Hey everyone I'm back with a new story. Unlike my recent two stories this story will be longer both in have more chapters and how long each chapter will be so it might take me a while to upload between chapters so please be patient with me. I hope you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer - I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Paris, France. There were no clouds in the sky, the birds were chirping, the flowers were dancing with the wind and everyone in the city had a smile on their faces as they were going through their daily lives.
However, near the outside lands of Pairs where the city's graveyard was located stood a young woman in her mid 20s. She had long flowy blue hair and her eyes were bright blue. She was standing by a grave and she was in tears as she held a single red rose in her hand.
The grave stone had the name of Adrien Agreste. He was a famous rich man who worked in the biggest and most famous entertainment production company in France. He was also married to Marinette Agreste and had a 6 year old son Hugo Agreste. The woman standing in front of the grave was none other than his wife Marinette Agreste who was still mourning for her husband and especially on this day because it was a special day.
Nearby a man was standing behind a tree watching Marinette with a frown. He was wearing white sneakers black jeans, a grey sweater, sunglasses and a black cap.
Marinette put the single rose on top of the grave. "Happy birthday Adrien I miss you… Hugo misses you…I was actually doubting coming today because this is still so hard for me… for all of us that care about you. You didn't deserve this fate. I know that you didn't do it… you aren't a thief and I know that you would never do such a crime that you were accused of but I promise that I'm doing everything that I can to clear your name. I will not rest until the name Adrien Agreste is cleared again. I love you Adrien and I always will."
Marinette wiped her tears away as she walked away. The man behind the tree watched her walk away as a single tear fell down his cheek. "I miss and love you too princess. You and Hugo. I'm sorry that I'm making you go through this."
A few months earlier.
It was a bright sunny day in Hollywood California. The perfect day for people to enjoy their day at the beach or even at work. Though what most people were excited about for that specific day was for the music video of the famous international star Lindo Sparks to be revealed by the famous French entertainment production company Couffaine Group or also known as CG to the press and clients.
In the busy streets of Hollywood a black mustang was seen driving to the studio where the music video was going to premiere that night. The owner of the mustang was Adrien Agreste, one of the vice presidents of CG. Adrien had blonde hair and green eyes which were covered by sunglasses since his car roof was opened. He was wearing a light blue dress shirt and a white suit and white dress shoes.
Adrien soon parked his car in the parking lot of the studio and he got out holding a folder of the final contracts Lindo Sparks and his team had to sign so the music video could be distributed around the world. Though just as he got out of his car he got surrounded by the press.
"Adrien Agreste as the head vice president of Couffaine Group, what does it mean to you that the famous international star Lindo Sparks asked your company to produce his recent music video?" An interviewer asked.
Adrien smiled, taking off his sunglasses and putting them on top of his head. "Well as you guys may know Couffaine Group has had the pleasure to work for many celebrities over the years though usually national celebrities so being able to work for an international star like Lindo Sparks is a great honor for CG."
"Well congratulations for this new success in the career of Adrien Agreste." The interviewer said with a smile.
"No, all the success goes to the president and majority owner of the company Luka Couffaine and he deserves all the credit. Now if you excuse me I have some contracts to turn in." Adrien said before walking through the paparazzi and into the studio.
Meanwhile in Paris, France a 6 year old boy with blonde hair and blue eyes just saw the interview Adrien had on the TV while sitting on the couch of his living room. The boy smiled brightly and looked at his mother who was sitting next to him. "Mommy daddy is so cool I want to be just like him when I'm older." The boy was Hugo Agreste the son of Adrien Agreste and sitting next to Hugo was Adrien's wife Marinette Agreste.
Marinette smiled softly, kissing the top of his head. "I'm sure you will, honey."
Hugo smiled before grabbing a booklet that was on the coffee table. "Are you going to show daddy and uncle Luka your project idea now?"
"Well your daddy already has an idea of the project but yes I'm going to show them my project idea once they come back from LA tomorrow. Hopefully they like it and decide to do it." Marinette replied.
Hugo looked at her confused. "Why wouldn't they like it and not do it? Daddy loves you and uncle Luka cares about you."
"I know honey but they can't just like my project and accept to do it based on what my relationship with them is. They need to also like the project itself if it's a good plan and beneficial for the company and clients." Marinette replied.
"Well if I was daddy and uncle Luka I would agree to do your project without thinking about it." Hugo stated.
Marinette smiles. "I know you would dear after all you're my biggest fan and I'm yours."
At that moment Sabine walked over to them. "Lunch is ready Hugo."
"Okay grandma Sabine." Hugo gave the booklet to Marinette before hugging her. "Bye mommy see you tonight."
Marinette hugged him back. "Bye dear behave for grandma Sabine okay?"
Hugo nodded. "Of course." He went to the dining room table where his lunch was waiting for him.
Marinette smiled as she also took a CD that was on the coffee table while standing up. "Thanks for coming to take care of him mom. I know how busy it is at the bakery on Fridays but with Adrien in LA, me having to go to work, Gabriel busy with his new line and Emilie working on her new role I didn't know what to do with Hugo."
"It's no problem sweetie, I'm sure Tom can handle it on his own for one day. Plus if you don't mind I might take Hugo to the bakery just in case you know." Sabine replied. "So is that your project?"
Marinette nodded. "Yup it took me 6 years but I finally finished it, Adrien told me he was going to look at it with Luka and with the rest of the CG community once they come back from LA."
"Well I'm sure they'll love it." Sabine stated with a smile.
"Well I hope so. See you later mom." Marinette hugged her mom goodbye then walked out the front door.
