Hello sorry for the delay . May has been a little crazy for me
when it comes to the story in case after reading this chapter you're confused when lila saw Marinette with master fu. It happened in chapter 14 when Marinette was heartbroken about rejecting Adrien's proposal and ran to master fu for advice . You don't need to read the chapter again, just so you know in case you were wondering
There's a reason why Ladybug is always the one coming up with the plans. When it's chat's turn, he tends to be a little reckless and impulsive. Taking off his ring definitely proved to be the case. His idea was simple: distract Lila long enough for her transformation to drop so that she was no longer capable of hurting anyone. It was good thinking for a split-second decision, however in his extremely fast planning, he forgot that outrunning a villain is a lot harder without superpowers.
He ran like crazy trying to get away, and not daring to look back knowing she was getting closer. His feet carried on even when he felt she was right behind him. He even saw her hand reaching his shoulder and he sprinted even faster.
When he finally noticed she hadn't caught him and that she was no longer on his tail, he turned around. The first thing he saw was a detransformed Lila tied upside down by Ladybug's yoyo. He had to admit it was amusing watching her trying to break free.
His lady on the other hand didn't seem to find it as funny. In her classically serious Ladybug tone, she reprimanded him, "What did we agree about being safe?"
Adrien tried to hide the smile on his face. Even while pouting, his lady was cute. Using his puppy dog eyes, he apologized. "Sorry, My Lady. I only wanted to protect you."
However despite how much charm and apologies he placed in his puppy dog eyes, they still didn't seem to make her less angry. It was time to go for the last resort: a kiss.
Marinette, still mad, stopped him and was quick to answer. "No kisses for you until I forget how reckless you were."
Lila, still high above the ground, offered, "Adrien, if you want a kiss, I can give you one."
While Adrien barfed at the idea, Ladybug pulled the liar even higher and warned, "Don't make me drop you."
Lila smirked. Not even Ladybug's threats were enough to stop her from taunting him. "And to think, I always saw Chat Noir as nothing more than a stray. You clearly are so much better. And you Marinette, being Ladybug, is hysterical. The fate of Paris rests in the hands of the most clumsy and bland girl."
Strangely enough, Lila's insults to Marinette didn't hurt as much as knowing that Lila knew her identity. Logically since Lila knew Chat Noir's identity now, it wasn´t that hard for the liar to know she was Ladybug. However, that still didn't take that awful sensation of having that liar knowing her secret.
"Don't insult My Lady," Adrien warned Lila. His tone showing he was not in the mood for her games.
The girl, despite losing and his warning, still looked at him with a smile. Him being Chat Noir and Marinette being Ladybug finally explained why Gabriel didn't want to steal the miraculous. He knew their identities, didn't he? Yet, after everything she had done for him, he chose not to tell her? That was a mistake that was going to cost him.
Uncomfortable with how tight the yoyo string was around her, Lila tried to make a deal. "Let me go and I'll reveal Hawkmoth's real name."
"Why would we believe anything you say?" Ladybug asked, even though the answer was obvious. Lila wasn't exactly known for being honest.
For Lila, the reason behind revealing the identity wasn't so much to free herself, but to get her revenge. The moment Gabriel decided to switch to the hero's side, he lost the rest of her loyalty and made a new enemy. No longer wearing her classic grin, she explained, "The only thing you need to know is that I have proof."
"Release her just a little," Adrien conceded. Although skeptical, Marinette did what he told her.
They still kept her tied, but carefully lowered her and turned her upright. Immediately she went back to smirking. "Thank you, Adrien, you're so kind. Clearly you are nothing like your papa, Gabriel Hawkmoth Agreste."
Marinette wasn't sure if she was understanding it right, or even if Lila was telling the truth. Gripping her yoyo slightly harder, she asked, "Are you implying that Gabriel is Hawkmoth? Why? How?"
Lila, still with her overconfident smile, explained, "He is Hawkmoth. And the reason why, is to save his wife. You see, he had to keep Adrien's mom, poor sweet Emilie, hidden so that no one learned what his mistake did to her. She is basically dead, although he insists it is more like a coma. The best part, and now my favorite part, is that the only way to wake her up is by using the miraculous wish, which would sacrifice your baby's life for hers."
Unable to let her continue anymore, the blond accused, "You're lying!"
So far, he had been quiet... processing her words. However, after processing and processing... forcing his brain to remember every fight with Hawkmoth, every time spent with his father who had been akumatized as The Collector, the only conclusion Adrien's brain arrived at was that Lila couldn't be telling the truth. His father couldn't be the one that akumatized him as Chat Blanc. His father couldn't be lying about what happened to his mom. His father wouldn't think about using his own grandchild as a... a... No. NO! His father couldn't be Hawkmoth! He refused to believe a liar over his own father.
