The Agreste mansion here looks entirely different from their mansion back in Paris.

Back in France, it looked sophisticated. Elegant. Even the gate itself looked like only the elite could touch it. But here, Gabriel Agreste seemed to want to go for a much simpler, minimalist look. The gate was coated in pure white with the letter "A" right at the center where it divides.

I ran a hand through my hair as I started to think about what to do, pushing away thoughts that would make me want to crawl back to Alya and I's apartment and stay there until the day we fly back home. Pacing back and forth in front of the gate while biting my lip, I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Wait. Would Adrien even be here?" I suddenly asked to myself out loud, whipping my head up. "He's probably out there visiting his dad."

After a few minutes of contemplating, I let out a deep breath and rang the doorbell just to check. A petite lady wearing a white apron around her waist opened the wicket gate with her left hand while holding a broom with the other. She squinted her eyes under the sun as she studied me from top to toe.

"Good morning," I greeted and gave a rather awkward wave, "is Adrien Agreste here?"

She pursed her lips as she studied me more, the breeze suddenly getting a little stronger, which made a few pieces of her chestnut hair fall down her forehead. "Oh," her eyebrows lifted and her eyes widened, "you're that girl."

"Huh? That girl?" I asked, scratching my head in confusion. Has Adrien been talking shit about me behind my back?

The maid nods with a small smile on her face, "Yeah. The one Felix and Adrien are fighting over. Tell me," she leans closer, her dark eyes glinting in excitement. "which one of them got to you? It's been years, and you still can't choose? I mean, I get that they both look awfully alike, but--"

"--I'm really sorry, but who's Felix?" I cut her off, raising both of my hands to gesture her to stop talking.

"Oh, he's Adrien's cousin," she replies almost immediately as she shrugs her shoulders. I was about to speak again when she gasped and leaned even closer, as if she weren't already close enough. "Wait! You're here to see Mr. Adrien Agreste? So that means you like him more than Felix! I'm guessing you already know about his amnesia?"

"Yes, I do, and I am looking for Adrien Agreste, but I do not like him," I retorted. What this woman just said added more questions as if I needed more, but I shook my head to temporarily brush it off. "Anyway, is he here?"

"Who are you looking for?"

I whipped my head to the left and see a familiar blond walking towards me from the other side of the gate. The maid immediately gasped and she was instantly twice as far from me, her shoulders stiff and her chest puffed. I looked closer at the blonde boy and realized it was Adrien.

"You," I said, "Can I please come in?"

Adrien raises his eyebrow and folds his arms, his green eyes narrow. "You're looking for me? What for?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but something caught my eye. His blond hair was unusually slicked back and he was wearing a black button down shirt with the first three buttons open. He looked . . . so much cleaner  than he usually is. And . . . oh my god, is he wearing slacks? In his very own home? What the hell?

"What the heck are you wearing?" I blurted out, which earned a gasp from the maid, who I didn't notice was still standing there.

Adrien's eyes narrowed even more as he stepped closer, "I'm wearing clothes that are most likely to be more valuable than you are."

Oh, now he's being real.

I knew it. He was just acting the entire time, trying to convince me that he was in love with me, when he was just doing a publicity stunt. God, I can't believe I almost fell for his little game once more.

I clenched my fists and jaw as I felt all my blood inside my body boil. I took a deep breath to calm myself down, then spoke with gritted teeth. "Look, Adrien. I don't have time for this. I want to talk."

I noticed his folded arms loosen as a small smile appears on his face. "Of course. Let's talk. Diane, let her in."

The maid, Diane, looked like she was about to say something, but she stole a glance from Adrien and just pursed her lips as she gestured me inside.

And I thought I have seen the most beautiful houses in my lifetime.

There were two Greek-styled water fountains right at the center, a small cottage just a few meters across the prettiest garden I have ever seen, and an entire fucking mall behind the fountain, which is their mansion.

"Close your mouth, you might catch flies," Adrien says, and I instantly closed my mouth as I felt my cheeks burn.

As we entered the house, I was greeted with the smell of vanilla and cinnamon, and, well, also felt really amazed by their interior. All of a sudden, I felt so small inside the huge living room, as if my presence here was as insignificant as a cockroach. Adrien casually sits down the sofa and pats the space beside him, as if he has been looking forward to this his entire life.

With a disgusted face, I sat down the sofa in front of him.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asks, leaning his back on the sofa, his green eyes cold and dull, as if it lost all its vibrance.

"Uh--" I cleared my throat after my voice cracked, "--I just wanted to ask a question."

He raises an eyebrow. "Go on."

Here we go.

"Why did you suddenly leave me?" I asked, trying hard not to cringe and choke on my tears at the same time. The way I worded it made it sound like I was the heartbroken second female lead character in a cliche teenage love story, but it also made my heart heavy. "Without any proper explanation. Without closure. Without warning. Tell me, why?"

I don't know why, or how, but I swore that his eyes glinted in amusement, and how he was looking at me right now took me back. My hands started to shake, and my breath started to turn shallow.

"You left me with those men. Do you have any idea how much that traumatized me? Do you have any idea how much money my parents had to sacrifice just so I can get therapy? And do you know that even after years and years of having a therapist, I still feel so suffocated, so terrified, whenever I recall it? Do you know how much you've damaged my life just by doing that?

Tell me everything. Tell me exactly why you did that. Was breaking my heart not enough for you? Did you have to make me lose my self worth? And now . . . now that you have amnesia, you think that you can have a chance with me again? Bullshit! Absolute fucking bullshit!"

