail drooped as he saw the fury building in Adrien's expression.

"What's worse is that she keeps trying to con me after she was already exposed by Ladybug as a liar right in front of me! And even called Ladybug the liar! And then there's that whole thing that happened when she attacked me for calling her out on it and stuffing me in my locker, and then tried to use my image to do the same thing she had just threatened to do to Marinette! And what did I do? Oh that's right. NOTHING. I didn't expose her."

"To be fair," Plagg cut in. "it's not like Pigtails told you about the threat. You didn't know about that when you gave her that advice so technically, you couldn't possibly have known just how dangerous Lila was."

"That's one of the worst parts of all of this. Because of my stupidity in dealing with Chloe, Marinette didn't have faith that I would do the right thing when it came to Lila. She didn't think I would be on her side or even believe her. We were supposed to be in this together and I practically handed the key to Marinette's demise right into Lila's hands because of my negligence. And then there's the fact that she helped Hawk Moth by working with Onii-chan when she wasn't even akumatized. She faked an injury just to separate Ladybug and I so that Onii-chan could defeat Ladybug. Ladybug could have been killed if that plan had succeeded. And yet," Adrien said with a self-depreciating laugh. "and yet I didn't expose her! Not even when she broke into my house, put me in a headlock, forced a kiss on me, took a picture of it, and then sent it to all of my contacts to make it look like she and I were dating!"

"Adrien, STOP." Plagg said as he flew from Adrien's shoulder to stop in front of his face. "I get it, you messed up. Everyone does. The important part is that you learn from it and try your best to do better. If anyone in this whole mess is stupid it's Chloe and Lila. They do wrong and when there are consequences, they refuse to learn and they refuse to do better. They blame others and are too self-absorbed to realize that the world doesn't revolve around them, and that other people matter besideds them. You could have done better with Chloe, I agree. But you tried to be stern with her and although it looked like she was trying to be kinder, it was insincere. She was only after your friendship. You two have a long history, and she was your only friend for most of your life until recently. You went easier on her when you shouldn't have, but you aren't responsible for her behavior. You even tried to help Lila, and she attacked you for it. I know you don't want to give up on people, but there are times when you should prune people from your life. You want them to be good, and believe they can, but those two have proven time and time again that they just aren't willing to do that."

"But I'm supposed to be a hero. I'm supposed to encourage people to do good." Adrien says, looking down at the counter, his fists clenched.

"Exactly. You're supposed to encourage them, not force them. You can't force someone to be good Adrien, and it's not your responsibility or place to do so. People who choose to do wrong are wholly responsible for those decisions." Plagg said before floating lower to look Adrien in the eyes. "You're being too hard on yourself. If you were really as bad as you say you are, you wouldn't be a hero, or this torn up about your mistakes. I would have never met you, and I would rather never have cheese again if it meant you couldn't be my Black Cat." Plagg said, a tender smile on his face.

Plagg's image began to blur as Adrien's eyes filled with tears. "You really mean that?" He said as he sniffled.

"Yeah kid, I do." Plagg said as he flew up and gently hugged Adrien's cheek and rubbed his own against his. "And if you tell anyone about this conversation I will deny it."

Adrien let out a watery laugh as he gently rubbed his eyes free of any tears. "Yeah I figured. Thank you Plagg."

"Yeah yeah you're welcome. Now rinse that toothpaste out of your mouth. You look rabid." Plagg said as he retreated from the bathroom to find some cheese.

Adrien looked into the mirror and snorted before finishing up and rinsing his mouth. Mouth thoroughly cleaned, he looked back into the mirror at his reflection and began to frown. Despite what Plagg had said, it didn't change the fact that he'd failed. But just like before, resolve began to build within him. Resolve to correct his mistakes. Resolve to learn from his mistakes.

And most importantly, resolve to be a hero. In and out of the mask.

And first on his list of villains to take down was Lila Rossi. Between her and Chloe, Lila was undoubtedly the most dangerous because her true nature was widely unknown, and her ability to instigate akuma attacks via her manipulations left lasting damage even after the akuma victim was defeated. She is a devil in disguise that hides behind a fake smile and fake stories that tugged at the heart strings. Her ability to turn people's words against them and wriggle out of being exposed was going to be tough to contend with, but with the help of his newly discovered allies, he was going to make sure that Lila would never be believed again.

And he knew just who to call to help him make that happen.

And so as Adrien turned on his heel to walk out of his bathroom, he began to plan.

------------

Adrien was still up by the time sunrise came around. His phone call with Alya last night had given him a very good idea. As a model, he had quite a bit of inside knowledge when it came to photos and privacy laws. No doubt Alya did as well, being a journalist. He doubted that Lila knew them, considering how boldly she acted when she took that picture of him in his bedroom and then spread it around.

When Alya told him that what Lila had done was considered sexual assault, it stuck with him. She lied her way into his home, snooped through his things, put him in a headlock and kissed him, took a picture of it, and then spread it around. If that wasn't bad enough, it risked two of his guardian's jobs and caused an akuma attack.

He sighed, brushing his hair from his face. He was tired, having been up all night planning Lila's downfall. But for the most part, he believed that he'd finally come up with something to at least put the wheels in motion. Luckily, Adrien knew the family attorney's number like the back of his hand, and she would be arriving this morning. And even if his father didn't agree, Adrien made more than enough money to hire her himself and pay for the legal fees. He didn't think it'd come to that, however. He and his father were never really close, but Adrien knew enough about his father to know that his father cared about the image of his company and the image his family more than anything. And with what he already had planned, his father would have no choice but to side with him on this matter.

Sitting back in his chair and stretching, he was startled by the sound of a text notification. Quickly grabbing his phone and seeing Alya's name, he grinned before opening the text and responding back. She was almost done with her article. He barely had enough time to finish his text and send it before there was a knock at his door. He jumped up, startled, and he could see in the corner of his eye that so did Plagg before zipping under the bed to hide. The door opened and Nathalie stepped in, looking nearly as put together as she usually did if not for the frown on her face. She seemed to pause, more than likely surprised to see him awake before clearing her throat and standing in her usual rigid stance.

"Adrien, please get dressed quickly. Your father would like to see you in his office right away." She said before turning on her heel and exiting the room, no doubt standing outside the door.

