A/N I couldn't find a name for Lila's mother so I made one up. I also gave her something of a backstory.
Chapter 54
Nathalie looked around making sure she was alone in the backstage area. "That should give you two prime targets, sir." she said into her tablet.
"Agreed, however Miss. Rossi's embarrassing scene is enough bad press for this gala." Gabriel said. "Having it disrupted by an akuma alert would only add to that, especially if the akumatized victim is linked to it. No. Ladybug and Chat Noir will benefit from the gala's high profile and have a night free from akumas."
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"I can't believe that girl." Alya said about an hour later as they sat at a table, enjoying the food from the buffet.
Their table was on the fringe of the room, affording them some degree of privacy. Alya and Nino sat next to each other, while Marinette sat across from them.
"Well she finally had some of the lies come back and bite her." she said, "I just hate that she ruined my surprise for you, Alya, and that I've got the time to run off another one." she added.
"Girl, I told you before that you don't have to do that." Alya said. "I know you, and I know that you haven't finished working on it yet." she added.
"Alright," Marinette relented. "But I'm going to have it cleaned first." she said, relieved that the emerald green garment was hanging in the woman's changing room.
"Okay if we join you?" Adrien asked as he Jenna and Jake walked up with plates of food, with Nathalie behind them.
"Sure, have a seat."
"Marinette, where will you be about noon tomorrow?" Nathalie asked.
"At the bakery, helping out."
"Fine, I'll bring the amendments to your contract over for you to sign." she said, and Marinette nodded. "Adrien, about that scarf that you received from your father."
Adrien was surprised when Marinette tensed and sat up straighter.
"Nathalie, no." she said.
"He should know, plus I want to know something." Nathalie said to her, then turned her head to face Adrien. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but that scarf wasn't from your father, and I owe Marinette an apology."
"Huh?"
Nathalie looked at Marinette. "Am I going to tell him, or are you?"
"Tell me what?" Adrien asked and saw that his girlfriend was looking away with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Oh no, let me guess." he said. "It's actually from Marinette."
Nathalie lowered her eyes in shame. "After she had dropped it off at the mansion, your father and I talked and he asked if you liked his gift. That was when I realized that I hadn't gotten one. I removed the post-it note Marinette had written a birthday greeting on, and passed it off as being from him." she related. "I'm truly sorry, Marinette."
Adrien thought for a moment, and remembered how Marinette's face fell when he told her that the scarf had been a gift from his father, and how happy he was that it had come from him. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Marinette reached up and brushed her fingers over his cheek. "I knew that things between you and your father weren't all that good, and you were so happy that he remembered your birthday." she said. "I didn't want to spoil that for you, it was enough for me to know that you enjoyed it."
Nathalie cleared her throat. "Well, that answered my question as to why you kept your silence. Until tomorrow afternoon then." she said then left.
"Where did Nathalie take you?" Marinette asked once Nathalie was far enough away not to hear.
"My father wanted my input when he and Lila's mother had a talk." he said. "Let's just say that I don't think we'll have to worry about her for a while." he added and smiled when Marinette visibly relaxed.
"So, working at a bakery, huh?" Jake said. "You're more like us than you realize, doing charity work to further the Gabriel brand.
"Jacob Franklin Loomis!"" Jenna called angrily.
"Yeah, babe?"
"Shut up." she said. "Marinette, I apologize for him. He tends to put his mouth into gear before engaging his brain."
Marinette nodded, but Adrien could still see her body tensed with anger.
"Monsieur Loomis, the bakery I work at is the T & S Boulangerie and Patisserie." Marinette said. The T standing for Tom Dupain, and the S standing for Sabine Cheng, my parents. My working there is not charity, but spending time with my family."
Jake swallowed nervously. "Marinette, I'm sorry. Once again I spoke without thinking and insulted you."
