The clock had reached the time when Chloé was going to go and have dinner with her father, so she left her room and went downstairs to the kitchen. She had her purse and Pollen with her as usual. Even with the kwami by her side Chloé couldn't shake away the feeling that something wasn't alright as she was walking through the kitchen toward the secluded dining room.

When she opened the door and walked inside, she knew exactly what had caused her to feel that something wasn't right. She almost turned around and left the dining room, but before she had a chance to do so her father walked up to her and closed the door shut behind her.

She turned to her father who gave her an apologetic look before he placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to an empty chair by the dining table.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your mother?" Chloé's mom said and gave her a taunting smile.

The other people that were seated by the dining table other than Chloé and both her parents were her stepmother and her stepfather, whom she rarely ever saw while she was in New York.

"What's going on?" Chloé asked and turned to her father.

"Your mother came over for a visit." her father said.

Chloé looked over at her stepmother who seemed a little bit threatened by her mother's presence. But Chloé couldn't blame Louise for feeling that way especially after what her stepmother had told Chloé after having asked her father about money.

Chloé's stepfather seemed to at least enjoy his stay and Chloé couldn't come up with one single reason to why that was. Maybe he found the situation amusing?

"Visit? I'm here to get my daughter." Chloé's mother said and gave her ex-husband a angry glare.

"Your daughter is also over twenty. I don't think you have the power to walk into her life and just take her with you whenever you want." Louise told Audrey and mimicked the same angry glare Chloé's mom just had directed toward her father.

"Who asked for your opinion?" Chloé's mom asked Louise.

"No one. But it's not an opinion though, it's a fact."

"It's not up for discussion. Chloé is coming with me."

Chloé turned to her father who seemed to look like he would rather be anywhere else than there at the moment. She couldn't blame him for it. She wanted the very same thing herself. This was like a really bad nightmare she never wanted to come true.

"If she wanted to be in New York, she would have been there at this moment, but she is not." Louise said.

"Why do you even care? Aren't stepmother's supposed to hate their stepchildren?" Chloé's mom asked.

"Maybe in fairytales." Louise muttered.

"What was that? Speak louder so normal people can hear." Chloé's mom said and raised her voice to make a point.

"Maybe if you didn't speak so loud you would hear that Chloé doesn't want to go back to New York." Louise told Audrey.

"She hasn't said anything about it and if you had your own children you would have known that when they are quiet it always means that you are in charge and that they will do whatever it is you tell them." Chloé's mom said and didn't hide the mocking tone in her voice one bit.

"If I had a child, I wouldn't treat them like you treat your daughters, that's for sure."

Chloé looked at her stepmother and wondered for a moment why she would defend her. Didn't she hate Chloé? If Louise wanted to get rid of Chloé she had her chance right here and right now, but instead she defended her against her own mother. Not even her father said anything, but when had he ever told Chloé's mom a no?

"You don't know how I treat my daughters." Audrey quickly said.

"No? Have you even had a normal conversation with any of them lately?" Louise wondered.

"Yes I have. I paid my oldest daughter a visit recently. Zoé seemed to enjoy her life here in Paris, much unlike Chloé who despises every second she is here." Audrey explained.

"Did she say that?"

"Yes, Zoé did say that."

"I meant Chloé." Louise said and gave Chloé a quick glance.

"If she had picked up any of my calls or texted me back I'm sure she would have told me that." Audrey said and sounded annoyed.

Chloé glanced at her stepfather who seemed to really find the whole conversation that was happening inside the dining room quite interesting. The only thing that he seemed to miss was a large bowl of popcorn.

"I wonder why she didn't pick up. It's such a great honor talking with someone like you, Audrey." Louise said and turned away from Chloé's mother to show that she was done with their conversation.

"Chloé is coming back to New York with me, and that's final." Audrey said and glared at her ex-husband until he sighed.