Adrien sighed before standing up to get dressed. "Didn't even say good morning."

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As Nathalie escorted him from his room to his father's office, he figured that their family attorney had been concerned that she was contacted by Adrien and not his father, and then contacted his father to make sure that everything was okay. He also figured his father would be highly annoyed and would have tried to cancel the meeting he made with her. No such luck. Since Adrien had contacted her, it would have to be Adrien that would have to cancel the meeting. No doubt his father would pressure him to do so, but he wouldn't budge on this. He couldn't, not when there was so much at stake. His phone was in his pocket, and the moment things were in place, he would enact the first part of his plan.

He wouldn't let his father bully him this time.

When they reached his father's office door, Nathalie swiftly opened it for him and gestured for him to go in. He took a deep breath, and then stepped inside the lion's den where his father was predictably waiting, standing in front of his mother's enormous portrait. Nathalie entered behind him before shutting the door and standing to the side.

"Adrien, whatever nonsense you are planning ends now. You will call our attorney and cancel the meeting." Gabriel said as he turned around. He was as imposing and intimidating as ever as he glared down at him. But whatever nervousness that had built up on his way there was quickly discarded as he stood as tall as he could in opposition of his father.

"No father, I will not." Adrien said, but couldn't help but shrink a little as his father's glare intensified.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. You will call the attorney, and you will cancel the meeting. There is nothing else to discuss." Gabriel said as he came closer, his imposing stance becoming even more intimidating with every step. But Adrien would not falter. He steeled himself, balling up his fists as his expression hardened.

"I said no, father. I called her here for an important reason."

"And what, pray tell could be reason enough to call the family attorney without my permission? I highly doubt it's anything really important. You're just like your mother, dramatic about everything." Gabriel said as he looked down at Adrien.

Before he could respond, the doorbell rang. Nathalie swiftly went to her desk to view who it was through the security camera, before turning back to Gabriel. "It's Mme. Deveraux, sir."

Gabriel nodded. "Let her in. I doubt she'll be here long since Adrien will cancel the meeting."

"I'm not canceling the meeting father. I already said no." Adrien said. He was getting really sick of his father acting like his feelings and decisions didn't matter.

"Stop your foolishness at once. This is not a silly game. You have wasted Mme. Deveraux's time by calling her here and have embarrassed me and this company." Gabriel sneered.

There was a knock on the door, but Adrien ignored Nathalie moving passed him to focus completely on his father. It was clear that Gabriel couldn't be reasoned with, so Adrien had to make sure that he had leverage, and what he had to say would certainly stun his father into silence.

"I didn't call her here for something foolish! You don't even know the reason I called her and you're already dismissing me, just like you always do! I wouldn't have even had to call her on my own if you would for once care about how I feel!"

"That's enough Adrien! Clearly your time in school around those hooligans you call 'friends' have been a bad influence on you. Lila Rossi was correct in her reports."

.....

What?

"Did you just say Lila Rossi?" Adrien said as his fists clenched even tighter, his nails and his miraculous biting into his skin. That....That was not something Adrien saw coming. He and his friends had already talked about how devious Lila was. He'd never thought that she'd already wormed her way into father's good graces, let alone act as a spy for him.

But it was more than that though. Based on what his father had just admitted to, it seemed that Lila had been very diligent in making sure that Adrien bent to her whims. The fact that she had been using his father to do so, and his father had allowed it, infuriated him.

"Yes, I did. She informed me of how naive you were and offered her help to look after you in school to help cut out all of the bad influences there. But based on your behavior, I fear I may have been too late."

"...You trust Lila over me? Your own son?"

"Based on how you're acting? Absolutely." Gabriel said.

The office door opened then, Nathalie escorting an olive skinned woman wearing a black pant suit. Her hair flowed down in dark shoulder length curls, her eyes a deep brown, almost black.

But Adrien wasn't paying attention to what Mme. Deveraux looked like, because her entrance had given him the chance (and the payback) that he'd been waiting for. He straightened his stance and crossed his arms.

"Well it's a good thing I did call Mme. Deveraux then, since Lila Rossi sexually assaulted me."

Gabriel's jaw dropped as Nathalie and Mme. Deveraux gasped, but Adrien kept talking before he could be interrupted. "And considering that you just admitted that you hired her to spy on me at school, I was right not to trust you to have my best interest at heart in this situation."

The room was silent for a moment, but Adrien realized it soon wouldn't be as he watched his father's dropped jaw clench, as well as his fists, before Mme. Deveraux stepped between them, closer to Adrien to block him from Gabriel's vision.  

"M. Agreste, perhaps it would be better if we all sat down and talked about this."

Gabriel glared, but straightened up, fixing his ascot. "There is no need for that. Adrien is being ridiculous and trying everything he can to get attention. I'm sorry that he wasted your time, my assistant will see you out."

Mme. Deveraux narrowed her eyes at him. "Unfortunately sir, that will not be happening."

"....Excuse me?" Gabriel said, his shoulders tensing.

Mme. Deveraux crossed her arms. "I said, that will not be happening. Your son is the one who called this meeting with me and as you know, only he can cancel it. He also just made a claim of sexual assualt, and since he is a minor, I am lawfully obligated to investigate on his behalf. Especially since you, his own father, didn't believe. him."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed to slits. "I could always fire you, Mme. Deveraux. I am Adrien's father and I know what's best for him. Entertaining his dramatics is not what I pay you for."

"True, you could do that." Mme. Deveraux said. "But the thing is that it wasn't just you that hired me. I was also hired by Emilie Graham de Vanily Agreste to protect Adrien's interests. She may be missing, but she did not concede her authority over my employment to you. In her contract she also gave her sister Amelie Graham de Vanily authority over my employment if she was not available. I would need Amelie's and your signature to conclude my services."

"That is preposterous! I have never signed any contract like that."

Mme. Deveraux turned her head towards Nathalie. "Mme. Sanceour, as diligent as you are I'm sure you can easily pull up the contract from your records."

Adrien was almost startled to see Nathalie's usually stone cold assuredness, falter and crumble into uncertainty as she looked toward his father as if she were meekly asking his permission. He saw his father give a small nod, despite the glare on his face. Nathalie immediately began tapping away on her tablet. Her lack of tapping less than thirty seconds later informs the room that she's found the contract. Everyone watches as her eyes skim over what she's reading, and because everyone is watching her, they are immediately alerted when they see her expression crumple.

