MARINETTE

7 Hours Earlier

I see Ivan exit Adrien's office and I drop my broom then follow after him.

"Ivan!" I call out to him as I dash through the hallway. Thankfully, he stops to turn and look at me from behind.

"Marinette?" He sighs in awe and as I approach him, he looks surprised to see me. He eyes me from head to toe. "You work here?"

"Yeah," I answer, showing my uniform, "you didn't see me when you went out to get Adrien?"

He blinks, "I'm sorry, I was thinking about other things that time- Are you really working here?" He asks again, looking incredulously at me.

"Yes I am. I have been working for 4 months already." I answer, being more specific.

"And you're okay with that?"

"Why? What's wrong with tha-"

"Marinette, you're working for your ex-husband." he exclaims and I immediately cover his mouth. I look around the hallway to see if any of my co-workers were around.

"Quiet!" I scold him and he squirms. "No one knows about our relationship...and you're not the only one who reprimanded me because of my work here." I uncover his mouth and he stops squirming.

"Who else reprimanded you?" He asks with a hushed voice.

"Our high school classmates. Nath, Alya then you."

"Nathanael? THE Nathanael?" he asks, "No wonder why he reprimanded you! He loves y- I mean, he loves reprimanding people..." he trails off, uneasily.

"Um, okay?" I say wearily. He flashes me a smile and then, like as if he remembered something painful, his smile turns into a frown.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, noticing his sudden change of mood.

"He needs you..." he whispers.

"Who? Nath?" I ask, clearly clueless.

"No. Not him. I'm talking about Adrien..."

"What about him?"

He looks at me and then he shakes his head, "Nevermind-"

"No. Tell me, please. What's going on right now?" I hold his arm and he hesitates for a while.

"He's not the only one suffering. I think that it's time you stop thinking about yourself and think about him first." he inhales sharply, "You know him better than all of us here...that's your advantage."

"What the heck is going on?" I ask again, "Why are you not answering my question?"

"I think it's better if he tells you himself." he looks at his wristwatch and his eyes widen in surprise. "I have to go. See you around, Marinette."

"See you, Ivan. Send my regards to Mylene." I teasingly wink at him and his face flushes.

"I'll tell my wife, don't worry Marinette." he says before waving his hand at me. "Bye."

"Bye!" I wave back and I go back to Adrien's office.

Ivan better be right.

I press my ear on his door and what I hear breaks my heart.

I hear him shout in his office. Such colorful words are coming out from his mouth and I feel the rage and anger he is feeling as he shouts out loud. And not only those emotions, I can hear his sadness and I can feel it. My heart feels heavy and I'm on the verge of crying.

"Adrien..." I cry. And suddenly, he becomes quiet, too quiet. I press my ear harder on the door and I gasp in shock.

He's crying.

I can imagine his shoulders trembling and his hands shaking as he tries to stop his tears.

Tears are falling from my eyes as I hear his cries of misery. I move out of the way and lean on the wall. I bury my face in my hands and start to feel miserable.

Has Adrien been keeping these emotions for years?

And the worst part is that I never knew what his problems were.

The door of his office suddenly opens and he storms out, going through the opposite direction. I breathe a sigh of relief as he doesn't notice me leaning on the wall right next to his door.

I crane my neck to see if Adrien was coming back. Once I see him exit the exhibit I wipe away my tears and enter his office.

Forgive me for snooping around, Adrien.

I close the door behind me and walk around his office. At least his furniture is still intact and not ruined. I reach his desk and I check everything on top. I smile as I see the toy I gave him on top of his desk.

I sigh in defeat, knowing that I can never find any useful information in here.

"Well, nothing to find-" I notice a ball of crumpled paper on the floor, "here." I finish before kneeling down to grab the piece of paper.

I examine it first before uncrumpling the ball of paper.

What is this?

I read everything on the paper. My eyes widen as I read every digit on the paper.

Oh my God.

I reread it again and again and again. I am in a state of shock. I can't move and I'm taking slow and steady breaths one at a time.

This can't be happening...

Adrien owes 16.5 million euros to the IRS.

"You've been evading taxes for 4 years, Adrien?" The words are so foreign for me to say. I hold the window ledge behind me, scared that I might faint or topple down in any instant.

I cannot believe this.

He has been hiding this from me for years...