Looking the blond straight in the eye, Lila simply asked, "Adrien, you spend so much time looking at your mom's picture. Did you ever wonder if Gabriel was telling you the truth about what really happened to her?"
He didn't know how to respond, so he just took a few steps back to calm down and think. Noticing the nervous meltdown Adrien was having, Lila turned to the calmer hero, Ladybug, and confessed, "He has a huge file on you. I'm proud to say, I helped collect some of the information he was looking at before the two of you arrived. He never let me read it, but I could see your terrible picture in first grade."
Lila smirked, but she was beginning to regret not trying to look closer at that folder... especially since it was all information on Ladybug. She particularly wondered if it had precious intel about the miraculous or how to get them. Maybe it even had information on the guardian Gabriel told her about. She wasn't sure, but if she had to guess, she would bet it was that on that old man with the Hawaiian shirt that she saw with Marinette once.
Her inner thoughts were disrupted by Adrien, who was finally coming out of his nervous meltdown. "You're just covering for the real Hawkmoth aren't you? Was he the one that sent you here to accuse my father?"
Lila couldn't help but laugh at the blond's denial. "You might have good looks, but you are as naive and dense as they come. What part of 'I have proof' didn't you hear?"
The police arrived before Adrien could reply. They and Ladybug took over. Officer Roger placed Lila in handcuffs while Ladybug used her miraculous cure to revert everything back to normal.
Adrien continued to think about Lila's accusations. He wasn't mad, he was furious. How dare Lila come to his house and accuse his father? Not only had she beaten him up, but she also wanted to spread lies about him?
Fuming with anger, he grabbed the rednette strongly by the arm and demanded for her to show the proof while Ladybug calmly explained to the police that they would bring the detainee as soon as they cleared Gabriel as a suspect of being Hawkmoth. Luckily, the police didn't say anything as Ladybug supervised Lila begin taken away by Adrien.
The evil girl led the way across the mansion with ease as they followed her. They kept an eye out in case it was a trap.
They were surprised when she finally stopped and revealed a secret padlock. Like it was nothing, she began dialing the combination to presumably open a secret door. It was clear by Adrien's expression he wasn't aware that there was a secret room there.
Before she even finished putting the combination, Lila commented, "Your family money really will come out handy to pay for all the therapy you'll need after seeing the way your father keeps your mom."
Unfortunately for her, nothing opened as she inserted the final digit. She angrily tried the combination over and over before starting to try other combinations. For some reason nothing was working. Mayura watched from a distance and smirked proudly before calling off her transformation.
Lila found it strange that the combination wasn't working. She had recently been there, hadn't she? It didn't matter when she had been there last, because she remembered the combination clearly. "I swear she's in there," she explained as she tried one more time to open the door.
Natalie approached them and asked, "what's going on here?"
Adrien explained it simply, showing just exactly how crazy it all sounded. "She is accusing my father of being a supervillain and keeping my comatose mom in there."
Gabriel arrived at that exact moment and looked shocked at the accusations. He seemed almost hurt as he asked, "Son, you don't believe her. Do you?"
"Of course not," Adrien tried to sound convinced but for some reason after seeing that padlock his tone showed a little insecurity.
Natalie actively pushed Lila away and began putting the combination. "Excuse you," Lila commented at the brutality of the push, failing to notice what Natalie had taken from her.
Gabriel's assistant didn't even hide her smile as she apologized, "I'm sorry. My bad." Like magic, after she inserted the last number, it opened a secret door that led to an elevator.
"They changed the combination," Lila accused and pointed to Adrien's dad and his assistant. Fortunately, no one believed her.
"Can we go inside?" Ladybug asked politely.
"I would rather not," Gabriel began to explain, but Lila rushed inside the elevator that led down the mansion and to the repository where he kept Emilie. She was convinced that he might have changed the combination, but there was no way he could have moved her.
After the elevator returned, Gabriel and Natalie went next to try to stop Lila. Adrien was the last to enter and only because he needed to know the truth. Somehow, all his confidence in his father... just like the elevator... seemed to go all the way down. Who kept a secret room like that?
Seeing the insecurity in his eyes, Ladybug took his hand, supported him, and loved him all the way. "Please don't let my mom be there," he whispered to himself just as the elevator stopped.
At first glance, Adrien and Ladybug had to admit that the room was definitely creepy, and gave chills across everyone's spines. However, as weird as it was, one thing became clear as they kept walking. Unless Gabriel had somehow turned Emilie into fabric or mannequins, she wasn't there. The room was actually almost empty, if not for a little fabric and a few mannequins laying around.
Instead of being annoyed by Lila's lies, Adrien sighed in relief. Never in his life did he think he would be happy to not see his mother. He couldn't believe he almost fell for Lila's lies.
