Ch20

Lila sat across Thomas Astruc in their car as they drove towards the Agreste Gala. Paris is such a charming city. It'll be so much better under my wing. She adjusted her collar and kept a straight face.

"Lila you brought the good camera right?" Mr. Astruc asked.

She nodded. "Of course sir."

"Good. Everything must be perfect. Oh I know it will be, Adrien made it after all," Mr. Astruc said.

She gave him a polite smile. "Of course sir." Her boss was a simple man though to be honest he did find him obnoxious at times.

"Lila can I ask you something?" Mr. Astruc asked as he looked at her with his beady eyes.

A shiver went down her spine. "Of course sir what is it?"

Thomas Astruc looked her over. "You have great talent. Tell me what are your goals in life?"

She paused and looked at him. "To live life to my fullest."

Of course this wasn't the first time anyone has asked her that. Frankly to her living to her fullest meant causing chaos. She was good at it, no one had caught her yet and with the ultimate prize of the miraculous she would continue her schemes until she had everything she wanted. Was it a shallow motivation? One could say that, but in reality she relished in seeing others squirm, to see the fire all around her burn everything while she stayed behind and watched from afar.

"Don't we all." Thomas Astruc laughed. "You know Lila I was thinking maybe we could work on some other things," he said as he reached over and grabbed her hand.

There was a glint in his eyes that made her stomach turn, it took all her willpower to not use the miraculous she had. Instead, she politely pulled away. "Mr. Astruc we should keep things professional."

"Oh." Thomas Astruc pulled away his gaze betraying displeasure.

She hid the disgust inside of her. I think you need a lesson on who really is in charge you fool.

Marinette eyed the crowd with awe. The Agreste Gala was already full of people lined up and ready to enter. Crowds of journalists and other influential people in Parisian society eagerly awaited to get in while she watched from the sidelines.

Great I don't exactly have an invitation. She brainstormed on how she could get in. I would prefer to go in as Ladybug as a last resort.

"Oh my if it isn't Marinette," said a voice that made her blood boil.

Turning around she saw Lila Rossie wearing a fashionable outfit with a smug grin on her face. "Long time no see," she said politely.

Lila gave her a supercilious grin. "Here for the Gala? Oh wait I doubt you were even invited."

Don't do it. Not here, remember what happened last time. Still it took all of her willpower to not slug her in the face. This is all her fault, Adrien and I would be so much closer if it wasn't for her.

"Hey I remember you," Said another familiar voice.

Looking up she saw Thomas Astruc walk up to her wearing a suit that was a size too small for him. "H-Hello Mr. Astruc."

Thomas Astruc grinned. "Marinette right? You were so helpful back in the day, a true heroine in my book."

"Mr. Astruc come on we have to get in," Lila said. "You know we may see Adrien Agreste if we get in early."

Mr. Astruc's gaze lit up. "Oh right. We'll speak again later Marinette."

She forced a smile on her face as she waved goodbye, Lila gave her one final smirk that made want to throw something at her.

That venomous liar. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself as she fought the memory of that day in her head. The memory of Adrien's cold stare and hurtful words made her stomach turn. She shivered as she cleaned a tear that had formed in her eye.

"Marinette?" She froze and turned around to see a familiar face.

"Kagami?" The Japanese girl was wearing a fashionable suit and had a small smile on her face.

Kagami nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh um I was hoping to get a glimpse of the gala." She turned around and looked at the building. "Unfortunately I wasn't invited."

"I see," Kagami said. "Why don't you come with me?"

She did a double take. "Really?"

Kagami smiled at her. "Of course we are friends. Come on, it has been a while since we chatted."

She breathed an internal sigh of relief. "Thanks. I really wanted to see this gala."

Kagami nodded as she led her to the entrance. "Adrien has work hard on it. Is he still not speaking with you?"

She avoided her gaze as they were let in. "We talked at the reunion but he isn't warm with me, not that I blame him."

"I see." Kagami lead her through the room of various well dressed people. "Adrien told me what had happened that year, he was heartbroken but I doubt he still holds a grudge."