After Adrien handed the contracts to the person in charge of keeping them safe Adrien met up with his best friends Nino Lahiffe and Edward Fuller who were part of his team in CG.
"Hey Adrien, remind me why I couldn't bring Alya and the kids?" Nino asked.
"Because kids aren't allowed here and Alya is the receptionist of CG and we can't have that spot empty." Adrien replied. "Sorry I know it's hard, trust me I would've preferred to bring Marinette and Hugo but with Hugo not being able to come Marinette decided to stay even though she's my assistant."
"The whole kids are not allowed here is a lie. I have seen a lot of kids in the past two hours." Edward stated. "I think it was just made up by Lila and Phillip, you know how they are. Especially Phillip who thinks he's the owner of CG because he's married to Juleka the minority owner of CG."
"I always think he has something against us." Nino stated.
"Not against us specifically against Adrien." Edward replied. "Just because Luka and Adrien have been best friends since high school and Luka always respects and acknowledges Adrien more than him even though Phillip is the financial vice president and his brother in law."
Adrien shrugs. "That's his problem, everything I have now and achieved is because of my hard work not because of what my relationships with people are."
"You said it bro." Nino said with a smile. "He's just jealous that you're better than him."
"If you say so. I turned in the contracts. What else do I have to do?" Adrien asked.
"Nothing else, we just need to wait until the music video is shown to the client and the press." Edward replied and Adrien nodded.
Meanwhile the president of CG Luka Couffaine and his brother in law plus financial vice president Phillip Gain were talking with the agent of Lindo Sparks.
"Let me just tell you it is an honor for us to be able to work with such a star as Lindo Sparks." Luka stated with a smile.
"The honor is of Lindo's. He was excited to work with you." The agent replied with a smile. "Oh look here he comes."
Lindo walked over to them. "Mr. Couffaine let me just tell you that I am excited to see the music video I'm sure that your company did a great job on it."
"Well of course the employees did their hardest under my dear brother in law Luka's lead to make sure everything goes well." Philip said with a smile.
Lindo nodded. "I'm sure of that. Though I have noticed that only a few employees came why didn't you guys bring your families?"
"Oh we were told that kids weren't allowed here and most of the employees of my company have children so not all families could come." Luka replied.
"Kids are allowed here who told you that they weren't?" Lindo asked, confused.
Luka looked at Philip and Philip shrugged. "That's what I was told but it must've been a misunderstanding." The truth is that Philip hated children and he didn't want to deal with any more children than what he had to so he made up that lie.
"So do you two have families?" Lindo asked.
"I'm married to Luka's twin sister Juleka for 5 years but sadly we have not been able to have children yet." Philip replied though deep down he was thrilled about not having children. "I have no words to describe how happy I have been with my dear Juleka."
"I've been married to a woman named Kagami for 8 years now and we also haven't been able to have children." Luka replied. "8 years and it has been a blessing to have her by my side."
"Oh so why didn't they come with you two?" The agent asked.
"With me and most of the CG community here, someone had to stay back to be in charge of the company so Kagami stayed and my sister Juleka isn't fond of these types of events." Luka replied.
"I see." Lindo stated.
At that moment Philip's phone rang and he looked at it. "Oh it's Juleka excuse me I have to answer this." Philip answered his phone before walking away. "Hi dear… yes I miss you too…no this is going to take a while." Someone touched his shoulder and he turned around to see Lila Rossi the head producer of marketing and his mistress. "I promise that I'll go home as soon as I can… something came up I'll have to call you later bye." He hangs in frustration. "I can't stand the goth anymore. I don't know how much longer I can handle her."
"Forget about the goth right now everything is ready for the plan." Lila replied with a smirk.
Philip smirked back. "Good watch out Adrien Agreste, this is for you."
Marinette walked into the reception of Couffaine Group and walked over to the front desk where her best friend was answering the non stop ringing phone. Once Alya finished a phone call she smiled at Marinette. "Hey girl, were you able to find someone to take care of Hugo today?"
Marinette nodded as she put the booklet and CD down on the desk. "Yes luckily my mom was able to take care of him and I'm glad I was at least able to have half the morning off."
"That's true. Omg is that your project?" Alya asked, pointing to the booklet and CD.
"Yes I finished it this week." Marinette replied with a smile.
"Have they seen it yet?" Alya asked.
"No but Adrien promised to look at it with the community once they come back from LA." Marinette said with a smile. "I hope that they like it."
"Girl they would be crazy if they don't and I'm not saying that just based on your connections with half the community I'm saying that because you worked 6 long years on that." Alya stated and Marinette smiled brightly.
Ladies and gentlemen if I could please get your attention." Lila said though the microphone and everyone present looked at her. "We will now get started with what we all have been waiting for the new music video of Lindo Sparks made by Couffaine Group -"
As Lila was doing her speech someone went over to Adrien and whispered something in Adrien's ear. Adrien's eyes immediately widen as he quickly followed the person to the computer room.
"What do you guys mean the video isn't working?" Adrien asked in a panic as he went to see the problem on the computer.
"It was working fine before we went on our lunch break but when we came back it suddenly wasn't working." An editor replied.
"No no no this can't be happening, the people outside are expecting to see this right now!" Adrien exclaimed pacing around. "Don't we have copies of this?"
"No, we only brought one copy." The editor replied.
"Who brings one copy to an event like this!? My rule two at least two." Adrien replied freaking out more and more by the second.
"Miss. Rossi told us not to because if you were such a great head vice president nothing would go wrong." The editor replied. "But you're right Mr. Agreste it's our fault, we're sorry."
"No I don't blame you I should have made sure we had copies before we left. It was my fault." Adrien stated.