"Jake, if you had listened to me last night you would have known." Jenna said. "I got an message from Kira, giving me a thumbnail sketch of what the press knows about you." she told Marinette, then handed over her phone. "I assure you it's not presented like this in the press, but Kira was able to piece this together."
Marinette took the phone and looked the information over. She was relieved to see that none of her secrets were given away. "It's basically just the information that was in the written statement we gave the press when our going steady was announced." she told Adrien as she handed the phone back.
"So, are you ready to dance, Princess?" Adrien asked, hearing the string quartet start playing.
Marinette batted her eyes at him. "Why, sir, I thought you'd never ask." she said as she got up and they headed for the dance floor. She held back for a moment when she found that they were the first ones to arrive there.
"Come on, Princess, I know you've got this." Adrien soothed, then gave her a Chat Noir smirk. "Besides, I've got your back." He chuckled when Marinette rolled her eyes at him. He smiled warmly at her as she took his hand and stepped out onto the dance floor with him.
Marinette relaxed and closed her eyes, letting the music calm her jangling nerves. A short time later she opened them and saw the loving look Adrien was giving her. She also saw that they had been joined on the dance floor by a good part of the attendees of the gala.
"May I cut in?" a deep voice asked from Marinette's left.
She glanced over and smiled broadly when she saw her father standing there.
"Of course, sir." Adrien said, placing Marinette's hand in Tom's. He watched as they danced away, and he turned to leave the dance floor. He pulled up short when he almost ran into Sabine.
"A handsome young man such as yourself shouldn't be without a dance partner."
Adrien gave her a flamboyant bow. "I would be honored, Madam." he said, holding out his hand. He looked over the gown Sabine was wearing, and smiled. "Let me guess, Marinette's design?" he asked as they danced.
Sabine blushed slightly as she smiled. "A birthday gift a few months ago." she said. "You have a good eye, but then you should." she added. "Adrien, I want to thank you for enabling her to have this chance."
It was Adrien's turn to blush. "Honestly, all I did was bring her with me so she could see how the designers worked." he explained. "She did the rest on her own." he glanced over and watched his girlfriend dancing with her father. "He dances well."
"He's surprisingly light on his feet." Sabine said looking fondly at the pair. She looked back at Adrien and her face grew somber. "I want to thank you for your help with the bakery. Tom and I were at our wits end as to what we were going to do."
"Like I told you, it was my pleasure, and I look at it as investing in my family." he said and was thoughtful for a moment. "Before you ask, no I haven't proposed to her. That won't be until after Hawk Moth is dealt with. It's just that you and Tom have been so kind and nice to me, that, well, you're more like family to me than my own father."
Sabine smiled fondly at the young blonde. "Just remember that you're always welcome at our house." she told him.
Adrien gave her a smile. "I know, and you have no idea how much that means to me." he told her.
Meanwhile, Tom was having a conversation with his daughter.
"Baby, I'll admit I'm not sure what your being honored will mean for your becoming a designer, but I'm so proud of you, and I am very sorry that I belittled you and your talent. I saw those dresses you designed, and they were absolutely beautiful, as is this gown you're wearing, and the one you made for your mother."
Marinette blushed slightly. "Thank you, Papa. I'm just sorry that I disappointed you in not becoming a baker and following in your footsteps."
Tom chuckled, and smiled at his daughter. "Honey, as long as you're happy and doing what you are passionate about, I'll never be disappointed in you. Besides, I've tasted your chocolate cheesecakes, and the other things that you've made. Once you get married, Adrien is going to have a hard time keeping is figure." he added with a wink. He laughed softly when he saw how red his daughter's face turned. They both looked over at where Adrien and Sabine were dancing. "He loves you, pumpkin, so very much, just as I do you mother."
"I know, Papa, I just hope I'm worthy of that.
Tom smiled fondly at his daughter as the music ended and he pulled her into a hug. "You are, baby, make no mistake about that.
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Meanwhile there was a conversation going on in the back of a limousine.