"Good to know," she muttered. Amongst the sea of people she tensed up as she passed by fashion models and other major people in the industry. Her inner child was so happy she wanted to get to know the many designers and people here, but alas she had another mission to do.

Focus Marinette. We have to see if Adrien really is Hawkmoth. She really hoped he wasn't, she didn't know what she would do if he was.

"Come on this way," Kagami said as she led him to a private room and sat down across from each other on a pair of couches. "Adrien is with his cousin Felix, we can see them later."

She nodded her stomach turning as butterflies flew inside of her. "H-How have you been?" She asked forcing herself to not think of Adrien and focus on something else.

"Oh good. I've been helping out with the family business and meeting up with Felix when I can," Kagami said avoiding her gaze. "I see Adrien too but he is very busy with his company."

"I see," she said noticing Kagami's blush at the mention of Felix. "I um notice Adrien works a lot."

"He does," Kagami said looking up at her with her calm gaze. "When he inherited the Agreste estate he nearly lost everything, me and Felix had to pitch in to make sure it didn't fall apart."

Her stomach turned. I'm so sorry Adrien. She resisted the urge to tear up but her insides turned numb. It's my fault.

"Is everything ok?" Kagami asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh yeah. I just remembered the day of Mr. Agrestes funeral," she said as she grabbed a tissue to clean her eyes. "I said those stupid things and hurt him."

Kagami grabbed her hand. "Forgive yourself, we all make mistakes. Besides the world has more important things to deal with."

Her words were like a bucket of water on a fire. The sincerity in Kagami's eyes let her know that she had a true friend in her. With that the two girls chatted and caught up, Kagami was much more relaxed since she first met her and it was nice to know that she was now living the life she wanted.

"Ladies in gentlemen we will no begin with tonight's fashion show," The announcer said over the intercom.

"Come on lets go," Kagami said as they moved to the seats on the balcony.

Her heart raced in her chest as she looked down at the sea of people and saw the stage light up. Her eyes widened as she saw him walk on stage. Adrien.

Adrien wore a fancy suit his smile melting her heart along with that of the other women in the crowd as he waved at them. "Hello everyone thank you for coming to my fashion show," Adrien said. "I would like to dedicate this show to my family and all those who have helped me. May we all cherish our loved ones."

Her heart sank as she saw a flicker of sorrow in his eyes. She tried to see if he was wearing any unusual pendants but she couldn't' make anything out from the teleprompter. Adrien cleared his throat and looked back to the crowd. "Now let us begin with this first round."

She watched as The light dimmed and focused on the runway as the first models came out. Wow. Her breath was taken away by the runway models wearing their fine dark blue dresses made their way up and down the runway.

If only I could've designed something amazing as those dresses. She sighed internally but deep down a seed of hope began to sprout up. Ever since the Mr. Agreste incident she gave up fashion but being here made her wish she could start it up again.

After the round of women's clothing, the men came. They wore fancy formal suits that eerily reminded her of Gabriel Agreste's outfits but with a slightly different twist and more colors.

Then there was the more casual wear. People wearing nice trendy black and green clothing came in and out. It was refreshing to see the more casual wear in contrast to the more formal wear. The outfits had a more free aesthetic than the more formal wear, it was as if both represented different parts of Adrien and she felt in awe over it all.

As she watched the show she began to reflect on herself and her life. When she first met Adrien she had fallen head over heals for him and may have done things that some may consider a violation of his personal space. Then everything when she defeated Hawkmoth and her life turned to shit. Adrien hated her and pushed her away while Cat Noir wanted to kill her. The two most important people to her and she was never fully honest with either of them.

Blinking her eyes she fought the ears as she slowly reached over and touched her earrings. I'll change that. She won't repeat the same mistakes as the past, she'd defeat Hawkmoth once and for all this time.

When the fashion show ended the lights dimmed. "Come on Adrien is around here somewhere," Kagami said.

She nodded, her heart racing in her chest as she followed Kagami through the crowd of people. Eventually she saw him and her heart fluttered as if she were a young teenager again. Adrien.