Suddenly Luka Phillip and Lila walked in. "Adrien what's going on the people are expecting to see the video right now." Luka stated.
"The video isn't working." Adrien replied.
"What do you mean it's not working?" Philip asked angrily.
"It won't show the fortage." The editor stated.
"Then put another copy." Lila stated.
"We don't have another copy because you-" The editor started but Lila gave him a secret death glare. "Because we didn't think of it."
"What's going on here?!" The agent exclaimed, walking in with Lindo behind him. "Everyone is waiting to see the music video."
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but the video isn't working and we didn't bring copies." Luka replied.
"This is an outrage!" The agent exclaimed.
"Hey it's fine things happen we can just reschedule -" Lindo started.
"No, I have never seen a company so unprofessional before. The alliance between Lindo Sparks and Couffaine Group is over!" The agent stated before heading out and everyone followed trying to convince him to give them another chance Lindo did too but he refused and even ripped the contract unsigned yet in front of everyone before walking away.
"I'm sorry guys, I don't blame you for anything." Lindo stated before walking away following his agent.
"How are you going to fix this 'little' mistake? Explain how Adrien!" Philip exclaimed.
"I don't know but I will fix it!" Adrien exclaimed back. "Plus someone that deserves an explanation is Luka not you."
"What I don't understand is how Luka trusts you blindly." Phillip said angrily.
"I earned his trust by my own hard work but what about you huh? You got your spot as the financial vice president by marrying Juleka! Who by the way deserves better." Adrien stated.
The two men were about to get into a fight but Edward stood in between them. "This is no time to act like children."
"That's enough!" Luka exclaimed. "We'll discuss this back in Paris at my office."
Alya suddenly got a phone call from Nino and she answered. "Hey Nino what's up? Are you guys celebrating the success of the premiere?"
"Remember the vacation we were planning? Well forget about it, my salary might drop." Nino stated.
"What? What happened?" Alya asked, concerned.
"I'll tell you when I get there. We're on our way and gzz Luka is furious I have never seen him this mad before." Nino stated.
"Really? Are you guys coming together?" Alya asked.
"Nope Luka already took a flight with Lila and that jerk Philip." Nino replied. "We're taking the next flight so we should be there a few hours later than them."
"Okay." Alya hung up and looked at Marinette. "It seems that a problem happened and they are coming back right now."
Marinette got worried. "I hope nothing bad happened."
Alya nodded. "Same here girl."
A couple hours later Luka walked in the building talking to Lila. "Call the press we can't let what happened come out."
Lila nodded. "Of course."
Luka looked at Alya. "I'm going to be in my office and I don't want you to pass me any calls." Alya nodded as Luka headed to the elevator.
"Philip went to get some financial analysis when he comes tell him to come to Mr. Couffaine's office." Lila stated before getting in the evelalor with Luka.
"Gzz whatever happened it was bad I never saw Luka this serious." Alya stated and Marinette nodded.
At that moment Marinette's phone rang and she answered. "Hello?... Adrien honey I'm glad you called Luka just came and didn't seem happy. What happened?... Yea okay I understand… he's fine he's with mom… okay love you too." Marinette hung up. "They'll be here in an hour." Alya nodded.
In an hour Adrien arrived with Nino and Edward. "Where's Luka?" Adrien asked Alya.
Alya pointed to the roof. "in his office and he has this face that you wouldn't believe."
Marinette walked over to Adrien. "Adrien what's going on? What happened at the premiere?"
Adrien sighs. "The music video didn't work and we didn't have a copy because the manipulative Lila told them not to because 'if I am such a great head vice president nothing would go wrong'. Lindo's agent broke the alliance of the Couffaine Group with Lindo. He even ripped the contract in front of everyone."
"Oh my gosh no wonder Luka looked so upset we basically lost a lot of money." Marinette stated and Adrien nodded.
"I bet this was Lila's plan. She is always doing stuff like this." Nino stated. "I mean look at what she told the editor."
"Why would Lila want the company to lose money? That's her salary on the line." Alya replied.
"Lila doesn't care about the money, she cares about looking good. With this mess she will have to use her good girl act to convince the press to not put the details out to the public." Nino replied.
"I bet she didn't do it alone. I'm 90% sure Philip helped her." Edward added. "This made Adrien look bad and that's what he always wanted."
Marinette and Alya rolled their eyes. "Can you guys please stop talking bad about poor Philip he's a good man and the husband of one of your closest friends." Alya stated.
At that moment Marinette got a text message and she looked at it. "Oh it's almost Hugo's bedtime are you coming Adrien?"
"I need to go talk to Luka first but I'll go straight there afterwards. Don't tell him that I'm back, I want to surprise him." Adrien stated.
Marinette nodded. "Okay good luck." Marinette kissed him before walking away.
Alya suddenly saw the booklet and CD on her desk. "Marinette wait you forget your project - and she's gone."
"Oh that's her project?" Adrien asked while taking the booklet and CD.
Alya nodded. "Yup."
"I bet that it's amazing. Didn't she work on it for 6 years?" Nino asked.
Adrien nodded. "Yea and I know that it's amazing because she did it."
Edward chuckled softly. "I think that you're being biased there Adrien."
"I'm not saying it because she's my wife, I'm saying it because she's amazing at this stuff." Adrien replied. "I'll put this in my office then I'll go to Luka's office." Adrien headed to the evelalor as Edward and Nino followed. They were going to the second floor. Adrien walked to his office and put the booklet and CD on his desk before heading to Luka's office.
"Thank you so much I'll know how to pay you back for the favor." Lila said over the phone in Luka's office before hanging up. "All the details of why the Couffaine Group and Lindo Sparks was canceled won't be known to the public."
