A/N: Hello everyone. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favs... This is my first fanfic; so, it is really heartwarming to see all the positive feedback. Thank you also for the constructive feedback. :) It makes the following chapters better!

I thought about writing this fanfic before season 5 started, since I wanted to write my own take on the entire situation about Marinette hiding the truth from Adrien, and the consequences that should come from her decision.

I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

P.S.: I uploaded this chapter yesterday, but apparently there was a problem with it, and it would not open properly. So I re-uploaded it! Hope it works now

Adrien's quick reflex made him change trajectory and avoid entering through the same window where Ladybug had just entered. That is, where Marinette had just entered. He continued his flight just a little bit longer which allowed him to land on the roof of the school.

It can't be... Adrien thought... And, for the second time in a very few days he quickly reached the opposite conclusion: It actually makes a lot of sense, he thought. He was thrilled. His girlfriend was none other than his lady. The girl he had been in love with for months, before starting to look at Marinette from another perspective, was, in the end, his Marinette.

But the thrill did not last very long. If Marinette was Ladybug, then she knew him personally. The reason why he had excused Ladybug for not telling Adrien that Monarch was Gabriel, was precisely because Ladybug had no personal relationship with Adrien, as long as she knew of. But it turned out that she did. He was her boyfriend.

It had hurt him to think that Ladybug did not trust Chat Noir enough to share this secret with him, but that Marinette knew that his father was Monarch, and chose not to tell him...? That was too much to bear... How could she betray him like that? Was she afraid that somehow that would hinder her image as Ladybug? Was she afraid of people not believing her? Or was she putting her Ladybug duties ahead of him, her own boyfriend? Whatever it was, he was not sure if he could forgive her.

He could not deal with an afternoon of classes after what he had just found out. He detransformed to check his phone and found that classes had been canceled in the afternoon, due to the Akuma. He quickly transformed again into Chat Noir and rushed home.

When he arrived at his room, he noticed several messages from Marinette, Nino, and Alya. They were looking for him to hang out in the park since the afternoon classes were off.

However, he could not deal with Marinette at the moment. And since they were all together, Adrien decided not to reply to the others. Instead, he lay down in his bed, listening to music, trying to make sense of it all.

Marinette was Ladybug.

His father had been Monarch.

And she knew it.

For how long had she known it? Why had she decided to keep this information a secret? Why did she pretend he was a hero? All the questions kept buzzing in his head, even more than before.

He did not know how much time had passed when Nathalie knocked on his door. "Adrien, Marinette is at the door, she's looking for you."

Adrien could not handle dealing with her now. "Tell her I am not home."

He could hear Nathalie gasp in surprise. "Are you sure? She seems to be worried about you. She said you were nowhere to be found after the akuma attack and have not been replying to her messages."

"I am sure, Nathalie." He said coldly. "Just tell her I am not here." He paused before adding "And please close the door when you leave."

He could feel Nathalie by his door for some more seconds. "Ok, if there is anything going on and you need to talk, just remember that I am here... And Adrien?" She paused "Whatever happened between the two of you, do not take long before you talk it through. She is a sweet young woman and she loves you very much." Nathalie said and moved away.

I am sure you'd think so since you are lying to me as much as her. Adrien thought. Things had been fine just a few days ago, how had everything gone so wrong so quickly?

He sat down at the piano, but before his fingers reached the keys, he saw a red and black figure moving across the buildings. As was usual of Chat Noir, he decided to make an impulsive decision and follow her.

"Plagg, claws out." He shouted as he launched himself out of the window. Maybe he did not want to face Marinette as Adrien, but it did not hurt to try to get some answers out of Ladybug as Chat Noir. She did not know who he was, so he felt some sort of security by hiding behind the mask.

He managed to catch up fairly quickly.

"Hey, Ladybug, mind if we have a quick chat?"

"Not now, Chat. Don't you see I am busy?" she replied hastily.

"It is kind of important," he said.

