Family possessions
Note: In France, taking an item from a family member is not considered theft and is not investigated by the police. Also, children have the right on inheritance, weather they were born in marriage or not, it is illegal to disinherit a child.
That afternoon, Adrien and Marinette walked over to the mansion. Officer Raincomprix was friendly, major Bourgeois was there to meet them, and they briefly explained that the only place they visited while teleported from the temple was in the lair.
The police broke through a temporary wall that was hiding the lair from the rest of the mansion, took photos, and sampled evidence for the activities that were going on there. They were ready to question the witnesses.
Adrien's legal adviser was there as well ad Tom and Sabine. But then a car arrived from around the corner with a rather familiar drive who greeted Tom and Sabine particularly friendly and patted Adrien on the shoulder before he opened the door of the car.
An elegant shoe popped out of the car in the manner practised for red carpets, then a leg dressed in an elegant suit and finally the whole woman was out of the car, dressed up exactly as Adrien remembered his own mother often was dressed. Felix followed unceremoniously.
"I am acting on behalf Emilie Agreste, my sister and Adrien's mother." Amelie spoke calmly. "My family owns the largest amount of shares in the company and I am here to take over the business. I believe this is in the best interest of Adrien Agreste as well."
The woman smiled and spoke warmly and kindly. Officer Roger was ready to be wrapped around her finger. Adrien smiled for his aunt, but inside he cringed, he would have believed every word if it wasn't for last night.
"So you are Adrien's aunt?" Officer Roger shifted excitedly. "And this is your son? Felix? Right? Oh you two boys look so much alike, just like twins do." The policeman cooed. "Of course, you are almost brothers. How can I help you?"
Neither of the boys was too happy about the remark, but they both smiled politely and thanked the man for his kind words.
Adrien took Marinette's hand while they were entering the lair. He could clearly see the sarcophagus in the distance. The last time he saw it was last night, (but in another time frame) and then it hosted Amelie, but it was supposed to be empty now.
"And then we rushed the sarcophagus through the portal, but when everything was switched back, my mother … the body of my mother … stayed there, in the temple." Adrien concluded. His voice quivered and he squeezed Marinette's hand.
Mme Leclerc was there as his legal representative ready to intervene and stop the interview if she only got a hint to do so from her client. Tom and Sabine stood on the side and held each other, the ordeal the teens have been through presented itself.
"Was she alive?" Officer Roger asked as gently as he could. Amelie flinched. Her and Felix were there too, allowed to listen as interested parties. She wanted to know what happened to her sister, she needed to know each detail.
Adrien shrugged.
"We couldn't tell. The monks took her to examine her. Magic did something to her." Marinette tried to explain without giving away that Emilie used to wield the peacock miraculous. If Adrien was not ready to admit to that, then they were going to keep quiet about it for as long as feasible.
"So her condition is currently something that could be legally stated as in a coma?" Officer Roger had to fill out a form and magically enchanted was not there because this occurred only temporarily and Ladybug brought everyone back in a matter of hours. Maybe it was time to update the forms?
"Probably yes." Marinette nodded. It was too painful for Adrien to talk. He stared at the sarcophagus. Amelie hitched a breath, that was actually far better information than she used to have, she imagined her sister was deceased for more than a year.
"Do you know how to open this thing?" Officer Roget asked next. He shifter from one foot to another, uncomfortable in this new position of an interrogating officer, he was used to writing tickets for minor offences, not something too close to murder investigation for his liking.
"We saw it before … " Marinette trailed off and approached the control buttons. "May I?" She looked at the officer. If Adrien saw that the sarcophagus was empty, was he going to feel better? She had to try, besides, she wanted to see for herself. She cautiously pressed a button.
One cover on the device slid to the sides and the transparent cover remained. The sarcophagus was empty. Adrien sighed with relief. Amelie looked at the empty space, she took a few steps forward and put her hands on the transparent surface, that was the place where her sister used to lay.
"Good, we intend to invite Ladybug and Chat Noir to investigate and let us know about any findings, magical or not, that could explain the condition of your mother. If we had her body here to examine and see for ourselves, it would have been much better … " Officer Roger rambled.
Adrien shook his head. Amelie gaped, her mouth opened and closed as if she was a fish. It was her sister they were talking about and she wanted to act, she wanted to help her, and her sister was not there, in the basement, but in some temple far away.
"The monks said she had better chances there." He looked at his aunt. Besides, he learned what the life signs were and his mother had none. If she did breathe and have a heartbeat, his father would not need to hide her body from the world like he did. Anyone who saw her would put her to a grave.
"Let them know … " Adrien spoke quietly and looked at his legal advisor who was there to act only if Adrien asked her to. "Tell Ladybug and Chat Noir that they have free access to anywhere they want for as long as they want in order to investigate this."
