This would be over soon. Lila plastered a face of fear and desperation as she walked timidly into the court. Her lawyer followed behind her, a defeated look already clear on his face. Lila looked to her mother who turned away. The traitor. She should be by Lila's side, supporting her against these people. But instead, she claims that Lila needs to face the consequences of her actions.
As she passed the class, her old followers, all turned away, refusing to meet her eye. They had finally come to their sense and once one of Lila's lies came out, it was just an avalanche from then on. Lila had barely been able to keep track of it but now she was in court facing claims of fraud, truancy, slander, libel, stalking, sexual assault and harassment, normal assault and harassment and threats.
Lila had done most of those things (she couldn't understand what was wrong with how she'd treated Adrien but everyone insisted that it was inappropriate). She accepted that she had done those things. But she couldn't see why she was going to court for it. It was Marinette's fault for being such a sickly goody-two-shoes. It was everyone else's fault for believing what she told them.
Lila took her seat and looked up at the judge.
Once all the pointless, boring court proceedings had been dealt with, the Agrestefamily lawyer stood up the present her first bit of evidence. She presented pictures from our last photo shoot showing me running my hands up Adrien's chest, placing my hand on his thigh and one photo where I touched his butt.
They then brought up Adrien who answered questions and talked about how 'uncomfortable' he was around Lila. She inwardly scoffed. He should feel lucky to have her attention. He should be on his knees begging her to merely stand near him, never mind give him what she was giving him.
But the jury seemed convinced. "You can't use those photos!" Lila cried, pushing out false tears. "I didn't consent to their taking."
Her lawyer hissed at her to stop.
"Could you put up evidence 13B please," Adrien's lawyer said? They put up a picture of the contract I signed and the lawyer pointed to a particular part of the contract.
'I give my consent for the pictures taken during a photo shoot to be used as my employer sees fit.'
My lawyer glared at me and stood up. "Surely these poses are part of the job. Adrien and Lila signed a contract. If Adrien is uncomfortable, he should take that up with his employer and Lila can't be liable for this." He looked tired as if he'd rather be saying anything but this.
Adrien's lawyer points to another part of the contract.
'Models will do as the photographer asks. Models are encouraged to set boundaries at the start of their employment but may update these at any point. If they are uncomfortable with a certain pose they may bring it up and accommodations will be made.'
They brought up the photographer and, after a few more questions, determined that Lila had not been doing what the photographer had asked and thus was responsible for her actions with no contract to protect her.
The next piece of evidence was a video taken of her in the locker room, threatening Marinette. Lila remembered that interaction. It was only minutes after her first lie had come out. Lila had thought she would be able to recover: a couple of lies here, a couple of tears there and everyone would forget the whole thing. She'd cornered Marinette to let her know that this was only a slight hiccup and it wouldn't stop Lila. She would win and Marinette would lose everything.
She shouted out again, ignoring the glare from her lawyer. "It's fake! *sob* *hiccup* She's faked the video. Marinette has always had it out for me since the beginning!"
The judge gave Lila a look that she couldn't determine. "Ms Rossi, do you have any evidence to back up this claim?"
Lila couldn't say anything. She gasped for a second before the judge continued.
"This footage has been checked, double-checked and triple-checked by the best detectives we have. Nothing has been flagged up."
Reluctantly, Lila let the lawyers continue.
~~~~~~~~
"Ms Rossi, if I'm going to get you out of this you have to work with me!"
They were sat in a private office, discussing the trial so far. The first day hadn't gone well, Lila knew this. But she was confident that she could get herself out of this. It was just a setback. The class would probably never trust her again but once she was out of legal trouble she could convince her mother to let her switch schools.
"I know what I'm doing! You haven't done much to help me have you?" She growled at him.
He glared at me. "Ms Rossi, I am doing my best. But there is only so much I can do. They have the best lawyer money can buy and they have mountains of evidence. It is my job to try and help you but I'm not sure I can unless you cooperate. Even then I think the best I can do is reduce your sentence."