Lila looked baffled at everything. How did Gabriel manage to change everything so quickly? Where were the tubes... and the butterflies... and Emilie? Why were mannequins and fabric there? Looking around she still insisted "She was here. I saw her!"
Playing his part of an honest person, Gabriel assured, "The only thing I'm guilty of is overbuying fabric and products and using some extra rooms for storage. I'm sorry you all have to see this mess."
Lila knew he was smart, so she had to outthink him. Without blinking, she ordered, "Take me to his office. He has folders with information on Marinette. I can prove it! He was reading them before both of you arrived."
Adrien was convinced of his father's innocence to the point of actually taking Lila to his father's office. Once there, she went immediately to the folder she knew contained all of Marinette's information. She had seen him read it countless times, so she recognized the folder immediately. She opened it and all she found there were bank statements, shopping orders, and contracts. Nothing related to Marinette. She tried another folder... and another folder... always with the same result.
"Let me guess, he switched the folders too? "Adrien mocked.
Lila tried from a different angle, "Adrien how would I know so much about this mansion including that secret room if I hadn't been living here? You have to believe me."
Gabriel placed a hand on his son's shoulder and explained, "This girl is clearly is obsessed with you. She's probably been spying on all of us. She likely studied the layout of the mansion just to kidnap you. I'll double check the security systems and quadruple our defense systems."
Lila looked at the blond as she repeated, "I lived here Adrien. You have to believe me! "
Gabriel in turn just asked, "Son, do you really think she could have been living under this roof without you realizing?"
The blond didn't even stop to think as he answered, "No." Adrien knew that the real Hawkmoth was aware he was Chat Noir, so it wasn't far-fetched that he and obsessed Lila found a way to spy on him. Somehow, his father's explanation made more sense that Lila's.
Sadly, she wasn't ready to give up, so this wasn't the end of her humiliation. Gabriel gave permission to search the whole house. It didn't come to that, but she tried and tried and tried and tried to show proof she had been staying there, but it was all gone. He had managed to turn every truth she was saying into lies.
Even as Ladybug gave the liar back to the police, she still kept her accusations. "Gabriel set me up. He invited Marinette over, knowing it would provoke me. Then he left his miraculous out so that I could use it. He planned all of this. He knew I was going to be stopped and reveal his identity, so he made it look like I was lying. He's the real villain. Arrest him."
"You'll have your chance to explain everything down at the station," Officer Roger assured.
Ladybug asked him, "Could we please have a moment alone with Lila?"
He seemed surprised but smiled as he assured, "Anything for you Ladybug."
At this point Adrien and Ladybug were done with Lila, and were more than anxious to never see her again. However they still needed the butterfly brooch back. Since she clearly wasn't wearing the miraculous anymore, they had to ask her, "Where is the butterfly brooch?"
She wasn't sure, but she had a guess on who had it. However she knew they wouldn't believe her. Struggling to keep her smile, she explained, "Adrien, the day you realize I'm telling the truth, you know where to find me. I'll be waiting for you my kitty."
She winked at him and Ladybug began fuming with anger. Nobody called Adrien kitty but her. Ladybug could have responded to Lila's words in many ways: with insults, with punches, or even by ignoring her. Still, she chose the way that felt right. With a smile, the bluenette pulled her kitty, not Lila's, into a kiss. He quickly melted into it and Ladybug too. What began as a revenge kiss to show that Adrien was hers, turned a pure kiss, that instead showed just how much they actually loved each other.
Considering the rollercoaster of emotions. Ladybug decided the best thing to do was to just walk away from the car and let the justice take care of the rest. As she began to walk away, she took Adrien's hand and asked, "Are you okay?"
He smiled in relief as he explained, "If there is anything good from today, it's that no matter how cold and overbearing my father is sometimes, at least he isn't as bad as Lila painted him out to be. Can you imagine him actually being Hawkmoth? Or trying to use our precious Kitten as a sacrifice? Or having my mother hidden inside the mansion?"
While both walked away, Natalie stayed put watching the girl inside the police car. She had to admit it gave her a certain pleasure to finally see Lila being taken away. Even despite trying to stay out of sight, Gabriel still noticed her. With a smile, he approached her. The first thing he asked was, "Are my son and Marinette okay?"
With a smile on her face, she answered, "Ladybug used her cure, so I would say so. You should have seen the way she tied Lila up. I wish I could have been the one to finish her."
Gabriel agreed. "You're not the only one. Let me tell you that it was a lot harder to lose than to win. It's a shame the plan demanded Lila to be caught by Ladybug and for her to reveal my identity."
Natalie turned away from Lila being captured and looked at Gabriel. "How could you be so certain that Ladybug was going to win?" Gabriel, with a very serious expression, explained, "If there is one thing I learned over the years as a villain, it's that against Hawkmoth, Ladybug always wins."