"Um, sir? Unfortunately, Mme. Deveraux is telling the truth. You did in fact sign the contract. Your wife's signature along with her sister Amelie's signature is also here. According to the dates of the signatures, your wife and her sister signed this first, and you were the last to sign. You even signed the part where you acknowledge that you have read it thoroughly."

"I also have video of your wife making her intentions very clear about the contract, as well as creating her will. I can forward that video to Nathalie on a later date. But as you can clearly see, I was telling the truth." Mme. Deveraux said.

Nathalie expression crumpled even further. "She's right. I'm sorry sir, but you are bound by the contract."

Before Gabriel could speak again, Mme. Deveraux cut him off.

"If you did not fully read the contract, that's your problem, not mine. The point is, that no matter how much you don't want me here right now, you have to deal with it. And even if you did succeed in firing me, I would still work for Adrien pro-bono, and I would also report you to the courts for trying to cover up a sexual assault accusation made by your child. You would lose custody of him before the day ends."

Adrien had never seen his father look so furious, but on the inside, Adrien couldn't be happier. Just like Adrien had hoped, his father was cornered and had no choice but to follow along with what Adrien wanted.

Mme. Deveraux gestured to the chairs around the coffee table. "Now, just like I stated previously, it would be better if we sat down and talked about this." She then took a seat on the couch and looked pointedly at his father when he continued to stand in place. "Please have a seat Gabriel. It's impolite to dawdle when you have guests, and it certainly doesn't look good from a business standpoint either."

His father grimaced and then took a seat, and after he did, Nathalie sat beside his father without fail. Both looked extremely uncomfortable and upset, and Adrien couldn't help but let a small grin slip onto his face. Before Mme. Deveraux could begin speaking, Adrien spoke up.

"Ah, before we begin, I'd like to go to the restroom."

Mme. Deveraux  smiled and nodded. "Of course Adrien. I'll handle the preliminary issues while you're gone. As per my standard policy, everything beginning from the moment I arrived has been recorded to prevent any issues of hearsay, impropriety, etc. I assure you, you will not be kept in the dark about anything unless you explicitly want to be."

He nodded. "Thank you." He then turned on his heel and walked out of his father's office. The moment the door closed behind him he sprinted up the stairs, into his room, and into the bathroom. He leaned back against his bathroom door and slowly slid down it until he landed on his butt on the floor. And unlike the night before, what spilled out him this time was not tears, but laughter.

Pure, unrestrained, belly aching, snorting laughter.

He laughed long, and he laughed hard, and would have done so even longer if he wasn't startled by his phone getting a text message. Quickly, he pulled out his phone and pressed stop on the recording app he'd had running just before he left his room earlier to go to his father's office. He saved the recording, and then opened the text.

                                                           -

                                                Text Message                                              Saturday 7:03 A.M

Alya: I just finished the rough draft on the article you asked me to write. Here's a copy: Attachment: "The Hjonkening has begun!"

                                                         -

Adrien snorted, then made the decision to video call Alya rather than waste time texting.

"You get my text message Sunshine?" Alya said, and Adrien could hear the exhaustion in her voice and see it on her face. She'd either stayed up most of the night, or woken up early, and Adrien would bet money that it was the latter. Last night had been pretty emotionally exhausting for all of them. They'd been extremely lucky not to have been targeted by Hawk Moth, and Adrien mentally thanked Tikki for blessing them with the good fortune to be able to work through their emotions without repercussions. To be able to feel emotions freely was a luxury no one in Paris could afford thanks to Hawk Moth, so he was extremely thankful. He'd have to give her something nice if and when he got the opportunity to see her again.

"Yeah I got your message, and I see I'm not the only one who enjoys Untitled Goose Game memes. Ironic since you gave me grief over them last night." Adrien grinned.

"Oh hush, Marinette and I watched Jacksepticeye play it a few weeks ago. The memes are terrible but I can't deny that the chaotic power of the Goose is enticing. I want this power so that I can have vengeance against that liar for what she's done." Alya said.

"Oh trust me, I know the feeling. After everything that happened last night, I've realized that this was able to go on for so long because I let it. I tried to give Lila multiple chances to be a decent human being, and it backfired. I realized I tried to do the same thing with Chloe and that backfired too. I was stupid to believe that just giving them chances would change them. What I should have done was held them accountable. I should have held Chloe accountable all those times back then, and I should have done the same for Lila. Marinette would have trusted me to have her back if I had, and she more than likely wouldn't have kept the fact that she was threatened to herself either. But that's going to change. I'm through with giving people chances that just take advantage of them."

"I hear you Sunshine. I'm glad that we're all working together on this. I'm especially thankful for Mylene. It was her that noticed Lila's behavior, and actually investigated to gather evidence. She did more work and had more success in revealing Lila's true colors in less than a day than I did in the entire time that Lila has been going to our school, and I'm the journalist. If anyone should have caught on to Lila's crap in the beginning, it was me. Even when I put out my retractions and apologies on the Ladyblog after all of this, it won't change the fact that my credibility has been ruined. It hurts, but it's no less than what I deserve for not doing my job. I got blinded by the gold plated crap coming out Lila's mouth, and hurt my best friend by not believing her. I even held Marinette to the same standards I was supposed to abide by and demanded evidence that Lila was lying, and did none of the research." Alya said, her expression downcast.

"At least you're taking responsibility. And I think your viewers will be more forgiving once we take Lila down. Speaking of which, it turns out that my father had hired her to spy on me in school."  

Adrien saw Alya's face twist into something resembling fury and disgust.

"......What?"

"Exactly. I'll tell you the details later, but what I will say is that something is suspicious about that entire thing. My dad is smart, and extremely paranoid. He would never fall for Lila's lies. He's the type to take out multiple background checks on his potential and current employees. He would never just strike this kind of deal. I don't know if there's any paperwork regarding her quote, "services" unquote, but I highly doubt it. Lila would never want any paperwork because that would leave a trail."

"Get to the point Sunshine. The girls will be waking up soon and if you wanna keep this part secret, I suggest you hurry up."

