Title: A Choice Without Choices
Marinette sat at the edge of the party, her fingers curled around a cup of punch she hadn't touched. Laughter and music filled the Agreste mansion, but none of it reached her. Tonight was Adrien's going-away party, the last time she would see him before he and his father left for London. A year. A whole year without him.
She couldn't let that happen.
The plan was already in motion. As the adults were preoccupied, Marinette discreetly poured alcohol into the punch bowl, her heart pounding. Alya stood beside her, giving her a hesitant glance. "Are you sure about this?"
"It's the only way," Marinette whispered.
It didn't take long. Soon, the party spiraled into chaos. Nearly everyone except Luka, Juleka, Kagami, and Zoé had succumbed to the spiked punch. Adrien, his usual composed demeanor slipping, swayed slightly as Marinette took his hand.
"Come with me," she murmured.
He nodded, unaware, unresisting.
Alya, standing by the staircase, grinned before closing the door behind them.
The next morning, Marinette woke up in Adrien's bed, tangled in sheets and guilt. He was still asleep, his golden hair tousled, his breathing slow and steady. But the weight of what she had done pressed against her chest like a stone.
A sudden crash downstairs sent a jolt through her.
"Party's over! Everyone, out!" Gabriel's voice was sharp, cutting through the silence like a blade.
Marinette's heart pounded. She had to get out before they found her.
Weeks passed, and Marinette couldn't shake the unease in her stomach. Then, one afternoon at school, nausea hit her like a wave. She barely made it to the bathroom before she was vomiting. Alya was right behind her, her face pale.
"You think it's—?"
Marinette nodded, unable to say the words aloud.
After school, they went to the pharmacy. Marinette gripped the pregnancy test kit tightly, her breath unsteady. But before they could leave, a sharp, smug voice echoed behind them.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Chloe smirked, her phone already out. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, pregnant? And Adrien's the father? This is so Scandalous Utterly Scandalous."
Marinette's stomach dropped.
The next morning, the news was everywhere. Chloe had posted it online—along with the accusation that Marinette had spiked the punch and taken advantage of Adrien.
Everything spiraled out of control.
Adrien confronted her at school, his face pale, his green eyes filled with something she had never seen before—betrayal.
"Tell me it's not true," he whispered. "Tell me you didn't do this."
Marinette's throat tightened. "Adrien, I—"
He shook his head, stepping back. "I knew you had feelings for me. I knew you cared. But this? This is obsession, Marinette. You crossed a line."
Tears welled in her eyes. "I didn't mean for this to happen. Please, Adrien, we can figure this out. For our baby."
His expression hardened. "No. I'm still leaving for London. This doesn't change that."
Marinette felt her world crack.
Gabriel Agreste wasted no time. He called Tom and Sabine, requesting an immediate meeting. Marinette sat at the Agreste dining table, surrounded by disapproving stares—her parents, Gabriel, Nathalie, and even Adrien, who refused to look at her.
Gabriel folded his hands together. "This situation cannot become a scandal. The best solution is adoption."
Marinette's breath hitched. "No. I—I can take responsibility. I'll raise the baby."
Tom shook his head, his voice heavy. "Marinette, you've lost our trust. You're not ready for this."
Adrien slid a stack of papers across the table. His signature was already on them.
"Sign it," he said quietly. "It's the right thing to do."
Marinette looked at him, pleading silently, but there was nothing left in his eyes. No warmth. No love. Just cold finality.
Her hands trembled as she picked up the pen. Her parents' faces offered no comfort. She had no choice.
Tears blurred her vision as she signed her name, and with it, she signed away the last piece of herself she had left.
Two weeks after the baby was born and given up for adoption, Marinette faced the consequences of her actions. Master Wang Fu called her in and, with a heavy heart, took away her Miraculous.
"You have misused trust, Marinette," he said gravely. "A true guardian must have a pure heart. You are no longer worthy."
The loss of her Miraculous felt like another piece of her soul had been stripped away. But the pain didn't end there.
Adrien refused to speak to her. Her friends turned their backs, and Alya, once her closest confidant, was sent to live with her strict great-aunt as punishment for her involvement.
Marinette's parents, unable to look at her without disappointment, transferred her to an all-girls French private school, far away from her past mistakes. Isolated and abandoned, Marinette had nothing left.
Meanwhile, Adrien struggled with his own demons. The weight of what had happened gnawed at him, and he tried to give up his Miraculous.
"It's not worth it anymore," he told Master Fu, his voice hollow. "Being a hero… none of it matters."
Master Fu looked at him with kind but firm eyes. "Even the strongest heroes fall, Adrien. But true heroes rise again. Keep the ring. Keep fighting, even in London."
And so, as Marinette faded into obscurity, Adrien carried his pain across the sea, still wearing the mask of a hero, even as his soul remained broken.