"Well, so is this, I am looking for a missing person"

Chat really wanted to talk to her, but he figured that helping her would probably be the fastest way to have their conversation.

"Ok, who are they?" He sighed, "I will help you".

"Adrien Agreste," she said, as he chuckled.

"Why do you think he is missing?" Chat Noir asked.

Now it was she who was caught off guard. She briefly choked on her words "His friends and family contacted me... He has not been seen since the Akuma early today."

Liar. He thought. She was just looking for him because he was not replying to her messages.

"Ladybug, I just passed by his house, I saw him entering."

"Are you sure?" She asked as she landed on the rooftop that they were currently vaulting in order to look at him.

"Yes, I am quite sure I can recognize the kid whose face has been splattered all over Paris for years."

"Fair enough... I will just check on him then..."

She was about to go, but he grabbed her wrist and made her turn around. He was not going to let her get away... Not this time.

"Wait, can we talk first? It's urgent, and you already know Adrien is fine." He pleaded.

She looked at him, considering his request. She then remembered how upset he sounded the other day, and did not want to waste an opportunity to let him open up, "Of course, Chaton. I'm sorry. What is going on?"

Well, it is actually about Adrien. Well, about his father. I... I was recently informed about the possibility that he might have been Hawkmoth... At first, I thought it to be impossible, but then I started thinking, and it makes sense... This is how Chat Noir would have wanted to have approached the situation.

"Was Gabriel Agreste Monarch?" This... is how he approached the situation.

Ladybug felt her blood freeze. "Wh-what...? Who told you that?"

"So, it's true...?" Chat Noir concluded.

Ladybug took a deep breath. There was no point in denying it. She knew Chat would be able to read through her if she attempted to lie now, and the last thing she needed was to create another drift between herself and her superhero partner.

She took a deep breath as she looked into the distance, into Paris, into the lives of everyone she had lied to "Yes, it is true."

Chat Noir took his time before replying "Is this the thing you mentioned you could not tell me?"

"This is one of those things, yes. I am sorry, Chaton, there are more forces at play here."

But Chat Noir was not interested in excuses, he was interested in answers.

"Do you know why he did it?!" he asked again, his tone getting more and more agitated.

"Let's sit down," she suggested.

He did not want to sit down, but he did not want her to understand how personal this was for him. His best bet of getting answers from her without betraying his identity was to play along.

Once they were in a quieter place, he repeated the question.

"Well, this cannot leave this rooftop, but... he was trying to get his wife back..."

Chat Noir's eyes widened at the revelation. His father was trying to bring his mom back. That's why he had done it.

"What happened to his wife?" Chat Noir asked with an urgent tone. He knew as much as the public version regarding her disappearance, but given everything Ladybug was telling him, perhaps she knew more. So he pushed his luck.

"I am not sure if you know" Ladybug continued, "but his wife had been missing for a couple of years. Nobody knew where she was..."

"Everyone knows that" he interrupted.

"Well... It turns out, he kept her under their mansion."

At this point, Chat Noir was channeling all his inner strength to remain collected and avoid tearing up. His mother had been for two years under their house? What the hell had his father been doing? And how could Ladybug, Marinette, know about all of this and decide to keep her silence? He never thought she would be capable of such a betrayal. He continued fishing for answers. "So, she was alive...?"

"Well, that's the most shocking part... She was in a kind of..." she paused before continuing, trying to choose the best words to explain such a bizarre situation "...in a kind of magical comma, so to speak. She had used the miraculous of the peacock, which was broken."

Now Chat Noir was even more confused. Not only him and his father were miraculous holders, but also his mother had been one. And he thought that fashion was the family business...

"Why had she used the peacock miraculous? Did she not know it was broken?"

Now Ladybug's expression took a sudden shift, becoming suddenly closed. "Yes, I think she knew, but..." She trailed off and looked away from him again "I can't tell you Chat, I am sorry."

"What are you talking about, Ladybug... You need to finish this story now. I deserve to understand what happened as well as you."