My legs were now shaking as well as my eyes widened when Adrien lets out a laugh. A laugh. He was amused; entertained, by someone who was hurting and almost crying in front of him. Is he even human?

"TELL ME WHY!" I yelled as I stood up, hot tears now falling down my eyes. I wasn't supposed to explode, but my thoughts weren't clear. Jumbled words kept on repeating over and over in my mind that I lost my ability to speak.

"Why?" he chuckles, "well, I don't know, either."

"What?" I breathed, my heart beating violently against my ribs.

"I don't know. I wasn't the one who did that to you."

I clenched my shaking hands as I started to try and catch my breath, my eyebrows furrowed. "What the fuck do you mean? Stop fucking playing with me, Adrien! I'm not a fucking toy!"

He raises his arms in surrender, not wiping the smug look off of his face. "I'm sorry, but I'm not playing with you. I'm not Adrien."

What?

His cold, green eyes darted from me to someone behind me. He grins. "He is Adrien, not me."

I whipped my head to my left and see another blond boy, but this time, he was wearing a white shirt and sweatpants, with his hair ruffled, cheeks red, and eyes confused. Adrien. This was Adrien.

"Then . . . then who--?"

"Felix. What did you do to her?" Adrien scowls, gritting his teeth. He was holding his phone on his right hand, and I felt a small crack from it as his grip on his gadget tightened.

I turned my head back to the blond guy at the sofa. So this is Felix. Chloe was right, he was an asshole, and he does look like Adrien to the point where they could be twins. But one thing was missing; Felix was intimidating. Adrien was approachable. It was easy to differentiate the both of them based on the aura they give off, but I only realized it now when the both of them were present.

"Oh, no, no, I didn't do anything to her--"

"--she said you broke her. Without any explanations," Adrien growled as he walked past me, his green eyes glowing with so much anger as he walks closer to his cousin. "And you left her with strangers. With fucking strangers. You traumatized her!"

"You are infinitesimally stupid," Felix was now standing up, and Adrien and he were now glowering at each other, completely ignoring my presence, even though I was the one who was supposed to do the interrogation, "she was clearly talking about you, Adrien. She thought you were me. Everything she told me was supposed to be for you."

Adrien grabbed Felix by the collar, their faces now only inches closer to each other. "I would never have done that to her. You're the bigger dickhead here. You pretended to be me, didn't you? Everybody knows how much you actually despise me, Felix. You'd do anything to ruin my life."

Adrien's eyes turned to me, softening for a split second. "And you knew exactly how to."

My heart dropped and my stomach twisted as he spoke.

"Aha, but, my dear sunshine of a cousin," Felix chuckles, trying to remove Adrien's grip on his now wrinkled shirt, "this time, I can really tell that it was you. Yes, I do hate you. A lot. And I may be known as quite the trickster. But, well, I'm sorry to say, that everything that happened to this dear Marinette was all on you."

"Prove it."

"I would if you'd let go of me!"

Adrien throws Felix to the sofa, his chest rising up and down as sweat beads down his forehead.

"Thanks," Felix muttered loud enough for us to hear, then fixes his shirt and combs his hair with his hand. "Now. Diane!"

The maid from earlier rushed towards the living room, her hair now fixed in a neat, tight bun, and her hands were now empty as they were placed at her sides, stiff. "Y-yes, Mr. Felix."

Felix smirks while not taking his eyes off of Adrien. Even though he wasn't looking directly at me, the coldness and lifelessness in his eyes made me shiver. "Call Gabriel."

I didn't mean to, but I jumped at how casual he called Adrien's dad.

Diane looked troubled as she tried to speak, "B-but sir, Mr. Agreste is--"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as we heard a loud thud, which resulted with a gasp from Diane, who looked like she was about to cry.

Felix was on the floor, his right cheek bleeding, with Adrien right on top of him, pinning Felix on the floor with Adrien's hands once again on Felix's collar. My heart began to beat fast when I looked at Adrien's face; he was livid. I couldn't find the right words to use to describe how he looked, with his eyes now completely glowing and blooshot, the veins on his neck and arms becoming more visible, and his jaw clenched.

"My dad just got into a fucking accident," Adrien growled, swinging his fist on the other side of Felix's face, which earned another gasp from Diane and I. "You asshole. He hasn't even opened his fucking eyes yet, and you'd dare ask Diane to call him? And you address him like that? What the fuck is wrong with you? What did I ever fucking do to you, Felix? Not once did I ever land a motherfucking fist on your precious little face until now. You've crossed the line."

"Adrien--"

"--stay out of this, Marinette!" he yelled, not taking his eyes off of his cousin. I took a step back, and Diane immediately ran towards me to hold my arm to stop me from walking towards them once more. "I've put up with you and your bullshit all these years, and now you're saying I was the one who did this to Marinette? And you expect me to believe that? Bullshit!"

Felix, despite his beaten up face, laughed. "Yes! Yes, I expect you to believe that, because I was in London the entire time. In case you forgot, I studied there. I didn't have time for your shallow relationships."

Shallow?

"Then how the fuck did you know?!"

Felix smirked, "Well, even though I was far, I told you to do it."

Everything stopped. Adrien's grip loosened on Felix's collar, his eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"I told you to do it, Adrien. And you did it."

Felix turned his head to me, his eyes red, but still cold. "You broke her heart, traumatized her, and left her there all alone. All because I simply told you to."

a/n:

OH NO A CLIFFHANGER

also, pls forgive me for the grammatical errors and other stuff. i promise i'll fix them when i finish the book!

it's 2 am here lol my brain is fried

BTW I HATE FELIX HERE UGH