"Then what are you even doing here!? You're a useless lawyer. Just you watch, by next week I'll be walking out those doors with all charges dropped."
He looked exasperated. "And how do you propose to do that?"
"It's easy. A few tears here, a little well-placed manipulation and they'll all be begging for my forgiveness."
A look of disgust followed by disappointment flashed across his face. "As a person, I am disgusted by your words. But as your lawyer, I am going to pretend I did not hear that. Just sit quietly, answer questions when you are asked and I will do my best. Don't make things worse for you than they already are."
Lila glared at the man. "I won't be found guilty, just you watch. It won't happen!"
~~~~~~~~~
This can't be happening. Six days into the trial and reality of the situation had just begun to sink in. Lila was going to be found guilty. And she was now going to be investigated for perjury after this trial was over. No matter how many tears she shed, how many lies she spewed or how many times she claimed evidence was faked it all just kept on coming. Witnesses included Jagged Stone, Vincent the photographer, many models, Gabriel Agreste, literally every single classmate, Ladybug and Chat Noir and so many more besides that. They'd even gathered some of her former classmates from her various schools in Italy. They had security footage, text messages, voice recordings and written letters. It was so overwhelming.
Lila finally understood what her lawyer had been saying this entire time. The jury was against her. Every time she walked into the room, she could feel the glares on her.
She could only see one way out of this.
She stood up, ignoring her lawyer as he grabbed her sleeve and tried to pull her down. "What are you doing?" he hissed.
"Getting out of this," She whispered back. She turned her attention back to the judge who was now eyeing her suspiciously. "Your- your honour, I would like to explain," she started, nervously. "You see, the reason I did all this is that I have this rare disease. It causes me to lie uncontrollably. I never meant to hurt anyone, I swear. I tried to apologise to the people I hurt but they refused to listen to me."
The judge nodded. "Very well, ms Rossi." Yes, yes. He believed her. "Do you have a certificate to prove that?"
She froze. "Not… exactly. It's undiagnosed but I know that I have it."
The judge nodded solemnly. "Well, Ms Rossi. I have good news for you. We can provide you with a psychiatric appointment as early as tomorrow morning. If the diagnosis comes back positive then that will certainly change the outcome of the proceedings."
Lila internally smiled. Manipulating one person in a room on their own would be a piece of cake. Her lawyer was still scowling but Lila knew this would work. Sure, it wasn't the ideal outcome but it was certainly better than the alternative. It would take time to bounce back but she was sure that, once out of court, she could convince her mum to forget the whole thing.
As Lila left the courtroom, she could feel the daggers being glared at her by her former classmates. They knew no doubt that she was lying but that wouldn't help them. Once she had the psychiatrist on her side, there would be nothing they could do to prevent her from being let off free from all punishments and her mother would be begging for her forgiveness.
She could imagine it now, "Oh, please Lila. I've been a terrible mother. I should have stuck by you, I should have trusted you! Please forgive me."
And, naturally, Lila would do it eventually. But not before letting her suffer and grovel. That should be enough to guarantee Lila her wishes. Moving school, new town, piles of gifts, etc.
~~~~~~~
"Lila is a complex young girl. She spent much of the session lying to me but eventually I managed to get through to the root of the problem. I believe Lila was correct in her claim that she had a lying disease. Specifically compulsive lying disorder."
Lila smiled to herself.
"But," the therapist continued. "I believe she made the claim under the conclusion that it would get her out of trouble. I also believe that the cause of her compulsive lying disorder is a narcissistic personality disorder."
Lisa's smile quickly faded.
The Agreste's lawyer nodded. "Would you mind outlining the signs and symptoms for both those diagnoses for us?"