"Need." Mme Leclerc, Adrien's legal representative corrected. "Just change 'want' into 'need' and it's fine." She patted the boy on the shoulder and praised him for his bravery to face all that and try to make some sense.
Officer Roger made a note.
"Good." The man concluded. "We have one more witness to examine and as the only remaining person from this household, I'd like for you and your legal representative to stay while we listen to what Lila Rossi has to tell us."
Adrien flinched at the name. Marinette frowned. She knew that that was the last thing Adrien needed. The boy held her hand firmly and looked at his legal representative, his eyes begged for his emotional support to stay.
"You don't have to stay, Adrien." Mme Leclerc offered.
"I want to stay. She is a liar and I have to deal with her myself." Adrien replied quietly.
A police car brought Lila and her mother to the Agreste mansion.
It was far less dreadful than Adrien expected. Agreste mansion had an electronic database of visitors registered by the camera and he was able to list when Lila came over for a visit, it was that one time when she lied her way in and got Kagami akumatized into Oni Chan.
Adrien let his legal representative do her job and just glanced around his room. The room where all the students slept in the temple was probably the same size. Everything was familiar, but now seemed distant, his bed, his desk, the piano, the sofa and TV and the gaming consoles.
He idly pressed a few keys. It reminded him how much he liked to play and how much he played it with his mother and how the instrument sometimes made his mother's absence easier and how it made it harder at other time. Then he remembered how his father insisted on his perfect performance and stepped away.
Lila elaborated at length what she did while she was there.
"According to the security data, you were here for twenty minutes." Officer Roger noted when he was pointed to the data.
"And you came here to learn, but all you did was snoop around." Adrien retorted. "What were you looking for, anyway?"
"She was always so curious, even as a little girl she always had to open all the cupboards and drawers and check under the bed wherever we went. It was so cute, once we were … " Mme Rossi was talking.
"Your daughter is not a toddler any more." Mme Leclerc replied calmly as if this was supposed to be a new piece of information to Mme Rossi about her daughter, and considering her surprised expression, perhaps it was.
"And that kind of behaviour in teenagers is hardly cute." Adrien muttered.
"Good, then that's settled, we can go." Officer Roger noted.
"No, what about Gabriel's office?" Lila protested.
"When have you been in his office?" Adrien demanded.
"When we made the deal!" She replied slyly. Her mother nudged her. Lila schooled herself. "Ahem, when we made a contract for our photo shoot." Lila fluttered her eyelashes.
"As far as I know, you were here just that one time." Adrien retorted.
"We have no record of you entering." Roger muttered. "Perhaps the records were tampered with."
"It is possible." Mme Leclerc noted. "Mme Rossi, have you been here to co-sign the contract since Mlle Rossi is a minor? Have you approved her socializing with an adult and visiting him? Have you approved their meet ups that have been found by police on his records?"
Adrien knew that his legal representative was used to representing minors, but at that moment he wondered just whom was she representing there, him or Lila?
"We only have a copy of the contract that we got from Gabriel's database." Officer Roger produced a set of papers clamped together.
"That signature on the contract is not mine, that is a forgery." Mme Rossi stated.
"Oh, I have no idea how it got there. Monsieur Gabriel Agreste arranged for that." Lila placed a hand over her chest and shook her head lightly.
"Very well, in that case I do not need to bother to cut this contract." Amelie smirked.
"But you can't, I am the face of the brand … Adrien and me … " She tried to latch on the boy.
Felix smirked and looked rather self satisfied.
"I will have a look into this." Mme Rossi snatched a copy of a contract, took her daughter's hand and pulled her away before the girl degraded herself even more.
A large white limo drove over and parked on the side. Major Bourgeois looked at its arrival reluctantly while his wife got out followed by his rather determined daughter. It was obvious that the man dreaded what was coming next.
"I believe the city of Paris had seized Gabriel's assets and the mayor of Paris has something to say in this." Chloe recited as she stomped over and pulled her father along. The man was big and heavy, but the heiress was surprisingly strong.
"Dear, come on dear, this is Adrien's home and that is his dear aunt Amelie … " The man muttered protests to his daughter. The man turned towards Amelie with a huge smile, the same that graced billboards before elections.
Adrien rolled his eyes.
Felix smirked.
"We do have the right to take any personal belongings if it is not tampering with the legal investigation." Amelie countered with a polite smile with just the right amount of teeth showing but it was obvious she was ready to bite.
"Very well." Chloe crossed her arms. "It is up to Adrien, he is the only one who actually lived here and might have some personal belongings inside." Then she eyed Felix once more. "Although it seems you helped yourself to that too."
"Chloe, I don't care. If Felix wants to use some of my things, he is welcome to it. I just do not want him to pretend to be me and hurt my friends." Adrien cut in. The atmosphere felt electrified with an impending conflict.