"If Chloé ever wants to go back to New York, I'm sure she will. But she's got a life here, friends and family. I don't think she's going anywhere for a while." Chloé's father said and gave Chloé a reassuring smile.

"Living at the hotel is not what I would call a life." Audrey commented.

"I'm actually moving out from the hotel on Friday." Chloé said and broke her own silence for the first time since she came into the dining room.

"What?" Audrey screamed and turned to her former husband. "Are you buying her an apartment?"

"N-no I'm not." André said.

"I'm moving in with Adrien." Chloé said and couldn't understand why she always made it sound as if the two of them was a couple.

"You must be desperate if you are dating a Agreste." Audrey said and gave her husband a look which no one but Adam seemed to understand what it meant.

"We are friends, nothing else." Chloé told her mother.

"I'm sure Gabriel will be happy to hear about that. My daughter and his son. Imagine the wedding." Audrey said and completely ignored Chloé's words.

"I don't think they are dating." Chloé's father said and looked for confirmation about it from Chloé, which she gladly gave him.

"We are not. He's just a friend." Chloé said and couldn't help but think about Viperion and his green eyes and surprised herself by feeling sad that they weren't anything more than just friends, barely that even.

How could that even work? She had never thought about dating another Miraculous holder before. Could that even work? She would have to tell him that she was Queen Bee if she wanted that relationship to work. But that also went against Ladybug's wishes about them keeping their true identity a secret. Couldn't she get any happiness for once?

"That's not what I'm going to tell Gabriel the next time I see him. I do like to make him annoyed." Audrey said and grinned like a child on christmas.

Chloé rolled her eyes and couldn't help but notice that her stepmother were doing the same.

"Well." Chloé's father started and sounded quite unsure. "If you two want to stay, you are welcome to eat dinner with us."

Chloé turned to her father and was about to ask him what he was doing when her stepmother spoke instead.

"That sounds wonderful." Louise said and turned to Audrey and Adam. "What do you say?"

"I didn't expect any less." Audrey quickly replied.

As if the kitchen staff had been standing outside the door waiting for a signal to enter, the doors flew open and they quickly placed down the food on the table. They left the room fast and closed the doors. It was clear they didn't want to be there, something Chloé understood.

Both Chloé's mother and stepfather started eating their food as if they had been starving, but they still held some grace while doing it. So it wasn't that unpleasant to be around.

Chloé took a little food from her plate and ate. She wasn't sure if she was going to leave the dining room and be forced to go back to New York with her mother, so she wasn't that hungry anymore. Even if she knew it was impossible to happen, she still felt like her mother would make it possible and most of the time what her mother wanted, she got.

Her father and stepmother ate in silence and seemed to actually enjoy their food. But Chloé couldn't blame them for that. The little she had eaten soo far was amazing, but she didn't expect any less from the food made in the hotel's kitchen.

The only two who spoke during the dinner was her mother and stepfather. They talked about everything, but it was nothing Chloé found to be that interesting to listen at. She was just waiting for the dinner to end so that she could leave and go back to her room and finish packing.

A few minutes later the plates were empty, all except Chloé's. No one seemed to notice that though as the conversation quickly went back to Chloé and her mother's demand of her to follow her back to New York.

"It's not negotiable." her mother told them. "Chloé is coming back to New York with me, and that's final."

"I'm not." Chloé said and looked at her mother who seemed surprised that she had spoken. "I'm not going back to New York. Not with you or for your sake. I'm staying her in Paris to be with my father and sister."

"They can manage without you." Audrey said.

"Zoé needs me."

"Zoé is a adult. She doesn't need anyone."

Chloé stood from her chair and looked down on her mother.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, and that's final. I'm leaving now."

Even if her mother started shouting at her when Chloé left the dining room, she didn't stop once. She kept going and went straight up to her room to do what she had planned, she was going to finish her packing and hopefully she wouldn't be bothered by anyone for the rest of the evening.