The therapist nodded. "Compulsive lying often has some of the following traits: the lies are often rooted somewhat in the truth, someone with a cold might claim to have a serious, life-threatening illness; lying takes place over a long period and isn't caused by immediate pressure, so someone lying about an affair wouldn't be a habitual liar because they seek to hide the affair; the lies tend to show the person in a positive light and they are often caused by internal rather than external motivation, so not someone lying compulsively to avoid an abusive parent. This would not be considered compulsive as it is brought on by an outside threat. While there is not an official distinction, I would choose to diagnose Lila as a pathological liar because there is a clear motivation. This brings me to NPD- narcissistic personality disorder.
"Characteristics include: an obsessive interest in the perception of others, often relying on approval or admiration of others for self-esteem; a grossly inflated sense of self; excessive self-involvement that undermines the ability to empathise with the feelings of others; disregard for the needs of others; a sense of entitlement and attention-seeking behaviour designed to gain admiration. This may lead to some of the following symptoms: Preoccupation with fantasies of extreme success, power, or fame, a constant need for admiration and affirmation, a strong sense of entitlement, the envy of others, particularly their achievements, or belief that others should envy them, inflated sense of self-esteem, belief that they are special or unique, setting unrealistic goals, exploitation of others, difficulty maintaining healthy relationships, lack of empathy or ability to take responsibility for behaviours and cannot tolerate criticism."
Lila stared in shock at the man. She was not like that! She almost growled. She managed to stay silent though because she knew this was her ticket out of here.
"And you feel that Lila fits these criteria closely enough to warrant a diagnosis?"
The therapist nodded. "Very much so. Based on my assessment and the testimonies given by the girl's peers it seems the most fitting diagnosis."
"And as a therapist, what would you recommend for the girl?"
"That is a difficult question to answer. Compulsive lying can often come from an environment where lying isn't appropriately managed so lying poses a significant advantage with minimal risk. I believe that may be important to what we see here. Lila's NPD caused her to seek gratification in the form of lies. Some are rooted in truth like her mother being an ambassador when she was just a secretary. In the early days of her lying, she wasn't as good but her mother never gave appropriate reprimanding. She just moved Lila to a different school. Which, for Lila, would have acted as a reward because it gave her another chance. She didn't see any big risk with lying because she never got punished. As she got more skilled at manipulating people and preventing word from getting back to her mother, the punishments she did get proved less and less significant. If something got out, she could always convince her mother to let her move schools.
"Therapy is an important treatment but so is having strict and consistent punishment for lying. However, that brings us to our next problem. Both NPD and compulsive lying disorder are difficult to treat if the patient doesn't admit to needing help. If they are forced into therapy it is difficult to get them to change. People with NPD can sometimes try to manipulate ththe therapist in question must know in question knows a lot about both conditions. But, if we can show Lila how her NPD affects people's view of her, we at be able to convince her to change."
The lawyer nodded. "Thank you for your time. I'm done with you for now."
~~~~~~~
"Has the jury reached a unanimous decision?"
"Yes."
"What is your verdict?"
"Guilty of all charges."
Lila stared in shock. She thought for sure the therapist would get her out of this. She looked behind her and found him in the crowd and he was nodding. She couldn't believe him.
"Punishments should remain consistent despite Lila's diagnosis and we would recommend court-mandated therapy for the girl."
After the announcement and all the official stuff, Lila was marched out of the courtroom by her lawyer to where her mother was waiting. "I did my best for you Lila, but I can honestly say that this is what you deserve."
~~~~~~~~
"So you see, Lila. If it wasn't for your narcissistic personality disorder and compulsive lying, none of this would have happened. Your class would have appreciated you as you were and you would be happy in a classroom full of friends. Do you see now why you need help?"
Lila was stuck. She was trapped between her pig-headedness alongside years worth of habit and the inarguably convincing statement of the therapist. She was quiet. Very quiet. Finally, she came to a decision.
AN: I am not an expert in court proceedings or psychology. But I read a fanfic where Marinette read up on Lila's 'lying disease' so I did a bit of research into psychology and this was what I thought fit best.