"Right, sorry. My point is that my dad would know exactly what kind of person Lila was. The fact that he would hire her to spy on me is out of character. Especially since he's always been paranoid about my safety. He said that she's been reporting to him to help cut out all of the negative influences at school. He even said he trusted her more than me."

"And I bet I know who's on the list Lila believes is a bad influence on you." Alya said.

Adrien nods. "Marinette."

"At this point Sunshine, I would be more concerned with why your dad, who is smart enough to know what kind of person Lila is, is allowing Lila to have her way in the first place and backing her. We know what Lila is getting out of it, possible sway over your life and better access to you with your dad's blessing, but what could your dad possibly get out of it? If he wanted you separate from your friends he could do that himself by just taking you out of school."

Adrien went still. Alya was right. It wasn't hard to see what Lila was getting out of being associated with his father, the self serving parasite that she was. But his father was another matter entirely. Fortunately for Adrien, he had a great attorney on his side who had his father cornered.

Adrien grinned. "That is curious, but don't worry. I've got my dad right where I want him. Thankfully, my family attorney is firmly on my side and has made it very clear to my father that he has no power over her. I confessed that Lila sexually assaulted me while she was there, and she warned my dad that if he tried anything he would regret it."

"That reminds me of why we're talking. I-"

"Alya?"

Adrien could see Alya's head turn, and behind her was her two younger sisters, rubbing the bleariness from their eyes.

Alya quickly turned back around. "Oops, gotta go Sunshine. Don't forget to read the file I sent you, and make sure you save multiples in different locations just in case. Give one to your lawyer too. It'd be better for her to look it over before I post it so that we have our bases covered. See you Monday!"

Alya hung up, and Adrien looked at the time on his phone before standing up. He'd been gone for long enough and he didn't want the others to get suspicious. He quickly sent a copy of the recording to Mme. Deveraux, instructing her to keep that secret until further notice.  Going back to his texts with Alya, he quickly downloaded the attachment that Alya sent and begin reading over it on his way back to his father's office. He didn't realize it, but as he read, a smug grin grew larger and larger on his face.

This.....This was going to be good.

------------

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Mylene and the other girls sat on the couch as they waited for Marinette to arrive. She'd initially been confused since she'd had no idea that the rest of them were at Alya's apartment, but decided that Alya's insistence that they talk and the seriousness of her voice was more important. It was close to ten at night by the time Alya called her, so they'd thought that Marinette might not get permission to come over. The Dupain-Chengs however, in their unending kindness, had given Marinette the O.K. to come over.

So they waited, and as they did, Mylene looked around at her friends' faces as they, from the looks of things, thought over every interaction, every claim, every expression, every action...Everything that Lila Rossi has ever done since she first started attending their school.

She watched as Rose pulled out her phone and began texting, her normally optimistic and smiling face troubled as she stared at the screen. Juleka, always at her side, had an arm wrapped around Rose as she too stared at the screen, a silent comfort for the apprehension Mylene was sure Rose was feeling.

She observed Alya, who had brought her laptop into the living room and was going over some the interviews of Lila that she uploaded to the Ladybug. She had her headphones plugged in, mercifully sparing the others from hearing Lila's claims as she wrote furiously in a notebook next to her. Mylene was worried that Alya might attract an akuma since the expression she had on her face was frightening.

Alix didn't give much away in terms of how she was feeling, but Mylene has known Alix a long time and knew what to look for. The slight downturn of her lips, the stiffness of her shoulders, the tautness of her jaw. But besides the anger she could see there, there was confusion. Mylene didn't think that was unusual, considering that Alix was the last one to even consider that Lila was lying to them. And based on what she was seeing, she could see that Alix was on the fence.

Not that that was a bad thing, Mylene thought. The reality was, she knew that she wouldn't be able to totally convince everyone. And that's good. It wasn't her place to totally convince them. Even she didn't have all of the answers or evidence needed to do that. But she had enough to plant the seeds of doubt, and that's what made her discovery earlier so important.

She was an outside party, one who had been on the "opposing side" in a sense. She had been like them, believed everything Lila said without question and dismissive of Marinette's claims. It was hard to believe someone they thought was already guilty when she had no one to back her up. However, Mylene thought. She herself didn't have any motives to suddenly switch sides, and even though it took a bit, she was able to convince them that things weren't quite as kosher as Lila had initially made them believe.

And what luck, Mylene thought. As it turns out, Lila hadn't just lied at school. She'd also been lying to Alya and Nino's younger siblings. And that's what made Lila so sinister, Mylene thought. She didn't stop at trying to manipulate her classmates and people at school, she also tried manipulating small children, who were impressionable and didn't have enough sense to investigate what she said. She didn't even need to, but she did it anyway. In the end, however, it seems that that particular decision might just have backfired on Lila, and given Mylene the extra witnesses she needed to convince them even more about Lila's dishonesty.

Despite the sinister lengths Lila had gone to to get small children on her side, knowing that they didn't have sense to investigate what she said, it also gave Mylene's side of the story more evidence. Because with the same sense they didn't have to investigate Lila's claims, they also didn't have the sense to keep their mouths shut about it.

After all, Mylene thought, children don't know the meaning of discretion. And if they try to keep secrets, they are so obvious about it that people immediately know they are hiding something. Add in the fact that there were not one, not two, but three children who heard Lila's lies, it would be hard to convince people that what they had to say wasn't true or that their claims had no merit.

It's funny, Mylene thought, that evidence crucial to Lila's comeuppance for lying would come from the mouths of babes. It's also funny because it proves that Lila doesn't have any siblings, otherwise she would have learned that younger children are relentless tattletales, intentional or otherwise.

And Lila definitely got tattled on.

But she knew even that wouldn't be enough. They needed the kind of convincing that only someone who had suffered the consequences of Lila's manipulations directly could deliver. Someone who never wavered in their convictions and certainty about Lila's dishonesty.

They needed Marinette.

A few knocking sounds startled everyone from their thoughts and turned their attention to the door. Alya swiftly went to the door and opened it, revealing Marinette and her father, who was holding a large take-out bag in one hand, and a large bag stamped with their bakery logo in the other. Alya greeted them and invited them in. Marinette greeted them and went to set her overnight bag in Alya's room and change into her pajamas, while her dad sat the bag of take-out, Chinese if the mouth watering smell that was quickly filling the apartment was anything to go by, on the counter along with the bag from their bakery.