Is this why he was so busy when his school was being constructed?

Was he also so busy hiding this from me?

That thought alone makes me feel suffocated. I couldn't hold it any longer. I can't stay in here.

I crumple the paper and place it at the same place where I found it. I fix his desk and everything on it. I hide every trace of mine.

I have to find out why this is happening. I can't just sit still and do nothing.

I run out of his office and search for Karla. Maybe she knows things that can help me.

After some time of looking her, I see her wiping every frame in the gallery and I fix myself before approaching her.

"Excuse me, Karla?"

She stops wiping the frame and looks at me. "Aren't you supposed to be cleaning the other gallery?"

"Uh..." I scratch the back of my neck nervously, "I finished early..."

She throws a spray bottle at me and thankfully, I catch it. "You spray, I wipe."

Amazingly, we finished fast. Well, Karla finished fast since I only did the spraying. After finishing all the frames, I turn to Karla and decide that this is the right time to ask her.

"Karla...I have a question."

She places the rag on her shoulders and she starts to arrange the frames. "Ask along."

"Are all of Adrien's paintings sold already?"

She flashes a smile of triumph at me.

"Yes. Every single one of them is sold already."

I give her a genuine smile. I feel like there really is a chance for Adrien to earn money.

"Well, except for one." she continues and my smile disappears.

"And what is that one painting?"

"Your painting." she answers with a smirk. "The painting he's giving you. It's not for sale...although someone wanted to buy it."

I perk up just by what she said, "What do you mean by 'someone' wanted it?"

Karla looks around before she continues, "Okay, this is just between you and I... One client wanted the painting and he was willing to pay 500,000 euros! That's a lot!"

"And what did Adrien do when he found out about the offer?" I ask frantically.

"He turned it down." she whispers and I gasp in shock. "He couldn't sell it because it's yours."

"But...500 000, that's alot!"

"I know! But he turned it down without any hesitation. He cares for you, Marinette! First, he lets you pay only half of the broken sculptures and now he turns down a huge offer."

"What did you say? About the sculptures, you-you said something..." Her eyes widen and she slaps her face.

"Stupid Karla." she curses under her breath. "I can't hide anything from you, can't I?" she asks, looking at me.

I hold her arm and look at her, seriously.

"Please." I plead, "Tell me everything you know."

"You are so special to him, Marinette. Have you realized that already?"

Honestly, most of the time I only think about myself. But Adrien, he thinks about others more than I do.

"I'm starting to realize it right now..."

"He lowered down for you the price of the sculptures you broke. You pay half while he pays the other."

I am left in shock. My jaw drops and I can't comprehend what I'm feeling right now. I feel tears welling up in my eyes as my emotions get to me.

"Why is he doing this for me?"

"Ask him yourself." She replies. She goes back to arranging the frames and I am left to wallow in my guilt.

"Excuse me, Karla...I-I have to go." I move away from her and start walking to the exit. I wipe the tears on my face and grab my phone.

I dial Alya's number and bring my phone to my ear

"Alya." I say once she answers my call, "Can we go shopping, please?"

------------------------

"I'm so glad that you asked me to go shopping with you!"

Alya and I go through a rack of dresses in an outlet store.

"Being in our room all the time and typing on a laptop is boring!" she continues and I ignore everything that she is saying.

"Marinette? Girl? Are you listening?"

"What?" I ask absentmindedly, holding a dress.

"Um, were you listening to me?"

"Yeah, I was." I simply answer and she eyes me from head to toe with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

She places back the dress on the rack and sighs, "Something's making you feel down. Hmm...I'm going to choose a dress for you. And I'm going to pay for it. Then we will have your favorite non-alcoholic beer at the nearest kiosk. While we're at that, you tell me what's going on with you."

"What? Nothing is wrong with me! I just want to get my mind out of things first...you know, just relax for a moment." I defend but she just raises her eyebrows at me.

"I ain't going to believe that bullcrap, girl. Now allow me to cake you up."

I tried on a lot of dresses but none of them weren't really my type. And it took forever just to try on a dress because of my cast.

"Alya..." I complain, trying to fit my head in the hole of the dress. Currently I'm inside the dressing room and I'm having a real struggle. "I don't think we can find the perfect dress for me here..."