"It's not that I don't want to tell you... It's that this concerns someone else... It is not right"

As if you are the one to talk about right... Chat Noir thought.

He decided to tone his reply down, slightly "They are all dead, Ladybug..."

"No, this concerns someone else who is still very much alive."

"At least tell me who... I promise I won't tell a soul, you know me."

She took a deep breath. He could be a joker, but she knew she could trust him when something was serious, "It's about their son" she let out.

"Adrien Agreste?" Chat Noir said, feeling as weird as he always did whenever he had to talk about himself in the third person with Ladybug.

"Yes."

"What about him? He was not part of it too, right?" Although he knew the answer, he needed to know what Ladybug thought. And what better way than to play dumb?

"Well, that's where it gets tricky... And sensitive."

He suddenly started to feel dizzy, anticipating her next words to not be pleasant.

"What does their son have to do with Emilie Agreste getting sick and using the peacock miraculous?"

"Apparently the Agrestes could not have children. So... they decided to look for a jewel, the peacock miraculous, which allowed them to do so..." Ladybug moved her gaze from the horizon to her feet. "So Adrien's mom created him, using the mira... Chat, are you ok?" She interrupted herself feeling Chat Noir suddenly very pale and shaky. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, I guess..." Chat Noir managed to speak. He knew that he should be upset at her, but in the face of what he had just found out, her soft hand on his shoulder was much needed. So he did not shake her off. "So... does this mean, Adrien is not human?" He asked, terrified of the answer.

Ladybug's expression shifted from concerned to completely furious in a matter of milliseconds. "Of course he is! How dare you? He was just conceived differently, that's all..."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that... I was just trying to understand" Chat Noir apologized. Even though he was personally in shock about this discovery about himself, she had no idea they were talking about him. And for Ladybug, this conversation was also about her own boyfriend, who she loved deeply. Adrien knew she was lying to him, and that her respect towards him was not what he had thought or deserved, but he could not doubt how much she loved him. That much he knew. He just did not know if it was enough anymore.

"It's ok. I just have no idea what it must have been like having his father trying to control his life, giving Adrien orders for him to follow without even knowing he did not have a choice but to follow them."

"You mean... His father was controlling him...?" Chat did not manage to finish the sentence.

"...using his amok?" She replied before getting his confirmation "Yes..."

"That monster..." He said with venom in his voice.

"I know, Chaton... It is despicable."

Chat Noir took a second to reflect on everything he had found out. Was his entire existence a lie?

"And where is the amok?" He asked.

"That, I cannot tell you. For his safety, the less people who know this, the better. And it really doesn't matter to you, anyway."

"No, I guess not." Chat Noir lied. But he already knew the answer. Marinette gave him his parents' wedding rings during the summer and said something about taking charge of his own destiny. Even though it sounded cryptic at the time, it made too much sense now.

Now, if Adrien played his cards well, he could uncover why Ladybug, Marinette, had hidden the truth.

"So, you told him about his... conception situation?"

Ladybug looked down, and sighed "No, he can never know."

"Why? It's his own life. Don't you think he deserves to know?" Chat Noir suddenly got angry at her.

"Chaton, he is a civilian. And he has gone through so much. You cannot even imagine how it must feel to find out about this! I thought I spared him the pain " Ladybug stated firmly.

Well, actually I can... You are the one who cannot, Marinette. Chat Noir thought as he clenched his fists. "What if someone tries to get his amok? Should he not know how precious the object is?" Ladybug pondered before answering "I had already thought about this, you know... But there is a non-civilian person who is very close to him and knows about this situation. I cannot tell you who they are, for their safety, but they are keeping a close look into the object and Adrien. He is safe."

"You really won't consider telling him?" He gave her one last opportunity.

"I can't. And I never will." She replied as a tear streamed down her face. "I need to go now, I need to inform his friends and family that Adrien is ok. Take care, Chat."

Before he could reply, she launched her yo-yo and was out of there, leaving Chat Noir with a broken heart and an infinitude of questions.