As they approached him she felt as if she were on cloud nine. "Adrien you remember Marinette right?" Kagami asked.

Adrien turned to her and nodded politely. "Yeah I remember."

She flinched under his gaze, it reminded him too much of his father. "U-Uh Adrien um I liked your fashion show."

"Thank you," Adrien said politely. "I worked hard on it."

Suddenly she heard a familiar girl scream in contempt. "Excuse me!"

Oh great what now.

Turning he saw Thomas Astruc glaring at Chloe Bourgeois. The reporter threw his wine at her. "Damn whore!"

"Oh god not again," Adrien muttered as the wine glass hit Chloe spilling wine all over her fancy outfit.

She had to admit, it took all of her will to not laugh as the wine hit Chloe.

"Get this man out of her!" Chloe yelled. Adrien motioned for some guards to come over and soon Thomas Astruc was being dragged out.

"Why are you dragging me out! She's the evil one!" Thomas yelled.

"What's his deal?" She asked.

Adrien sighed. "I don't know. Mr. Astruc really dislikes Chloe and she threatened to sue him for libel."

"Oh." For one thing she couldn't blame him, Chloe wasn't really a nice person but the gaze in Mr. Astruc's eyes was of pure hatred. "He has some issues."

"You can say that again," Adrien muttered.

Suddenly the door to the room burst open and Animaestro appeared. "Where is that venomous demon!" Thomas Astruc roared.

Oh great. People began to run away as Adrien showed them towards and escape route as she quickly ran down the hall and into an empty closet. "Tikki spots on!"

When she arrived at the room she was met by the sight of Cat Noir beating Animaestro to a bloody pulp. "You piece of shit!" Cat Noir spas as he held the man down by the throat with one hand and beat him in the face with another. "Take this Cataclysm!"

She winced as the attack made contact with Astruc, a wave of pure destruction pulsed through the area as the akumatized object broke.

Well he sure knows how to take people down. Swinging her yoyo she captured the butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Her heart raced as everything turned back to normal. Cat Noir was now gripping Thomas Astruc by the collar and the man was glaring daggers at the superhero.

"You villain! How dare you defend such a nasty wh-" Cat Noir knocked astruc out with a strike to the neck. The older man slumped down and passed out.

"What a pest," Cat Noir muttered.

It's now or never. She quickly ran over and grabbed Cat Noir's hand. "We need to talk."

"How about we wait," Cat Noir said.

She pulled him harder. "No we need to do it now."

Surprisingly Cat Noir nodded. "Fine."

Alright I can do this. Her heart raced in her chest as they raced out of the building and made their way to a secluded area. "Cat Noir I need to tell you the truth about the old Hawkmoth."

Cat Noir frowned. "What do you mean by the old Hawkmoth."

She sighed and met his gaze. "That night I followed Hawkmoth and saw him detransform into Gabriel Agreste. I confronted him with Rena Rouge and he and Nahalie, who was Mayura put up a fight."

Her raced as Cat Noir's eyes widened. " No," he said coldly. "You're lying!"

She winced as she saw the anger and hurt in Cat Noir's gaze. Shaking her head the tears fell down her face as she thought of the one thing that would show him how serious she was. "Spots off."

Cat Noir froze as she transformed back into her civilian persona. Was it breaking the rules? Yeah. But this was the only for him to trust her. He had always wanted to know her identity and now he could know.

"M-Marinette," Cat Noir said softly. He took a few steps back his gaze watery. "B-But why?"

She gave him a weak smile. "No more secrets. Rena Rouge is also my friend Alya. Whoever else you wish to know I'll you."

Cat Noir's eyes began to tear up, he covered his mouth and slowly turned away before running down the alleyway.

She sighed as she cleaned the tears off her face. "Marinette are you ok?" Tikki asked.

She nodded. "I will be. I know I must be a failure for showing him my identity but we need to act strong now."

"You aren't a failure," Tikki said firmly. She turned to where Cat Noir had run down. "I actually agree with your actions. Now the ball is in his court."