"Young lady, do you have any idea how much you embarrassed me tonight?" Francesca Rossi demanded of her daughter. "I thought we were done with your lies."
"But, mama, that Dupain-Cheng girl doesn't like me, she's the one lieing."
"Enough, Lila! While you were changing, I had a talk with Adrien, Nathalie and Gabriel." Francesca said angrily. "Claiming to be friends with Ladybug, dating Adrien secretly." she scoffed. "Not to mention having saved Jagged Stone's cat, and having arthritis in your wrist among a list of other things that I won't take the time to list. Then you act like a common thief and steal that gown from the school, and claim that you made it."
Lila thought furiously on how she could turn this to her favor, when she noticed something.
"Mother, this isn't the way home."
"No, it's not. I have been fooled by your lies to often, so I am dealing with it the best way I know how. You will be returning to Rome, and will be under the care and tutelage of Signora Fabrini. I had thought that you could be trusted to be placed in a public school, but you have shown me that I was mistaken." she looked sadly at her daughter. "This is not a decision that I am pleased to make, but your actions leave me no choice. You will be home schooled and confined to the villa."
"I bet you wouldn't do this to me if I were Sophie." Lila shot back. "She had you wrapped around her little finger."
"Lila! Do not speak of your dead sister that way!"
"Why not? Everything was great until she came along, you and father spent time with me, and cared for me. Then little Sophia came along and it was as if I didn't exist anymore." she paused and Francesca saw the look that swept over Lila's face. "It was too bad that the brakes failed on the car they were in."
Suddenly something clicked in Francesca's mind. "That car was provided by the embassy car depot, they were checked mechanically almost daily."
Lila fiddled with her fingers as a sly smirk made it's way to her lips. "It was so sad that the mechanic over looked the loosening of the brake lines."
Francesca gasped as she remembered some of the specifics of the investigation of the accident that took her husband and younger daughter from her. "You. . .Roberto wasn't lieing, you blackmailed him into. . ."
Lila let out a tittering laugh. "Of course I did, I wanted that little twit out of my way."
"Lila, your. . .your father was also killed in that crash!"
"He never did believe me, and tried to get you to go against me." Lila said. "So you see, I will not be returning to Rome, and you will allow me to continue in school." Lila said, then fixed a cold glare on her mother. "Or who knows what may happen."
Francesca looked at her daughter in disgust. 'What kind of monster have I raised?' she thought to herself. "That is where you are wrong, Lila. You will be taken back to Rome and interred in an asylum, you are insane."
"Seriously, mother? You don't think I could talk my way out of whatever you say?"
"You forget where we are." Francesca said. "This is a diplomatic car and has recording devices. Our entire conversation has been recorded, and I assure you that when I let certain people hear it, you will indeed be consigned to an asylum."
Lila swallowed nervously, knowing that she had finally been caught.
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Marinette and Adrien were walking around, letting the party goers see not only Marinette, but the two of them as a couple.
"Congratulations, Dupain-Cheng." a familiar voice said. "I knew you had it in you."
Marinette smiled broadly, and held her hands out for Chloe to take. "Thank you, Chlo." she said, then gasped when she got a good look at the blonde. "You bought the other one!" she said. "When I looked at my bank account after I set up the direct deposit for my royalties I saw that two gowns had been sold." she explained. "I found out one was to Clara Nightingale and I didn't know who the other one went to. Now I do."
Chloe stepped back and did a quick twirl. "I received the sampler of designs for this line, and I liked what I saw in this, and I know how good I look in black." she said.
Marinette had to admit that Chloe looked absolutely stunning. "I like the new hairstyle too." she said, referring to the fact that Chloe's blonde locks were loose and framed her face, falling to her shoulders.