"I can't believe that we have to fix Adrien's mistake." Philip stated. "Because paying the press to be quiet won't be cheap."
Adrien walked in with Nino and Edward. "Luka we need to talk."
"Yes we do and very seriously." Luka stated before looking at everyone else. "Leave us alone." Everyone nodded and left the room, not Philip though since he was the other vice president. "Adrien everyone makes mistakes I get that but this mistake caused a lot of money to be lost. Do you mind telling me how you'll fix all of this?"
"I know that it's a basic mistake that I made. I should have made sure that we had a copy of the music video before we left for LA but you know perfectly well that I'm as professional and prepared as a person can be." Adrien replied.
"Your mistake caused us millions of euros. It's your fault that we couldn't achieve our goal of incressment and we lost the contract of our life." Philip said sternly. "Not to mention that it was our first international contract."
Adrien ignores Philip and looks at Luka. "Luka I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this up to you and the company."
"Well to start with never ever forget to take copies of our work and second of all you Nino and Edward will have to have another international project for us to be able to gain everything we lost." Luka replied.
Adrien nodded. "Got it."
"Well I'm going to go make a new financial plan before you take us to the ruin completely." Philip told Adrien before leaving the office.
"Adrien you're my best friend and I admire how far you've gotten in this company thanks to your hard work so I hope nothing like this happens again." Luka stated.
"I promise that this won't happen again and I will find another international project for the company." Adrien replied.
Lila walked into Philip's office. "So handsome, how did our plan work?"
"Great with the video not working Adrien was seen as a confident irresponsible. Now Adrien has to find another international project for us too but I doubt that he'll find one. When he doesn't I'll convince Luka that the best thing to do is to fire him." Philip replied with a smirk.
Lila smirked back. "I'm glad it worked out well. Now how about we go celebrate -"
Philip's phone rang and he checked it. "I swear the goth never leaves me alone." He answered. "Hey Juleka… I'm still at the office. With Adrien ruining the alliance with Lindo Sparks I have to stay to fix the problem…don't stay awake waiting for me. Eat dinner and go to sleep… what no no don't call Luka I'm on my way… love you too." Philip hangs up. "I have to go home now or Juleka will call Luka to convince him to let me go but Luka already left thinking that I was leaving too."
"Why can't that goth just die already." Lila mumbled.
Adrien walked in his house quietly and closed the door behind him. He went upstairs and slowly opened the door to Hugo's room and he smiled seeing Hugo asleep. Adrien walked in and kissed the top of his head.
Hugo suddenly opened his eyes and smiled brightly when he saw Adrien. "Daddy! You came back early. Was LA fun? Did the premiere go well?"
"Yes, LA was fun and the premiere could have gone better." Adrien replied with a smile. "We'll talk more tomorrow, now go back to sleep. We don't want mommy getting mad at us for you being up this late, do we?"
Hugo shook his head no before going back to sleep. Adrien smiled and slowly walked out of the room before closing the door. Adrien walked into the master bedroom where Marinette was waiting for him. "How did it go?"
"Not too bad though now I have to find another international project for us to do." Adrien replied.
"Not that I'm taking this as an advantage or anything but um... My project is an international project." Marinette stated.
Adrien looked at her in disbelief. "It is?" Marinette nodded and Adrien hugged her. "Princess you're a lifesaver."
"Thanks but the problem is I don't know where I left it and even though I have everything in my laptop it's going to take me a while to put everything together again." Marinette replied.
"Don't worry about it, you left it at Alya's desk and I took it to my office." Adrien stated with a huge smile.
"I hope that you didn't give Adrien such a hard time." Kagami told Luka once he arrived home.
"Not as hard as Philip wanted me to." Luka said with a smile.
"What does he have to do to make it up?" Kagami asked.
"He needs to find another international project for us to work on." Luka replied.
"Well didn't you make it easy for him? " Kagami asked sarcastically with a smile.
On Monday morning Adrien barely got to the second floor of the company when Philip gave him a big file of papers. "I need you to sign these letters."
Adrien looked at the file confused. "What's all of this?"
"The termination letters for the 100 employees that will be disemployed thanks to you." Philip replied.
"Yea right I'm not going to do that." Adrien said, handing the file back to Philip.
Philip smirked and handed it back to Adrien. "You don't have a choice. Thanks to your little mistake Couffaine Group had to do an emergency decrease in costs, this includes cellphones chauffeurs and cuts of employment."
"There has to be another solution. I'm going to talk to Luka about this because he couldn't have authorized this." Adrien said giving the file back to Philip before walking into Luka's office and Philip followed as Adrien was telling Luka everything.
"I already authorized it." Luka replied.
Kagami, who was in the office since she works with Luka there all the time quickly stood up from her seat. "What Luka you can't be serious."
"Luka we can't go to these extreme measures." Adrien added.
"Don't worry guys I made sure that all 98 employees had jobs in other places by the time they leave here." Luka stated.
Philip looked at Luka surprised since he didn't know this. "You did?"
"Yes I wasn't going to kick 98 people in the streets without them knowing where to go next they all have good jobs waiting for them." Luka replied and Philip hid his anger.
"Okay that's the Luka I know." Kagami said before sitting back down.
"Wait 98?" Adrien asked. "Philip said it was 100."
"Yes I added two more afterwards." Philip said, handing the file to Adrien.
Adrien opened the file and looked at the two names that were added before closing it in anger. "Marinette Agreste and Alya Lahiffe?! Are you serious right now Philip?!"