"Didn't know if you girls had eaten yet, so I brought snacks from the bakery and on the way here I ordered Chinese."

"Thanks Mr. Dupain-Cheng." Alya said, a small weary smile on her face. "To be honest, we only had those pastries Mme. Dupain-Cheng gave us earlier for dinner. My older sister Nora was supposed to cook for and watch the twins while my parents had the night shifts at work, but my parents and I made a deal that gave Nora the night off and allowed us to have a sleepover. Everything was so last minute that we didn't think of a viable dinner option. We definitely appreciate it."

The other girls came over, all voicing their thanks and Tom laughed, waving them off.

"It's no problem." He said, and began removing the various containers from the bag, the delicious smell becoming even more potent. As he did, the girls began taking out plates and began to set the table. He removed the various sauce packets at the bottom of the bag along with plastic utensils and fortune cookies, before disposing of the bag and turning back to them.

"Well girls, I'm gonna head out. But before I go, can I ask you all a question?"

The girls all turned to each other, confused, before they all turned back to him and nodded their consent.

"How come you're only inviting Marinette to the sleepover now, and not earlier?"

Nearly all of the girls looked a bit ashamed at his question, but Mylene took this as her chance to explain as much as she could.

"There's been some...drama between Marinette and the new girl in our class, Lila Rossi. Marinette is certain that Lila hasn't been honest with us and at first we thought that it wasn't a big deal because Marinette didn't have much proof on her side. But today on our trip to see Big Ben, I saw something that proved that Marinette might be right. When I did, I organized a meeting between most of the girls in our class, Marinette and Lila excluded because I wanted to share what I had learned without any possible bias from either of them."

Tom nodded, and Mylene sighed before continuing on.

"When I set the meeting, I didn't count on an akuma attack taking us to space and then us ending up back in Paris. We had to ride the train back to London and by the time we got back to school, it had been over for a while. Marinette was so tired that Alya took her home, and by the time we had a chance to start talking, we realized that we hadn't actually planned on what place to meet up. That's why the sleepover was so last minute. After babysitting for a while we began to talk, and it was after we did that Alya decided that we needed Marinette here to clarify some of the things she'd been saying that Lila was being dishonest about."

Mylene stepped forward a bit before speaking again. "I know it seems like we were excluding Marinette to be mean, but I can promise you Mr. Dupain-Cheng, that's not at all what is happening here. Our only objective here is to get to the truth the fairest way possible, since in the past we haven't done that."

Tom nodded again, his brow furrowed in thought. "I see..."

"Dad? Is everything okay?"

All eyes turned to Marinette, who was now in her pajamas, her hair loose from her signature pigtails.

Tom smiled and shook his head. "Everything is just fine cupcake. I was just about to head out, but there's no way I'm leaving without a hug from my favorite girl."

Marinette grinned. "You're only saying that so I'll go easy on you the next time we play UMS."

"Bah! I let you win last time because I had bread in the oven." Tom said as he crossed his arms.

"You always say that when you lose."

"I'm a baker, I always have bread in the oven."

"Not after closing hours."

"Oh shush and give me a hug." Tom said as he opened his arms.

Marinette laughed before walking over and hugging her father, who returned the hug with gusto, picking Marinette off the floor as she gave a small shriek in surprise before finally putting her down and releasing her from the hug. Everyone laughed as Marinette huffed, not an ounce of anger on her face as she too began to laugh. When everyone had calmed down, Tom sighed and smiled.

"Well, I won't stay in your hair any longer. Enjoy your dinner and have a good night girls!"

Once everyone had said their goodbyes and Mr. Dupain-Cheng had departed, everyone got their hands washed and made their plates of food before getting settled at the table. By the time they got to that point, the jovial mood that Tom had brought with him had all but disappeared. At first, there was nothing but the sound of utensils hitting plates as the girls ate. But eventually the tension and seriousness of the situation became too much to ignore as Marinette set down her fork and looked at the other girls.

"So, you all wanted to talk." Marinette said as she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms.

Mylene looked around, and noticed how everyone tensed up, none more than Alya, whose earlier fury at her sisters being lied to began to re-emerge. Mylene knew that Alya's fury wasn't going to be helpful, and seeing the disaster about to happen, decided to be the one to break the ice.

"We wanted to talk because I discovered some disturbing things about Lila today, during and after our class trip."

Marinette's eyes widened, before settling into a serious expression that did nothing to hide her eagerness as she leaned forward in her seat. "What did you find?"

"First," Mylene said. "We want to hear your side of the story. Alya said that you tried to tell her and Nino about how you followed Lila on her first day of school. We want to know what happened, and don't spare any details."

Marinette looked a bit shocked for a moment, but the determined look came back as she took a deep breath, let it out, straightened up in her seat, and folded her hands on the table.

"Okay, when I got to school that day, the first thing I heard was Rose talking about how a girl named Lila knew Prince Ali and had flown in his private jet with him. Then I see Chloe stomping passed, complaining about why Jagged Stone wrote a song about Lila instead of her. Then Nino passed by and was talking about knowing that famous director that Nino is a fan of. When I got to Alya, I asked what was going on and that's when she showed me the interview she'd posted on her blog. When I noticed Lila with Adrien, I will admit I was jealous. However I was skeptical of all the things she had been claiming before I'd even seen her and Adrien together. Alya had walked off, talking about how high her views were because of Lila's interview, so I was alone afterward. When they went into the library I followed them. They appeared at first to be starting their homework but then Adrien pulled out a book, which ended up being the one he got pulled out of school over."

Marinette sighed, taking a small break before speaking again.

"She snatched the book away from him and began looking through it, asking him what it was. When he told her it was a book about superheroes, she said that she loved superheroes. When Lila turned the page to an illustration of an ancient Ladybug Miraculous holder, Adrien was talking about how awesome Ladybug was. Lila frowned for a second and then said that a girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing. Lila said that Adrien had a soft spot for Ladybug, and then claimed to be close friends with her. When Adrien looked interested, she suggested that they could talk about it and told him to meet her at the park so she could tell him everything. I had been hiding behind a book cart and when I tried to stand up, I slipped and fell. The cart went flying into the wall, and I hid under the table so I wouldn't get caught."