"Thank you." she said, blushing slightly as she twirled a lock of her hair aloud her finger. "I'd ask oyu two to join me in my sendoff tonight, but I know that Gabriel would disapprove, and to be honest I don't want to smudge you image tonight." she twirled again, and held her arms up. "Tonight I splurge, and tomorrow I get caged." she said then drained her champagne flute. She looked at the empty glass for a moment. "I need another one of those." she muttered. She looked up in surprise when she felt a hand on her arm.
"Chloe, please don't." Marinette said softly. "Your going to prison is going to be bad enough, but I'm sure you don't want to do it with a hangover."
"From what my lawyers say, I'll be sent to the centre pour mineurs for about seven months, then released to house arrest with an ankle device for eight years, with psychiatric care during that first year at least." Chloe said, then looked shyly at Marinette. "I know I have you to thank for my getting such a light sentence."
Marinette saw that although Chloe was talking to her, she was looking at the dancers on the dance floor. "Adrien, why don't you have a dance with Chloe?"
Adrien smiled at the look of shock on Chloe's face, then took her hand and led her to the floor.
Marinette watched them go with a smile, then turned and took a chocolate danish from the serving platter on the table.
"That's my girl." Sabine said softly, drawing a blush from the noirette.
"I suppose in addition to my congratulations, I have to add my thanks to you."
Marinette quickly swallowed as she turned to the speaker. "I thank you for the congratulations, but your thanks aren't necessary, Madame Bourgeois." she said, and fought not to squirm under the glare Audrey Bourgeois was giving her.
The older woman sighed heavily, and looked at where Chloe and Adrien were dancing. "I can see that what she has told me about you is true. Despite how she has treated you over the years, and what she did recently, you're willing to give her another chance, and doing what you can to help her with that." she said. "For that I do indeed owe you my thanks. I only wish that she had been friends with you earlier."
"Madame, until a few days ago I would said that Chloe and I couldn't be friends, but things have changed, she's changed." Marinette said.
Audrey nodded. "Well, I do thank you and congratulate you." she said, offering her hand.
"You're welcome, and thank you." Marinette said, taking the hand and shaking it.
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It was several hours later, and Marinette knew it was pushing one o'clock in the morning. For the most part the gala had finished and the party goers dispersed along with the press. Marinette was leaning on the grand piano in the room, and she glanced over at Alya and Nino cuddling at a nearby table with Jenna and Jake not far away doing the same. She shifted her gaze back to Adrien as his fingers glided over the piano keys, picking out a gentle tune.
Tom and Sabine had said their good nights about an hour ago, and assured their daughter that they knew she would be late getting home. She smiled softly when she saw the platter of pastries sitting in front of Adrien on the piano.
Adrien glanced over at Marinette, and smiled as he blushed at the loving look she was giving him. His smile broadened as he saw her yawn. "Long day, Princess?"
"Mmm." Marinette hummed in agreement. "But I wouldn't change it for the world." she added. "Do you realize that I met more people in the fashion and design industry tonight than I could in years on my own."
"And I'd say say the adrenaline from that is wearing off." Adrien said when she yawned again.
"So when is the car going to pick us up?"
Adrien stopped playing, his right hand going to the back of his neck, his left going to the inside pocket of his suit coat. "It's not." he said softly, holding out two key cards for hotel rooms. "I knew how exhausted you'd be so I talked to Chloe and she arranged for us to have a couple of rooms. I even let Sabine know."
Marinette smiled softly, then her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the key cards. "Did she say rooms, or did you ask for rooms?" she asked.
"Well, I did as for two rooms." Adrien replied, then looked more closely at the cards. He chuckled when he saw that they were both for the same room. "That little devil." he said softly.
"Well, at least now I don't have to ask you to stay with me in my room." Marinette said as she yawned hugely. She caught the look Adrien was giving her, and panic washed over her face. "Please don't tell me I said that out loud." she whined.
"Did you mean it?" he asked, and loved the adorable, shy blush that overtook her.
"Yes." she said so softly he almost didn't hear it.
He reached up and put his hand over hers on top of the piano. "Then how can I say no?"