You know... I distinctly remember the day I signed that contract... and I've lived to that contract to this very day. How could I forget? It was a day I could never forget... even if I tried. It serves to show how obligation... can be a prison. The grip of the pen to paper, the ink that sealed my fate forever, the ice that surged through my veins. It's not something I would like to remember, but if that day could have went any more horribly, it went like this.

I made sure I saw none of my friends or Adrien for that matter after that talk. Gabriel seemed dead serious about making me disappear, but what can I do? I can't just waltz in there and dropkick him until he complies to let this go. No, I brought this upon myself, so I should bear the consequences, and nobody else. The mansion seemed cold when I walked up to it, what was weird was that the gate was already open. Cautiously, I walked straight in, eyeing the spotless white doors warily. Gabriel usually confronted people at the gate... why was it open? I set my hand upon the door and it was surprisingly unlocked, but when I opened the door, I immediately put the pieces together. Standing clear as day, right in front of me was Gabriel Agreste. He looked as if he was waiting for me, the doddering creep, but it still managed to scare me nonetheless.

"I've been expecting you Marinette Dupain Cheng..." Gabriel said lowly as his gaze never wavered and his stance remained unchanged. That sentence was the only sign of acknowledgment he gave me as he absolutely did nothing at all to react.

"How long have you been standing there waiting like the cowardly creep you are?" I retorted mockingly as Gabriel barely expressed a smirk and beckoned me to follow.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, follow along, Adrien's not here by the way," Gabriel added on as I made my way up the agonizingly long staircase. Gabriel took another cold look back at me and made another comment that made my heart sink terribly. What is it with this man? "You know... that goodbye letter you wrote, you must have really influenced him, I haven't heard him cry and sob for such a long period of time since his mother disappeared..."

I felt myself tense and grit my teeth especially hard, how much more does he have to rub it in, "Shut up... don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be, it's already excruciating enough." I huffed as I roughly pushed my way past him and sat myself down in the foreboding, singled out chair in front of his desk. Soon, he sat in front of me with a low, knowing smile and set a piece of paper in front of me.

"This is the contract... you'll be signing for all eternity..." Gabriel mused as I looked at the contract as if it was my poison, one touch... and I would waste away, just like that.

"I know you're just using the word eternity as a threat," I replied as I felt Gabriel shift in his chair and I looked up to find him staring at me, amused.

"Am I now? Hmph, let's get on with the terms shall we?" Gabriel asked thoughtfully as he started pointing out the terms, starting with the first paragraph and I quote "Section 1, subsection A, sub-subsection Roman numeral 1." Yes... apparently he's thought this out... terrifyingly well.

"You may not under any circumstances be within Adrien's viewing range, 20-20 vision mind you, so that means you need to be at least 2 blocks away from him if he were to look straight ahead, either way, you'll never see him in the flesh again," Gabriel said solemnly as I continued to look at the contract in disbelief, it was then I started to notice how many GOD DAMN FRICKITY FRACK pages there are.

"A little unreasonable, but alright... what's next?" I asked exhaustedly as I felt that sinking feeling that this... was gonna take a while. Normally, his last statement would have made me go to the verge of tears, but you know... I already used up half my tears... what's the point?

"Section 1, subsection B, sub-subsection Roman numeral 2, this is just a rule for when your child is born, nobody may know that you child is ever born. Your parents are not allowed to visit you at all in the hospital room," Gabriel continued as I felt myself immediately reject to that statement.

"Hey! Even though Adrien may not be there to hold him when he's born, but at least let my parents visit! They have nothing to do with you! They are his grandparents! They are allowed to see their grandchild!" I angrily interjected as I glared at him hard. Who does he think he is? Preventing my parents from seeing their grandchild? Gabriel feigned a look of probably fake understanding as he nodded.

"Fine... I'll let your parents and ONLY your parents visit."

"Fair enough..."

"Next... you know... saying all of these sections out loud might be a little tedious. I'm just gonna go right out and relay them to you," Gabriel said as he flipped through the seemingly endless pages of the bane of my existence and just started with the next rule.

"You may not under any circumstances, add any of your old contacts onto your new phone, except for your parents," Gabriel said as he slid a brand new black phone over to me and I examined it to find that it was exactly identical to my current one... except that this is blank slate.

"Alright... you probably put a bug on it to monitor literally all of my conversations and activity, you are SUCH a control freak," I said as I slipped my AMAZING new phone into my bag. Gabriel rolled his eyes as he continued. This process is gonna continue for the next couple of hours because he set a lot of rules and it's teetering on borderline psychotic but I'll give you the gist of what he said.