Luka looked at Philip with a stern look. "Philip, I did not authorize you to make termination letters for those two. The other 98 employees are from editing and production we will still have plenty of people to work in those areas but Alya is the receptionist we can't leave that spot empty and Marinette -"
"Marinette is my assistant, you can't fire my assistant." Adrien said sternly.
"I'm not going to be the one firing her, you'll be the one firing her." Philip said with a smirk. "And Luka Alya because she's just a receptionist we can just hire another one and of a lower pay and Marinette because of everyone that works in this floor and who isn't part of the community she is the one assistant that gets the highest salary and I wonder why. Oh that's right her boss is her husband."
Adrien was so close to punching Phillip but Kagami stood up and stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Adrien calm down. Philip first of all Alya isn't just a receptionist she actually deserves to be in this floor not in the first floor and second of all Adrien didn't give Marinette that high salary because she's his wife I gave it to her so it wouldn't be seen like that and Marinette deserves to be here with us."
"Philip, I'm not authorizing the termination letters of Marinette and Alya just the 98 employees that you originally told me about." Luka stated.
"Alright, fine." Philip grabbed the file and grabbed the termination letters for Marinette and Alya from the file before he gave the file back to Adrien. "You were lucky this time Agreste."
Adrien just finished signing all the termination letters when Marinette walked in the office. "What are you doing Adrien?"
"I just finished signing 98 termination papers." Adrien replied. "With what happened on Friday the company had to do some cuts like in cell phones, chauffeurs and employees."
"So you guys are just going to kick 98 people out in the streets?" Marinette asked absolutely not liking the sound of that.
"No of course not Luka already found jobs for them to have when they leave this place." Adrien replied. "Philip originally had 100 people that he wanted to fire but two of them got saved because first Luka didn't authorize them to get terminated at the time he did for the first 98 people and second his reasoning was ridiculous."
"Who were the two that got saved?" Marinette asked curiously.
"You and Alya." Adrien replied.
Marinette looked at him surprised. "What? Why would Philip put us in line of getting terminated?"
"For Alya because according to him she's just a receptionist another one can replace her and for a lower pay. You because you get paid the most on this floor who isn't part of the community." Adrien chuckled at how ridiculous Philip's reasoning was. "But don't worry Luka Kagami and I stood our ground and you two are staying."
"How would you guys pay another receptionist lower than Alya if she already earns the minimum and I wouldn't mind if you guys cut down my pay if it's necessary." Marinette stated.
"I know." Adrien hands the termination letters to Marinette. "Have Alya call the employees to the conference room one by one and hand them the letters and let them know of all the help that they will get."
Marinette nodded, grabbing the letters. "Anything else?"
"Nope while you're doing that I'll check your project with Edward and Nino before presenting it to Luka." Adrien replied.
Marinette nodded before leaving the office and went to the first floor to the reception. "Alya please call these employees to the conference room." Marinette hands Alya the list.
"Sure but why?" Alya asked.
"With what happened on Friday some cuts had to be made including employees but Luka with the good heart that he has already found them a different job." Marinette replied.
"That does sound like Luka." Alya said with a smile. "I'll start calling them over to you now."
"Luka is an idiot wasting his time finding those losers' jobs. That's their problem not his, this is why he doesn't deserve to be the owner of this company I am." Philip said angrily as he paced around his office and Lila just watched while sitting on the couch.
"There's no point in getting riled up now. Though it would have been great if you got those two brats Marinette and Alya fired, your reasoning wasn't really valid and they weren't in the same category as the other 98 employees though." Lila stated. "But they will be once the company is ours."
Nino and Edward walked into Adrien's office to see Adrien making a mess on his desk, obviously looking for something. "Woah dude calm down what did you lose?" Nino asked with a chuckle.
"Marinette's project I am sure that I put it on my desk on Friday." Adrien said still looking for Marinette's project in a panic. "Both the booklet and CD are gone. Not only did I promise Marinette that I would look at it, that project can be the solution to our problem and I lost it!"
"Okay calm down and retrace your steps. Where exactly did you leave them?" Edward asked.
"Right here." Adrien said pointing to the right side of his desk.
"Maybe they just fell down." Nino suggested.
"If they did they would have fallen in my-oh no." Adrien said as he looked at his empty trash can that was right below the spot he left them. "The trash is taken every Friday night."
"Okay that's bad luck but hey doesn't Marinette have a copy?" Nino asked.
"She has everything in her laptop but it's going to take a while for her to put everything together again." Adrien replied. "But I feel bad that her hard work went in the trash."
"I'm sure she'll understand it's not like you did it on purpose." Edward said trying to cheer Adrien up and Adrien just nodded.
At that moment Marinette walked into the office. "Okay the 98 employees are now terminated but they were led to their new jobs -" Marinette noticed the mess in Adrien's desk. "Gzz Adrien what are you doing to your desk."
"Oh look at the time I have some work that I have to do, see ya." Nino said before quickly leaving the room.
"Yea me too." Edward said before following Nino's tracks.
"What was all of that about?" Marinette asked confused.
Adrien sighs. "Marinette honey I'm so sorry but I lost your project and I have the bad feeling that it fell in my trash can and you know how the trash is picked up during Friday nights… I'm so sorry it wasn't on purpose."
Marinette smiled softly at him before walking by his side. "I know it wasn't you dork. Don't worry I'll just put everything together again from my laptop but it's going to take some time… I don't know if Luka will or can wait a while."
Adrien smiled before kissing her softly. "I'll talk to him and see how much time he'll be able to give us. Thanks Marinette you're the best. I love you so much I can't imagine my life without you. You and Hugo."
Marinette blushed and smiled. "I can't imagine my life without you and Hugo either. Don't worry together we'll overcome this obstacle without a doubt."