Marinette looked guilty then, her head bowed as she fiddled with her fingers. "It's not my proudest moment, and even now I'm ashamed to have even done it...." Marinette lifted her head then, her eyes blazing with determination. "But while I may feel ashamed about it, I certainly don't regret it. That day changed everything."

"What do you mean that day changed everything Marinette?" Rose asked.

Marinette's determined look faltered for a moment at Rose's question, before settling into a contemplative expression. "That day showed just how far Lila was willing to go to make her stories seem credible."

"Anyway," Marinette said as she straightened back up into her chair. "After Lila suggested meeting Adrien in the park to talk about Ladybug, Adrien's fencing alarm went off and they started to put their things away. When Adrien turned around, he had been startled by Lila standing behind him and dropped his bag on the floor. The book had fallen out of it, and while Lila asked Adrien to confirm their meeting, she took her foot and moved the book behind her. Adrien hadn't even noticed that the book was missing when he picked up his bag and ran off to be in time for his fencing lesson. After he left, Lila picked up the book and mentioned a fox superhero and how it was interesting."

"I followed after her, and at one point she stopped inside of a jewelry store. She was in there for quite a while before she came out with a bag. When she got to the park she sat down on a bench and pulled whatever she bought at the jewelry store out of the bag. When she opened the box, there was a fox tail necklace."

Alya gasped, and the other girls sans Marinette looked to Alya in confusion. Mylene's interest was peaked. Alya tried to reassure them that she was just shocked, but Mylene could tell that it was more than just shock. What Marinette said had impacted Alya far more than it should have. Marinette cleared her throat, sipping a bit at the glass of water she'd had with her dinner. Mylene and the others turned their attention back to Marinette, but Mylene stored Alya's reaction into a mental folder. Whatever reason for Alya's reaction, it could prove useful to helping clear Marinette.

After Marinette finished sipping her water, she continued speaking.

"After she opened the box and tried it on, she'd only had a moment to admire it before she suddenly stood up, grabbed the book and hid it behind her back. Neither of us had seen Adrien arrive, and as he got closer, Lila decided to get rid of the evidence of her theft by throwing the book into the garbage bin that had been behind her. I managed to get closer, and when Adrien asked if she knew Ladybug for real, she said that not only did Ladybug save her life, they had become very close friends, because they have something very special in common."

Marinette frowned, gritting her teeth a bit before continuing on.

"And that's when she claimed that she was a descendant of a vixen superheroin called Volpina."

This time, all of the girls gasped before looking at each other. It was no surprise why, really. Because each of those girls knew that Volpina was an akuma who claimed to be a superhero before being defeated by Ladybug and Chat Noir.

And that the person who was Volpina was Lila.

Mylene filed it away as more evidence that Lila was a liar. They still had to verify Marinette's side of the story, but so far, it appeared that Marinette was telling them the truth.

Marinette continued on, brushing passed their shock.

"When Adrien claimed that he might have read about her in the book, and went to his bag to get the book, Lila stopped him. She started claiming that of course Volpina was in the book, and that she was one of the most important superheroes, more powerful and celebrated than Ladybug. She even said that Ladybug didn't even make the top ten. She showed Adrien the necklace, claiming that her grandmother had given it to her, and he asked if it was a miraculous."

Mylene frowned, as did the rest of the girls when they heard what Marinette said. Lila had been claiming that she was Ladybug's best friend. If Marinette's story could be verified, Lila's credibility would crumble, and would more than likely never recover. Bad-mouthing a classmate was one thing. Bad-mouthing a superhero was an entirely new level of bad.

"And that's when Ladybug showed up."

The girls gasped as Alix frowned. "What do you mean Ladybug showed up? You can't expect us to believe that Ladybug really came there."

Marinette looked at Alix, not backing down a bit. "You don't have to believe me Alix, but you all asked to hear my side of the story, and I'm giving it to you. All I will say, is that I have proof that this happened."

Alix reluctantly backed off, and Marinette continued on.

"Anyway, when Ladybug showed up, she was really mad. She went off on Lila and exposed her for lying. Lila looked really embarrassed, and when Adrien said that he guessed that she wasn't actually everything she had claimed, Ladybug said that she was more of a super liar. That's when Lila screamed 'how dare you!' at Ladybug before grabbing her things and running off. Adrien was a bit upset that Ladybug had exposed Lila that way, and Ladybug told him firmly that she didn't put up with lies, especially when they were about her. Then she left."

Marinette sighed before looking to the side.

"At first, I felt kinda bad for Lila as she was getting chewed out by Ladybug. But when Lila screamed back at Ladybug, like it was Ladybug's fault and not her own for lying , any sympathy I felt died. How could she possibly blame Ladybug for exposing her? If Lila hadn't been lying, she wouldn't have gotten chewed out. She lied about a public figure and thought that she would get away with it scott-free."

Marinette's fists clenches on the table as she scowls, her eyes firmly looking at her now cold food.

"But what she doesn't understand, or care about, is that her lies have consequences. One of those was her being caught and exposed. She's honestly lucky that Ladybug only humiliated her in front of Adrien and not a whole bunch of people. Other people would have done much worse like sued her for libel or slander. She got off a lot easier than most do in my opinion, but instead of learning from the experience and coming clean, she continues to lie despite already experiencing the consequences of getting caught. Other consequences are people being hurt when she can't keep all the false promises she makes to people. That's what she's good at. She targets people and their interests in order to dazzle them, and doesn't care about who she might hurt as long as she gets the attention she wants and the recognition for things she falsely believes she deserves without doing any work."

Marinette's head lifts and she talks directly to the girls, trying as hard as she can to try and make her point stick.

"Her lying might not be as severe in any other place, but we're in Paris, where Hawk Moth can turn any bad day or negative emotion into a weapon--weapons that can be and have been fatal to a lot of people if not for Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug at the end of each akuma battle. Imagine how many people she's made promises to regarding their passions just in our class alone? Imagine how many opportunities that is for Hawk Moth to akumatize them just because she falsely promised them an amazing opportunity, or claimed she had the connections to make someone's dreams come true, or even that she had a connection to someone that was widely loved or important?"

"......Like Prince Ali?" Rose said, her hand gripping Juleka's.

