Marinette: I love you

Adrien smiled at his screen, the giddiness he felt after her saying those words felt indescribably good. He genuinely loved her and it all fell perfectly in place for the two of them to be together. Thinking back about the past few weeks of them being together felt perfect, he could dream about the two of them for hours.

And the best part? He could actually see a future with the two of them together. No matter what the media would say about her, he was determined to fight for their relationship. Eventhough everyone wanted to see the two of them apart, now he actually got the taste of love. He was practically floating in the air.

And that reminded him of that time Marinette visited him at his photoshoot. She wore that beautiful white dress which only made him wonder how she would look in a white gown.. a wedding dress, you could say? White looked so good on her. But red looked better. It definitely did. With the two of them walking with their hands intertwined, and kissing each other, it made his heart flutter again.

God, he loved her.

But the magical moment of that day was when he learned her name. She started as his lady, his lady in red. His ladybug. But soon became Marinette. His Marinette, especially that evening they were together.

Mine.

That's when they became officially a couple and everything about it felt so right. How could something feel so right? It was a weird feeling.

But he was also feeling worried. Marinette was taking a lot of heat from the media and it hurt him to see his girlfriend being hurt that way. She was so pure of heart, she didn't deserve any of this. The feeling of protectiveness only growing by the minute when thinking about it.

Knock. Knock.

The knocking sound coming from the door of his office snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked up in surprise.

"Come in"

He put his phone down on his desk and to his surprise, saw his ex-fiancee walk in with her usual expensive get-up. She took her sunglasses off and he noticed she looked pretty okay, eventhough the make-up covered up some crying too. He knew how she was and she couldn't possibly trick him with looking like she was 'fine'.

However, she was frowning very deeply. Still angry? But well, now they would have an opportunity to talk it out right?

"Chloe, I-"

"Stop, I need you to see this" she interrupted him as she pulled her phone out and handed it over to him once she approached him.

"See what?" And he took her phone, looking at the screen. He had a skeptical look on his face as he eyed Chloe for a moment, but soon looked down as it seemed like a parking lot of a mall. This was security footage? He's been there before, he could tell, but…something red caught his eye. And another guy. Was that Marinette? He zoomed in for a moment, both of them loading a trunk.

Who was that guy?

Soon enough he watched Marinette suggest the guy to come into the car with her and they ended up making out while they closed the back of the car.

"Scroll down" Chloe instructed as she moved to stand next to him, but scrolled for him as she noticed her wasn't doing anything yet. And his heart fell down to his stomach. The screen revealed a close up picture of her and that guy making out before closing the car. He felt completely frozen and it felt like he couldn't breathe for that moment.

Chloe took the initiative as she took her phone back and looked at Adrien with an anticipating look, but he didn't say anything at all.

"Shaken up by the fact that your girlfriend is cheating with another guy? What did you expect, Adrien? It's not like she stopped her job, she's still sleeping with other guys" she pointed out harshly while crossing her arms.

"I- I just can't believe this.. how did you find this?" Adrien held onto his desk as he squeezed his hands onto the edge of it, looking up at her, really hoping this was a lie.

"Paparazzi, Adrien? It's not like they respect anyone's privacy" she explained, looking at her nails for that moment and soon back at Adrien. Her hand slowly moved onto his shoulder while her other hand rested against his chest.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but.. it's impossible to love someone who just isn't at the same level as you, you know?" She murmured, her hand on his chest moving carefully- oh so carefully- up to rest on his cheek and made him look at her "You deserve so much better, someone that knows you all the way-" she leaned in, but soon felt him pull away from her. She looked surprised, but frowned soon enough.

"I- I just need to call Marinette.. I want to hear it from her, I can't believe this" he stuttered. wanting to grab his Phone, but Chloe quickly intervened as she grabbed his wrist.

"Adrikins? What are you going to say to her? The picture speaks for itself, doesn't it? Do you want to hear any more lies coming from her?" She countered, making him stop his movements as he looked up at her while feeling a little hesitant. That picture wasn't fake, that was definitely Marinette, and there was no way he saw any picture of her like that until today. She wasn't famous before they met and that picture definitely looked that one of a paparazzi, so why would the paparazzi follow her if she wasn't that well known?

"I don't understand.. I thought-" Chloe quickly hugged him, petting his back as she held him tightly.

"Forget about it. She betrayed your trust and you deserve much better than her" she explained as she looked up at him "She isn't worth your time.. I mean.." her hands stroke over his sides and soon over his chest up to his neck and eventually ended up on his cheeks "Look at me, don't we deserve another chance, Adrikins? We can work things out and patch things up together, right? We just had a fallout and we've known each other for years, these things happen, you know?" she added while her thumbs stroked over his cheeks.

Adrien felt his stomach churn, averting his gaze while feeling heartbroken. Why would Marinette do such a thing? She loved him, right? She told him she loved him. He just read it on his phone. All of his thoughts of a perfect future with Marinette came crumbling down while trying to swallow down that lump in his throat.

"I really thought.. she and I had something.." His voice started to crack and Chloe immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, hushing him, trying to calm him down.

"It's okay, we can go home and talk, or chill, whatever feels good to you" She proposed and pulled away as she looked at his face. He looked at her again, having the pained facial expression as he did, but he nodded anyway.

"Let's go.."

She nodded as she helped him grab his stuff and tugged him along by his arm to go out of the office and head out of the building to get their ride home. But their way home wasn't all too quiet as the paparazzi was ready to attack them with their camera's and questions.

"Mr. Agreste, are you back together with Ms. Bourgeois?"

"Is the engagement still ongoing?"

"What happened with your girlfriend?"

Adrien felt that lump in his throat again and he hands were trembling. His face easily described how uncomfortable and bad he was feeling at that moment. He tried to swallow his hurt down. All of these questions made him feel dizzy and it could easily swallow him up. He felt drained of energy, especially after seeing that picture of Marinette.

"Are the accusations of her being a sugar baby real?"

"Were you her sugar daddy?"

"Is she still in the picture?"

He felt someone hold his hand and soon looked down at his hand being intertwined with Chloe's who just smiled up at him. She smiled professionally to the camera's as she held Adrien closely against herself "We only had a small fallout, but we're patching things up now" she announced and were quickly guided by their bodyguards into the limo and go to Adrien's apartment. In the limo, Adrien simply looked through the car window outside. Watching the sky darkening as he saw a few drips hitting the car window.

He felt stupid. Angry. Disappointed. Hurt. Empty.

Why would Marinette do such a thing after all they've been through? After all he did for her? He even went as far as to go against his dad and look what it brought him…

"You might as well delete her number" Chloe suggested as she watched the screen lit up from another message from Marinette. She clearly hasn't seen the news yet, but that would happen soon enough.

Marinette: Btw, Alya is here with me, we're going to cook something together so I think we can skip the take away and go for a meal with the four of us?

Adrien barely responded to her and that was already enough for her to block Marinette's number and delete it soon after from Adrien's phone along with all their messages and pictures. Adrien didn't even bother to look anymore. He just couldn't believe it. And the more he started to think about it, the angrier he got and the more he began to believe it.

"Thanks" he muttered, and didn't bothered to look her direction.

"For what?" He heard her ask.

"For showing me the truth" He answered back and they continued the ride towards his apartment in silence.

"Anytime, Adrikins"