"I know… um so we should probably get back to work." Adrien said with a soft chuckle.
"You're right so what else do you want me to do?" Marinette asked.
"I need you to go to Lila and ask her for the information about all the projects we are currently doing and what we plan to do soon so as we wait for the big project we at least have little progress with the other projects." Adrien replied.
"Do I have to go to Lila specifically?" Marinette asked with a frustrated groan. "We can't stand each other."
"I know and I'm sorry but she has that information." Adrien said with an apologetic smile.
Marinette sighs and nodded before leaving the office and headed to Lila's office.
Marinette knocked on the door. "Come in." She heard Lila say from inside so Marinette walked in.
"Lila Adrien wants all the information about the projects that the company is currently working on and the ones we plan to do." Marinette stated.
"Okay first of all it's Miss. Rossi to you just because you're married to Adrien it doesn't give you first name basic rights and tell Adrien I'll give him the information as soon as possible." Lila said with a smirk.
"You mean you'll give them to him personally?" Marinette asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes, does that bother you?" Lila asked. "Are you afraid that I'll steal your husband away from you?"
"No I'm afraid that you'll make a fool of yourself and I'll give him your message Miss. Rossi." Marinette said with venom in her tone before leaving the office.
"You're lucky that I have my eye on someone else Marinette because if I wanted to I would steal Adrien away from you with a snap of my fingers." Lila mumbled with a smirk.
Later that evening Luka called Adrien and Philip to his office so they could discuss what they will do next and Adrien told Luka about Marinette's project. "Luka you know that Marinette has a great talent in this and she has worked on this project since she was pregnant with Hugo. Plus it's an international project and the only option that we have right now."
"Luka it's a project made by his wife, he's being biased here." Philip stated. Philip's goal was that Adrien failed in this so Luka would have no choice but to substitute Adrien with him as head vice president even better would be if Adrien got fired.
"Adrien is right, Marinette has the talent. It was because of her Kagami and Juleka that I even started this company to start with but Adrien I can't give you the running start capital amount of money right now with how bad things are." Luka stated.
"Okay how about this I'll get the money myself for us to start on the project." Adrien suggested.
"If you're able to do that and if I like the project then I'll give you 30% of ownership of this company." Luka said and both Adrien and Philip were surprised but for two different reasons. Adrien was sincerely honored while Philip was hiding his anger.
When Adrien went home that night he found a happy Hugo in a suit that looked like his. "Look what mommy made me daddy now I really do look like you!"
"I can see that your mommy did a great job as always." Adrien said with a smile while picking Hugo up in his arms.
Marinette walked over to them from the kitchen. "Hugo go get out from that suit dinner is ready and we don't want it to get dirty."
"Okay mommy." Hugo said before heading to his room once Adrien put him down.
"So did Luka accept my project?" Marinette asked.
"As long as I find the capital money for it and if he likes what he sees when I hand it to him." Adrien replied. "And not just that if he likes it he's going to give me 30% of ownership of the company."
Marinette looked at him amazed before hugging him. "Wow that's a great honor."
Adrien nodded. "I know."
"Took you long enough to offer him that." Kagami stated as she and Luka walked in their house. "He deserves it."
Luka nodded. "Yea I should have offered it to him years ago."
"He has never asked me to be co owner of this company and I'm his brother in law." Phillip said angrily as he sat on his chair and Lila sat on top of his desk with her legs crossed.
"And to think that you sacrificed yourself by marrying his goth sister and not even then." Lila added. "What a shame."
"Adrien does a mistake that breaks our alliance with our biggest client yet, he proposes a project that he still doesn't have in hand yet and yet he's offered to be a co-owner of this company. It's ridiculous!" Philip exclaimed.
"You're right it's ridiculous that in all of these years you weren't able to achieve even 1% of ownership of this company." Lila stated.
"Are you saying that it's my fault?" Philip asked in disbelief.
"Of who else would it be?" Lila asked sarcastically. "Adrien puts a foot in a hole and he is offered co ownership while you're his brother in law and nothing."
"In what side are you on Lila mine or the jerk Adrien's?" Phillip asked.
"The only thing that I'm saying is that he always gets what you can't." Lila stated.
"You know what get out the last thing that I need is to hear you right now." Philip said sternly as he stood up.
Lila stood up and just glared at him. "You can't kick me out as if I am just a simple employee."
"Well that's what you are." Philip replied. "If you're not going to support me get out from my sight."
"You will respect me Philip go mistreat your goth wife. I'm a lady and you'll treet me as such." Lila said sternly.
"If you threaten me again than I'll fire you." Philip threatened.
Lila laughed. "Go ahead fire me then I'll tell everything to Juleka. Let's see what the goth says after she finds out that I have been your mistress for 10 years." With that Lila left the office.
The next day Adrien Nino Edward and Marinette were at Adrien's work table that he had in his office working on the project. "While Marinette is working on putting her project together we will set up a general idea of where the capital of the money will go to."
"I'll do my best in having it done as soon as possible." Marinette stated.
"I know." Adrien said as everyone started working.
Soon Luka walked in. "How's everything going here?"
"Good we're working as hard as possible and I promise that you'll have the project in your hands as soon as possible." Adrien replied.
Luka nodded. "Good that's what I expect."
Lila walked over to Alya. "Tell one of the chauffeurs to wait for me outside I'm going out."
"I'm sorry Miss. Rossi but didn't you hear that chauffeurs won't be available anymore." Alya said with a smile. "Only for the owners and vice presidents plus their families."
"What?" Lila said in disbelief. "And who ordered that?"