"Chloe, darling, everyone. Adrien and Marinette are our civilian heroes, it is only fair that we let them have whatever they need from the mansion, in fact, if you really want to live here, it might be arranged." The man offered the last words to Amelie.
"What do you mean? This is the home of my sister too." Amelie protested. "What do you mean 'it might be arranged'. I planned to live here while I take care of the family business." And she held hopes to get her sister back too.
"Actually, this building is not personal family property, it was purchased as an investment of Gabriel's company so it belongs to his business assets and is seized along with the other of his businesses." Mme Leclerc clarified.
"And since Graham de Vanily family is the first and the largest investor in the company, that means the mansion actually belongs to me." Amelie retorted, her body assumed a defensive stance although she continued to speak in a pleasing voice.
"Can we move in today, mother?" Felix cut in. He made a show of the contempt at Chloe and how annoyed he was as well as how much he wanted to move out from Le Grand Paris, he smirked when he noticed her reaction to his words.
"No, definitely not before the police investigation is finished, darling." Amelie smiled gently to her son and stroked his cheek. That made him to pretend to be hurt for not moving away while he checked Chloe's reaction again.
Both teens started to enjoy each other's company in their own way, by bickering and mocking each other the whole time they interacted, they found pleasure in making the other annoyed and the fact that they lived at the same place threw them together more often.
"The city of Paris intends to hold onto all Gabriel's possessions for as long as the trial takes place as well as imminent prison sentence. I expect to be put in charge of the fashion company as an expert in the field." Audrey announced with a tone that showed she thought this was all a waste of time.
"Well, his clothing brand is his largest asset and it would not have been possible without Emilie as his artistic inspiration and the business assistance I provided … " Amelie suggested.
"Your business assistance would have been useless without my artistic leadership, advice and good critique." Audrey scoffed.
"Let me remind you that the business is running under the patronage of the city of Paris that helpfully allows usage of our magnificent venues whenever it is needed for any event organized by the brand." Mayor Bourgeois warned.
"I am representing the largest share holder in his businesses and I am acting on behalf of my sister and his wife and I should warn you that if my family retracts from businesses it will cease to be financially viable." Amelie warned.
Adrien did not care. His father spent his life obsessed with the business, the boy was the face of the brand and had to live up to the image, which alienated him from his peers, the man made the boy stay at home!
Officer Roger was hardly able to follow the conversation, mayor Bourgeois was his boss and the man did what his boss told him to. But this time even the mayor was standing to the side and let his wife and Amelie have their argument.
Felix snickered and Chloe made herself look taller and more important as she stood by her mother. Audrey was authoritative in her speech while Amelie sounded happy and gentle although she was fighting a verbal battle.
"Well, I represent Adrien's legal interests." Mme Leclerc stated sternly. That made all other adults quiet and attentive. Felix and Chloe still had their own battle with eyes, facial expressions as well as positions of their arms.
"According to the French law, he can take whatever he wants from this house although the house itself belongs to the company." The legal representative stated calmly. She observed the adults around her. Mayor Bourgeois was without expression, Audrey scoffed and Amelie beamed.
"As Emilie's sister, right now I merely want a few items that represent Graham de Vanily family heritage." Her face showed the same expression her sister always had in add campaigns, just like Adrien did, they really looked like family.
"I'd like you to keep in mind that that would be Adrien's family heritage too." Mme Leclerc replied firmly.
"I believe Adrien wants to know what happened to his mother just as much as I do and that is my first and foremost priority. Therefore I demand access to the premisses to explore any clues left by my sister." Amelie insisted.
As much as Amelie pushed it to the back of her mind, as much as she ignored it, ans much as she willingly forgot about that tiny detail, she knew she needed that other ring and to learn all the fuzzy details on what Emilie did, because of Felix and how he was born.
The argument soon escalated to the point when Amelie threatened to withdraw from the business and force the business into bankruptcy, while Audrey insisted on her own terms in running the fashion empire.
Felix and Chloe made it a point to look utterly bored, unimpressed and disinterested. Adrien, on the other hand, was distressed, not because they talked about his family finances, but because of the argument itself.
"But!" Marinette cut in. "Wouldn't it be better for Paris if you transformed the business into something new? A new brand?" She looked at Amelie. "New style?" She looked at Audrey. "You would keep the business running under a new name, for Paris?" She looked at mayor Bourgeois.
That earned several nods and hums of approval from all present adults.
"The three of you together could create a new brand and devote it to Emily?" Marinette pleaded. "And new hopes and beginnings?" She looked at the people around.
"I would definitely support that idea." Mme Leclerc was looking at Adrien while she spoke and he smiled and nodded that he did agree.
"Making something positive out of all this negativity, I like that." Amelie hummed.
"New line, new style, new brand!" Audrey exclaimed. "We have work to do!"