"Well, today we all win." Avoiding looking directly in Gabriel in the eyes, she focused on his tie, that by luck was a little loose. With ease, she began to fix it.
Ignoring how close she was, but noticing she was moving around his tie he asked, "Did you get the broach back?"
If Natalie didn't know him so well, and wasn't certain that he wouldn't use it anymore, she might've had second thoughts about handing him the broach. However, she knew he liked the power that it gave. Even if he wouldn't use it, the knowledge it was there in case he needed it was enough.
"I took it when I pushed her, and no one even noticed," she answered, proud of fulfilling her duty. She took it out of her pocket and handed it to him, their hands touching in the process.
His eyes almost smiled as he thanked her. "Natalie, thank you for working behind the scenes, making sure everything Lila said was a lie. I honestly don't know what I would do without you." Natalie looked at her hands and noticed that he was holding her hand. It made it almost too hard to focus or even speak. "It wasn't just that we made a great team." She lifted her eyes to look at him and, the second he looked her in the eyes also, was the second he wasn't looking at her as an employee and she wasn't looking at him as her boss. She couldn't explain it. All she knew was that somehow it felt wrong, but right at the same time.
She wanted to look away, but just like their fingers, their eyes couldn't let go of one another. Gabriel was the first one strong enough to break eye contact. "I should go check on my wife. See how she's doing in the new hiding place."
"Of course, sir." Natalie looked away and released his hand. She forced herself not to stare at him as she asked the question she most wanted answered. "Now that you won't use the butterfly brooch anymore, what do you plan on doing?"
Gabriel sighed before gazing into the distance. It made it easier to explain if he wasn't looking directly at Natalie. "As long as Emilie's still alive, I can't give up trying to bring her back. I still don't know if there's even another way to save her without the miraculous, but I'll keep trying. I haven't found anything in the last few years, but I'll keep looking. As long as we're both alive. I'll never stop trying to reunite with her."
Despite the lump in her throat. Natalie placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "I'm sure... somehow... you'll find a way. What matters now is, this is your fresh start. Adrien is happy with Marinette. You've gotten rid of Lila while keeping yourself clean, because no one believed her. Today is a victory."
"You're right," he agreed before walking straight to the police car.
As a final au revoir, Gabriel decided to talk to Lila. The window was open and as soon as she saw him, she guaranteed, "This isn't over."
Gabriel bluntly disagreed, "I believe it is. I told you not to mess with me, didn't I?"
She smirked, "You won this round, but sooner or later, Adrien will learn the truth."
"No... he won't," Gabriel guaranteed before beginning to walk away.
She tried to get up, promising, "I'll be back, stronger and more powerful. I'll destroy you."
With a smirk, he turned around one final time and replied, "If you ever come back to hurt me or my family . I'll be the one destroying you"
Proud of himself, Gabriel then walked inside the mansion, straight to Officer Roger and demanded, "Take this terrible villain out of my house and make sure she doesn't come back to bother me or my family."
The police man replied, " Of course Mr. Agreste. And don't worry... because we'll make sure she goes away for a very long time, especially since she's refusing to cooperate by giving her accomplice's identity. It's sad to see her accusing an upstanding citizen like you of being a villain."
Gabriel smiled and shook the man's hand. "Thank you, it's good to know I can trust the authorities in this city. I sincerely hope you catch Hawkmoth and Mayura quickly so this can all be behind us."
Later that night at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, an exhausted and mentaly drained bluenette changed out of her dress and into her pajamas. Instead of going to bed, she stared at the necklace and the roses Adrien had given her. Instead of thinking about moving to the mansion, or the actual dinner, or not being able to get the brooch back, Marinette only had a single issue on her mind. Floating over, her friend Tikki asked, "What are you thinking, Marinette?"
"Nothing. It's silly. Just my pregnant brain. It's nothing." Marinette murmured thoughtlessly.
"You don't seem convinced," Tikki countered.
Marinette sighed. She really couldn't hide anything from her friend, could she? With guilt she began to unroll her thoughts. "It was just Gabriel's concern about Chat... Lila's insistence on Gabriel being Hawkmoth... The butterfly miraculous disappearing... What if... what if... what if Gabriel really is Hawkmoth?" Even saying those words felt like a betrayal to Adrien, and Marinette wanted to take them back immediately.
"That would mean Lila was telling the truth," Tikki commented, not dismissing the idea... but also not supporting it.
Marinette laughed at the crazy concept, "Lila is incapable of that. Besides, there was zero proof... we checked! I can't believe I almost fell for one of her lies. This could have been our chance to capture the real Hawkmoth, but now it's all back to square one. Not only have I failed Paris, I also failed my Kitten."
Thank you for reading. See you as soon as the next chapter is ready. Personally, I can't wait to post it since it's one everyone has been waiting for.
until next time , bisoux