"Or Ladybug?" Alya said, her eyes guiltily shifting over to her laptop, one of Lila's interviews still paused on the screen.

Marinette's eyes softened as she reached across the table to pat their hands. "Hey, I didn't say all of that to make you guys feel bad. I said it because the severity of Lila's actions need to be known. In my book, you're all victims of her lies. You're all my friends, and I care about you all a lot. I know it seems like I was just being crazy jealous of Lila, but I'm telling you now, that's not that case. I will admit I was jealous in the beginning, but any jealousy immediately died when I found out what kind of person she is. I'm so crazy about exposing her because she's leading you all on by the nose, and I would never sit idly by while someone does that to people I care about. I may not have gone about it the right way at first, and while I am still hurt that I wasn't taken seriously, that's not going to stop me from trying to do the right thing. And the right thing is protecting my friends from someone who only wants to take advantage of their kindness for their own self-believed glory."

Mylene smiled a bit, and as she looked around the table at the others, she could tell that what Marinette said was getting through to them and sticking. Just like she thought before, all of the other evidence they came across paled in comparison to Marinette's testimony.

Marinette sighed before retracting her hands to fold them in front of her again, her posture more relaxed than it was in the beginning. "Anyway, to continue where I left off, after Ladybug chewed Lila out, I had been so shocked at everything going on, that I missed Adrien leaving. I took the opportunity to get the book out of the garbage bin. There hadn't been much in the bin, but I took the book home so that I could clean it and then return it to Adrien. Lila ended getting akumatized into Volpina, and then she got defeated. If I had known that the whole thing with his dad getting akumatized would happen, I would have texted Adrien that I had found the book. I had no idea that the book belonged to his dad. I was just trying my best to clean anything that had gotten onto the book, so that meant I had to go through every single page to make sure nothing gross got jammed in between the pages when it was tossed in the bin. I returned the book, but instead of telling Adrien's dad that Lila stole it, I took the fall for it."

Alix frowned. "Why would you do that? You could have gotten into major trouble!"

Marinette winced. "I was trying to be nice! I figured Lila had gotten into enough trouble for one day after being exposed and then akumatized, and I felt that I shouldn't make her day even worse. Of course if I had known what kind of person she really was, I would have absolutely ratted her out."

"Okay so, if what you're telling us is true, I can understand your anger towards Lila." Alix said, as she rested her head into her right hand, drumming her fingers with her left. Mylene had been waiting for that breakthrough. It seems like Marinette's testimony along with the other evidence had pushed Alix more on Marinette's side of the fence than Lila's.

"However," Alix continued. "That doesn't explain what Mylene saw on the train. Based on what you've told us so far, it seems that Lila wasn't even aware that you were there when Ladybug supposedly chewed Lila out. What's her beef with you?"

Mylene paused. That, she thought. That was something she hadn't quite figured out. That hostility towards Marinette couldn't all because of Adrien. The outright vitriol that Lila had glared at Marinette with while she'd been asleep, and the force that Lila had thrown away the croissant from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery told of something that went deeper than just two girl competing for a boy's attention. Turning her attention back to Marinette, Mylene became startled.

Marinette's entire posture had changed. Instead of the serious one she had in the beginning, or even the relaxed one she'd had just moments ago, now the posture she had was one Mylene was intimately familiar with.

Fear.

Marinette had gone from relaxed to afraid, her shoulders hunched in as she tried to make herself appear smaller. Her hands were no longer folded in front of her. Instead, they were now in her lap, the small movements in her arms indicating that she was picking at her nails--a nervous tick that she'd had for years due to Chloe's bullying, but hadn't done in a long time.

The fact that Marinette was scared enough to revert back to a harmful behavior that she'd grown out of was more than enough for Mylene to act.

"Marinette, hands."

In an instant, Marinette's hands stopped moving, and after a moment she took a few deep breaths before sitting up in her seat, her posture caught between relaxed and rigid. "Thanks Mylene, you saved my cuticles. The nail technician would have had a fit the next time I went to get my nails done."

Marinette smiled, but after a moment she could tell that her smile wasn't fooling anyone and the smile turned wry. "Swing and a miss huh?"

"Marinette," Mylene said, her fists lightly clenched. "Is there anything that happened between you and Lila that you haven't told us about?"

Marinette's head shot up and her eyes widened. Her fists began to clench but before they could, Mylene reached over with both hands and gently held hers. "Something did happen, didn't it..."

"I'm scared..." Marinette said.

"Whatever happened with Lila Marinette, it's okay. I believe you, and I'm sure the others will too. You don't have to be scared of Lila."

"I'm not scared of Lila! I'm scared that you won't believe me!" Marinette said as she ripped her hands away from Mylene and stood up, turning her backs to them. Her arms were straight at her sides with her fists clenched. The other girls were startled and taken aback at Marinette's outburst, but didn't have long to ponder Marinette's words before she started speaking again.

"I'm scared that if I tell what happened, after you guys finally started listening to what I had to say about Lila, that you'll just go right back to not believing me. That everything I had to say would have been for nothing."

"Marinette, I promise that won't happen." Mylene said, standing up and gently taking Marinette's hand again. Mylene looked towards the other girls, prompting them to say something.

Alya took the initiative first by standing up and circling the table to stand on Marinette's other side, also taking her hand. "I promise too Marinette. There's no way I'm just gonna flip back to not believing you. There's too much evidence without your side of the story in my opinion that tells me that Lila is up to no good. You can count on me."

Alix, Rose and Juleka followed up with their own reassurances, all of them surrounding Marinette as she tried her best to calm down. Mylene kept a subtle eye out for butterflies. Everyone in that room had been vulnerable for quite a while because of this situation, but Mylene wasn't gonna let Hawk Moth get a chance to use their emotions against them. After a few moments, Marinette's posture began to relax. When she was finally ready she sighed and shooed them all back to their seats before taking her own. After a few more deep breaths, no doubt stalling, Marinette finally told them.

"The day Lila came back, she threatened me."

Mylene's blood thundered in her ears, her eyes barely catching on to the reactions of the other girls. Juleka's wide-eyed stare, and Rose's hands covering her mouth. Alix's shaking fists, and Alya's eyes filled with righteous fury.

Mylene herself, however, was terrified.