"Phillip Gain, there were cuts done, remember?" Alya said with a smile.
"Philip." Lila said before going back up the evalotor and into Philip's office. "You are going to tell me right now why you took away the car and chauffeur from me!"
"Lower your voice you won't talk to me like that and it's part of the cuts that we made." Philip replied while not looking up at her and kept working.
"But I'm the head of marketing next you're going to tell me that you'll take away my cell phone." Lila said sarcastically.
Philip looked up at her. "I did the exception with you but if you keep complaining I'll also take it away from you so calm down."
Lila sighs. "I can't be without a car I need to get around. I need to head to a meeting in an hour."
"Take a taxi." Philip stated.
"Are you crazy I'm never going to take a taxi." Lila replied.
"Than go walking or in a city bus just leave me alone." Philip stated.
"You're so cruel with me why don't you give me your car hm?" Lila asked with a sly smile.
Philip laughed. "I don't trust anyone with my car not even Juleka. Lucky for me that she has her own car."
"I won't leave this office until you give it to me so it's up to you." Lila said before sitting on a chair.
Philip sighs. "Fine here." Philip hands her his car keys. "Now let me work and close the door when you leave."
"Thanks bye." Lila said before leaving the office.
Marinette walked out of the elevator and over to Alya. "Ready for lunch?"
"You have no idea how ready I am are our husbands joining us?" Alya asked standing up and grabbing her purse.
"Yes they're on their way." Marinette replied.
"How is the project going?" Alya asked.
"It's getting there." Marinette replied before her phone rang and she answered. "Hello?... She's speaking…what? But what happened to him? I'm on my way thank you." Marinette hanged up. "Something happened with Hugo at school I have to go." Marinette quickly left before Alya could say anything.
At that moment the elevator opened as Adrien and Nino walked out. "Where's Marinette?" Adrien asked.
"It seems like something happened to Hugo at school and she quickly left." Alya stated.
"What do you mean something happened to Hugo at school what happened?" Adrien asked concern.
"I don't know Marinette didn't explain anything -" Before Alya could finish Adrien was already out the front door.
"I hope Hugo is fine… I guess we're having lunch alone." Nino stated and Alya nodded.
"Does it hurt?" Marinette asked Hugo as she gently touched Hugo's cheek which had a deep cut. They were currently at the nursery of Hugo's elementary school.
"A little." Hugo said softly and it was obvious that Hugo was recently crying.
At that moment Adrien rushed in. "Hugo are you okay?" He asked going next to him and that's when he saw Hugo's cheek. "What happened?"
"He fell off the swing and hit a rock which left that cut but he'll be fine." Marinette replied. "Sorry that I didn't wait for you I got in a panic after the nurse called me."
"No it's fine better that at least one person was here sooner in case it was something worse." Adrien replied.
"I'm sorry mommy and daddy I didn't want to disappoint you." Hugo said softly.
"Oh sweetie you didn't disappoint us anyone can fall from a swing even adults." Marinette said with a smile.
"We are just glad that you're okay." Adrien added with a smile too. "Marinette you should take him to the bakery a bit earlier or if you want you can take the rest of the day off."
"Yea I think I'll stay with Hugo at home but don't worry I'll keep working on the project at home." Marinette stated.
"Alright but don't worry too much about that right now Hugo is more important." Adrien stated and Marinette nodded with a smile.
After lunch Philip walked over to Alya. "Alya give a notice to all employees that tomorrow a computer check will be done by our new IT director Jake."
Alya nodded. "Sure thing Philip."
That night Lila walked into Philip's office. "Here's your keys by the way I might have accidentally crushed your car."
Philip quickly stood up. "What!?"
"It was by accident they made the fence of this company too small." Lila replied. "It's just a little dent."
Philip quickly went to the company's garage as Lila followed and he saw the big dent on the front of his car. "You call this a little dent Lila? You basically destroyed my left light."
"It's just a little insignificant thing." Lila stated.
"Oh yea? And who's going to pay for this little insignificant thing?" Philip asked.
"Your car insurance, obviously not me, you don't pay me that much." Lila said with a sweet smile.
At that moment Philip's phone rang and he answered knowing who it was. "Hi love how are you?... Got it, I'm on my way now." He hangs up. "The only good thing about this is that I have the perfect excuse to go home late. Now let's go to your house." He said before getting in the drivers side and Lila smirked before going in the passenger seat and the car drove off.
The next day Marinette walked in the office. "Hey Alya."
"Hey Marinette, how's Hugo?" Alya asked.
"Better but I decided that he should stay home today and my mom took him to the bakery today." Marinette replied before her phone rang and she answered. "Hello?... Hi dear how are you?... That's great can you pass me to your grandma?"
"Hi sweetheart I just wanted to tell you that we're at the bakery now." Sabine said over the phone.
"Thanks mom I know it's hard to take care of him for a full day but today is actually the day Emilie takes care of him after school so you only have to take care of him half a day." Marinette replied.
"Alright but it's no problem at all Tom and I enjoy having him here." Sabine stated.
"Alright got to go to work… bye love you." Marinette hangs up. "Well he's fine."
Alya smiled. "That's good."
The whole day was busy for everyone and that night Adrien decided to take Marinette out to dinner and just by coincidence Luka Kagami Philip and Juleka went to the same restaurant.
"Juleka it's great to see you after so long!" Marinette said happily as she hugged her.
"I know." Juleka said while hugging her back. "I just been busy taking care of my health."
"How's your health doing by the way?" Marinette asked.
"My blood pressure is stable and so is my diabetes though Phillip keeps trying to convince me to have a cheat day today." Juleka replied.
"She deserves it." Philip replied.