"So let me get this clear," I said as I finally set the paper down and it was in the extremely late afternoon. Gabriel had to cancel a couple of calls from Adrien since he was wondering where his father was. Trust me... he's going to hell, or at least I wish he would, "Let's see... stay away from Adrien, don't talk with him, don't engage with him, don't talk about the past, don't talk about the future even if he prompts the question. If he should prevent me from getting away from him with my legally bound automatic 'book it' response, then pretend I don't know him. Repeat this process for all of my friends and if I am prevented from getting away, pretend I don't know them. If Louis ever asks about his lack of a father, say that he is out of the picture and that he didn't love us..." my heart broke slightly at that last part, I knew Adrien would love him, even if it was unplanned, "raise your child so that he'll hate Adrien and never want to meet him so avoid any accidental meetings..." I felt my voice die as I kept saying it out loud. I tried so hard... so incredibly hard to not crack in front of Gabriel but I couldn't help it.

"Crying aren't we? I was wondering when your resolve would sway and crack under the fact that you'll never have a normal conversation with anyone from your old life ever again," Gabriel laughed as he flipped to the last page where I saw the line in bold where my signature was supposed to be.

"You're a sick, twisted person! What kind of person takes amusement in seeing someone else truly suffer?" I asked tearily and angrily, not sure which as Gabriel continued to laugh and slide over a pen to my fingers.

"You know the answer to that Ms. Dupain Cheng, I specifically take enjoyment in watching you suffer. After all, you got yourself into this mess, I don't think you can dig yourself out of the hellhole you've made yourself," Gabriel smiled evilly as I let what he said sink in. I did dig myself a really deep hole this time. However, it gives him no right as a human being to make that hole go all the way down to hell. Whatever is going on in that man's mind, I don't know, I don't know how this contract is supposed to fix things. It feels like I'm just brewing this mess until it boils over and explodes in everyone's face. Although, I'm not really in the decision to question him, since I'll probably die the second I even make a single comment about it.

"No, it's a hole that you dug deeper for me, let's not switch up who's at fault here," I retorted as Gabriel narrowed his eyes at me and flickered his eyes between my hand and the pen. Trust me when I say that there were more rules, but those were just some of the big ones.

"Are you going to sign it or not?" Gabriel asked impatiently as I slowly gripped the pen and set the tip down on the contract line. This is the moment that will seal my fate forever, I got myself into this mess and it's obvious that I was never meant to get out. However, I will survive... no matter what because Louis is counting on me to be there for him when he's finally born. There's nothing else I can do.

"Alright..." I whispered as I signed my name and slid both the contract and pen back to him. It is done.

"I'll send you a copy when you reach your new place, your bags are already packed the bakery, just take them and disappear," Gabriel said as he packed the contract away, stood up, and showed Marinette out the door, "pleasure doing business with you Marinette."

(Alright! I'm doing that music suggestion thing again! "Warmth is Gone" from the Fire Emblem Fates soundtrack is a very sad and emotional theme for this, it fits with this perfectly! Check it out! For people who say that this leaves little to be desired, it's just to imagine the scene better in all honesty so to each his own)

"I would say likewise... but no... Good day Gabriel..." I said solemnly before I felt his evil smile bore into my neck before he shut the door and I allowed myself to cry. I'm going to have to do this a lot... act strong when all I want to do is curl up into a fetal position and cry. However, I can't afford to cry, for Louis' sake, he needs me and I'm not gonna be weak for him. Also, Adrien would want me to be strong, even if I'm going to disappear. I felt tears continue to run down my face as I walked through the empty halls of the Agreste Mansion. I slipped on a black cloak I had in my bag that had a gold and white collar. As I finally made it to the stairs, I was a little surprised that no one had caught me yet, but oh well. As I approached the door with my hood up, I reached my hand out for it but it opened before I could touch it. There, standing in front of me, was Adrien who had just come back from a photoshoot. I did feel like I got away a little too easily.

"Oh, who are you?" Adrien asked as I nodded to him and didn't respond, trying to move past him, but he wouldn't let me. I couldn't move past his large yet slender frame and I stood frozen trying to get past him. I tried to disguise my voice as much as I could without crying.

"It's really none of your business, I was here on business with your father," I said really mysteriously like... try comparing it some sort of sorceress who stands in front of a crystal ball to predict the future. Adrien looked at me questioningly before nodding in understanding.

"Ah, I see, well, you don't really look like any business partner I've ever seen him with, but what reason do I have to doubt you?" Adrien asked reassuringly as he stepped aside and let me through. Adrien... I really will miss you, you bring so much righteousness and light into this world. Thank you... for being the guy that you are, and that's why I love you.

"Thank you... have a nice day Adrien, for both of our sakes," I replied as Adrien looked at me with a confused look.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing... goodbye... forever," I cried as I walked faster, out the gate, and back into the city. I walked back to the bakery, contemplating what have I done to get to this point in life. What exactly did I do to deserve this? That night with Adrien was so amazing, it was a dream come true, but I never imagined it would go to this extent. I could tell when I was speaking to him that there was such a void inside where love used to be. The make up from his photoshoot couldn't hide his flushed cheeks or his eyes, dried by tears. I truly hope he can move past it along with everyone else. Thank you Adrien, for everything. I hope we can meet, in a better life somewhere. That's what I truly wish. Someday, it'll all come full circle and you can know the truth, but for now... I'll suffer... for you and Louis until that day comes.