Terrified because just one girl caused this. One girl, who hadn't even been there very long, was able to cause this much hurt, and pain, and terror with mostly just words. They were all startled out of their thoughts by Marinette speaking.

"Girls, it's okay."

Alix responded first, confusion beginning to outweigh the anger. "Okay? Okay?! How could that possibly be okay?!"

Marinette shushed her, patting one of her clenched fists. "Don't yell, you're gonna wake up the twins. But to answer your question, it's okay because now you guys believe me. It bothered me a lot at first, enough that I had almost been akumatized that day. But in the end I was able to remember that Hawk Moth only akumatizes people who think that there's no solution. But that's not how I am. The akuma left me alone but ended up akumatizing Lila for some reason."

Juleka frowned. "You were almost akumatized?"

"Yeah." Marinette said as she retracted her hands.

"Where did Lila threaten you Marinette?" Alya said, who had brought over her laptop without any of them noticing.

"It was in the girl's bathroom, right after that whole napkin debacle in the cafeteria on the day she came back."

"Lila did leave only a few moments after Marinette did that day..." Rose said.

"She said she was gonna go to the nurse...." Juleka said as she looked at Rose.

"Well I can tell you that's not where she went." Marinette said as she crossed her arms. "She came to the bathroom after me and tried to pretend to make nice, saying that she would help me get with Adrien. When I called her out on her crap, she started saying all of this stuff about how she was only telling people what they liked to hear. That's when she said that if I didn't want to be her friend that it was fine, but that soon I would have no friends and that she'd make sure I wouldn't get near Adrien at school or anywhere. Then she said, and these are her words not mine, that I seemed a little less dumb than the others and that she was gonna give me one last chance. She said she would give me until the end of the day and then she left. After school, right after I said goodbye to Alya and Nino, she turned up behind me, said it seemed like I'd made my choice, then threatened me again. She said that from now on, she and I were at war and that I would lose all of my friends and that Adrien would soon be hers."

"Oh my God..." Alya said as she covered her mouth. "I saw Lila standing there, but I didn't think anything of it. If I had walked Marinette home, or at least acknowledged that Lila was standing there...."

"She would have more than likely backed off." Marinette said. "Lila always likes to put on a happy face when others are around. She would never knowingly risk someone seeing how she truly is, because it would ruin everything she's 'worked' for. It's why both of the times she confronted me, we were totally alone. Unfortunately, because Lila likes to ambush people, it means that it'll be difficult to prepare for her nonsense. And it also means that I have no proof of her threats besides my word."

"No, I'd say you have plenty of proof." Alix said. "I mean, as much as it hurts to admit, her threats were actually coming true. I mean, if it hadn't been for Lila slipping up and Mylene noticing...."

Despite Alix trailing off, everyone knew what the words left unspoken meant. If Lila hadn't slipped up, they would have never believed Marinette.

Rose gasped, startling them all. "Wait! There's someone we're forgetting! Someone who knows about Lila!"

"Uh, you mean Ladybug?" Alya said. "I guess I could ask Ladybug-"

"No no! Adrien! We're forgetting Adrien! Marinette told us he was there when Ladybug exposed Lila. If we can get Adrien to corroborate her side of the story, then he can help convince everyone else about Lila!"

The girls began to get excited at the prospect of more evidence against Lila, and Mylene couldn't help but share that excitement. Like Mylene, Adrien wouldn't have any motive to be against Lila. To their knowledge, Adrien had been nothing but kind to Lila, and his word would be a very welcomed strike against Lila's gas lighting and attempts to turn people's own words against them, like she'd done to Marinette.

"I...wouldn't count on it." Marinette said, sighing as she sank a bit into her seat. "He knows that Lila is lying, but he'd rather we take the highroad instead of exposing her. He said that if we humiliated her, she'll just be hurt more."

"But....But that's insane!" Alya said as she frowned. "How could he possibly let Lila continue on after knowing she lied to all of us and after knowing that she threatened you?!"

Marinette went silent then, her eyes drifting off to the side. Mylene's eyes narrowed and she stepped closer to Marinette as Marinette subtley inched away.

"Marinette, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't."

The others were confused for a moment before Alya's eyes seemed to widen and then narrow at Marinette. "Marinette....You did tell Adrien that Lila threatened you....Right?"

At Alya's question, Alix, Rose and Juleka's eyes all turned to Marinette, who shrunk down even more. Mylene spoke again. "Marinette, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't keep quiet to Adrien about Lila threatening you."

"I can't!" Marinette exclaimed as she threw up her arms. "I can't because I didn't tell him!"

"Marinette how could you keep quiet!" Alya hissed, her phone already in her hand. Mylene could already guess that Alya was two seconds away from either texting or calling Adrien and telling him everything.

"I was trying to give Lila another chance. Adrien was so sure that Lila would just corner herself with her lies and I get what he's saying, but I also know that it won't work because even if she gets exposed on her own, she's gonna be humiliated and angry just as much as if we had exposed her sooner. Taking the highroad just makes sure that Lila gets away with what she's doing longer and more people get hurt."

"Then why didn't you tell him that?"

"I didn't want him to be disappointed in me! He said I was an Everyday Ladybug at the picnic and that I always helped everyone. I didn't want to seem mean or like I didn't want to give Lila a chance to fit in at school. He asked me if it really mattered as long as he and I knew the truth. So I just shrugged off Lila's threat. I didn't think things would get this bad, or that she would threaten me again after school..."

Everyone went silent at that point, before Alya raised her phone to her face. "You get all that Sunshine?"

"......Yeah, I heard everything Alya."

Everyone froze, none more stiffly than Marinette who seemed to have gone catatonic at the sound of Adrien Agreste's voice from Alya's phone.

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(Italics for Adrien are because he's talking on the phone. Bold italics for Adrien are for emphasis that I would normally use italics for.

Italics are also for Mylene's private thoughts.)

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Alya turned her phone around, revealing Adrien on video call. His expression at first was grim, but changed, softening into sadness and adoration the moment he spotted Marinette. Marinette suddenly burst into motion and tried to hide behind Mylene, but was largely unsuccessful as Mylene moved out of the way. She wasn't gonna let Marinette cower away from this. She and Adrien desperately needed to talk, and thankfully, Alya had found a way to have Marinette tell Adrien what happened without the girl stumbling and stuttering over her words, or escaping.