"I'm here to make sure that she doesn't go too far." Luka added.
"Same here." Kagami added.
"Hey, we should have dinner together." Juleka suggested.
"Yea sounds like fun right Adrien?" Marinette asked.
Adrien nodded. "Yea."
The 6 of them sat together and had dinner while talking about random stuff. Philip's goal was that Juleka's blood pressure and sugar pressure would go high enough where she would die but that didn't happen.
Marinette and Adrien got back home just in time for Hugo's bedtime and they went to his room. "Have a good night sweetie." Marinette said kissing the top of his head.
"Goodnight mommy." Hugo said with a smile.
"Have a good night Hugo." Adrien stated while handing him his stuff cat.
"Goodnight daddy." Hugo said while holding the cat and falling asleep.
They slowly left his room and walked over to Emilie who took care of Hugo that night. "Thanks for taking care of him mom." Adrien stated.
Emilie smiled. "It was my pleasure. Did you enjoy your night?"
"Yes we even got to see Juleka after so long." Marinette said with a smile. "I hope to see her very soon again."
The next day Lila walked into Philip's office and saw him in a bad mood. "What's wrong with you?"
Philip groans. "I tried my hardest for that goth to eat all the food that she shouldn't so her blood and sugar pressure would go so high to the point that I would become a widower but it didn't work since Luka was there and you know how overprotected he is of her. Not to mention that Kagami Marinette and Adrien were there too."
"I swear that goth could be sick of every known disease and she would still live. Why did you invite so many people? It should have been just the two of you." Lila stated.
"She invited Luka and Kagami and we bumped into Adrien and Marinette at the restaurant and she invited them to sit with us." Philip replied.
"Well she needs to die soon so you can get her 40% ownership of the company and so I can become your wife." Lila said with a smirk before pecking his lips.
An hour later Nino and Edward walked into Philip's office since he called for them. "Did you call for us?" Nino asked.
"Yes I want to know if you guys have the plan of what you will use the capital money for that big project of yours." Philip stated.
"Yes here it is." Edward hands him the file.
Philip takes it. "How is the project going along?"
"Good we're just waiting on Marinette to finish putting everything together and that should be soon." Nino replied.
"Alright that's all I needed to know you can leave now." Philip stated. Nino and Edward nodded before walking out from the office.
Luka walked into Adrien's office as Adrien and Marinette were working. "Adrien I'm supposed to have a meeting in LA with a potential client tomorrow but I can't go because I already have a meeting here so I want you to go in my place."
"But with a meeting like that I would need to take Marinette since she's my assistant but that's too last second for us to find a babysitter for Hugo. Our parents have jobs too, you know." Adrien stated.
"You guys can take Hugo too if you have to. There's a daycare for the children of the business working guests at the hotel that you'll stay at, I'll even let you stay the weekend as a mini vacation trip to make up for it being a last minute thing." Luka stated.
Adrien looked at Marinette. "What do you say honey? Us three in LA for a whole weekend."
"Sounds like fun. We haven't had a trip as a family in ages." Marinette said with a smile.
"Okay Luka we accept your offer." Adrien stated.
"Great I'll get your plane tickets ready then." Luka replied before leaving the office.
"I'll let dad know to start packing Hugo's suitcase." Marinette stated as she started typing on her phone.
"I'm so jealous, a family trip to LA for a whole weekend." Alya said after Marinette told her about the trip.
"It's a business trip but Luka let us take it as a family trip to make up for it being last minute." Marinette stated.
"Still you'll be in LA for a whole weekend while I'm stuck here." Alya said playfully and Marinette giggled.
"Here's all the information from the computers of Nino and Edward's. It's not a lot though." Jake the IT director and Philip's spy said while handing Philip a CD.
"Alright that's all I need from you right now." Philip said and Jake nodded before leaving the office.
Philip put the CD on his computer but like Jake said it wasn't a lot of information and not important to him either.
The next day Adrien Marinette and Hugo got on the plane and Hugo was excited to go on a trip with his parents after so long of not doing so. After a couple of hours they arrived to LA and a chauffeur was waiting for them to take them to the hotel.
"Here's the key to your hotel room." The receptionist said, handing Adrien the key to the room.
"Thank you." Adrien said before leading his family to the room.
The room was one of the biggest ones in the hotel and it was like a small apartment. Though they didn't have time to enjoy it since Adrien and Marinette had that meeting so they quickly left their things and took Hugo to the daycare.
"I don't want you to go." Hugo said while hugging Adriens leg. "I want to stay with you two."
Adrien bent down to his level. "It will be just for a couple of hours Hugo while mommy and I are in a meeting then we'll be with you for the rest of the weekend."
"We'll be back before you know it. They even have water rides here. You love those." Marinette added.
Hugo nodded slowly. "Alright."
Adrien and Marinette left Hugo with the person in charge before they went to their meeting.
"Thanks for bringing me shopping, Philip." Juleka told Philip as he put the bags in the car.
"Anything for you dear." Philip said with a fake smile. He had to bring her; he has avoided her so much lately that he didn't want her to get suspicious of anything and especially tell her brother about it.
"Can I go to the beach?" Hugo asked his caretaker.
"No sweetie, not without your parents." The caretaker stated.
"Can I go with my parents then?" Hugo asked.
"They're still at their meeting but they'll be back soon." The caretaker replied with a soft smile.
Adrien and Marinette were just getting out of the meeting when Adrien's phone rang and he answered. "Hello?"
"Mr. Agreste this is Stella, one of the caretakers of the hotel's daycare. I'm sorry to inform you that your son Hugo Agreste is missing."
"WHAT!?" Adrien exclaimed.