"Don't worry, girl!" she says, standing at the other side of the curtain. "Miss?!" she shouts out loud, so loud I can clearly hear her voice.  "Give me a dress that's innocent, perky, cute and fabulous at the same time. And make sure that dress also screams, 'I'M TAKEN!' so that when men see that dress, they would keep their hands of that girl! Please!"

"What?" I whisper in disbelief. "How can they find a dress like that?"

"Here's the perfect dress, miss!" I hear the saleslady announce to Alya.

They found a dress?

"It's perfect!" Alya gushes over it and immediately my curtain is opened and Alya shoves the dress inside. "Wear it!"

I examine the dress and I grin.

I love the dress.

It's made out of a dark shade of denim and there is a line of white buttons in the front. I take off my sling for my arm and I carefully slip my arm in the three-fourths sleeve. I do the same for the other arm and insert my head amd body in the dress. It falls right at the middle of my knees and I can't help to smile.

I look beautiful.

I move the curtain and once Alya sees me, she gasps in awe.

"Oh my God! You are so beautiful and elegant!"

"I love it, Alya." I say in awe.

"Then we're getting that dress. Take that off, I'm going to pay for that!" she gushes. I chuckle at how excited she is.

We pay for it and she offers to hold the paper bag for me. We exit the store and she grabs my hand.

"Now," she starts and looks at me, "let's find your favorite non-alcoholic beer."

"I don't think we can find it here." I say as I hold her back.

"Ugh, you worry too much, girl! I know that it's around here somewhere!"

She drags me around all the kiosks and finally, at the very last kiosk, at the very end of the area; we find my favorite non-alcoholic beer.

"See?" She says, impressed at herself, "I told you that you shouldn't worry!"

I shrug my shoulders in defeat and she just chuckles. She pays for two cans and we sit by a booth.

"So tell me," she starts after opening my can of beer, "what's troubling you? 'Cuz the last time you called me to go shopping with you was when you accidentally kissed Nathanael and damn, you were freaking out!"

I spit out the beer I was drinking that moment and laugh, I snort as I wipe my mouth. "Oh my God. Please don't remind me. Adrien's lips are way better than his!"

"You've kissed Adrien recently?!"

"No! No! The last time I kissed him was like 4 years ago!" I explain but I cannot stop myself from blushing as I remember his recent kisses on my forehead.

"Oh, whoo!" She places a hand on her chest as she breathes a sigh of relief. "I thought you two were snogging again without me knowing about it! Just because you're his plus one, it doesn't mean that the two of you can go back to kissing each other!"

I bite my lip nervously and would seldom glance at her. Oh no...she has to know the truth. "Actually, I'm Nath's plus one..."

She stares at me with her mouth wide open out of shock. She stays quiet for a long time and it's starting to feel awkward.

"At least say something..." I whisper awkwardly.

"How?"

"Nath asked first..." I respond and she rakes her fingers through her hair.

"And you told Adrien that you can't be his partner?"

"Yes..."

"Marinette!"

"I know, I know! Get mad at me, I don't care! I was mad at myself too...but. But I think that we were destined to not be partners..."

"What are you saying?" she says, clearly confused. "What the heck is happening between the two of you?"

"I'm a distraction!" I confess, I take a swig of my beer and continue, "Adrien's facing a problem that has been haunting him for 4 years and he can't think straight because of me! And I can't let that happen. I think that I have to leave hi-"

"You're leaving him again?" Alya interrupts, "Are you serious about this?"

"Yes! No! I mean- I don't know!" I respond vaguely. "I just need some time to make a decision. Like a month or so, maybe I will know during your wedding!"

"My wedding?" she asks with a skeptical look on her face.

"Yes...I just..." I sigh and run my hands through my face. "I need some time away from him. I want to see if he can find a solution to his problem without me."

"And if he can't?" Alya quietly asks.

"We'll see..."

-------------------

"Adrien?" I utter as I enter his office. It's almost closing time and I thank God that I got to catch up with him before he goes home.

He looks up from signing and reading his paperwork and he flashes a big smile at me. "Hi Marinette! I'm happy to see you again!"

"I'm happy to see you too!" I exclaim, forcing myself to smile at him too.

Please don't make this hard on my part, Adrien.

"Adrien," I walk to his side of his desk and I stand right next to him, hiding something behind my back. He stops his work to look at me and he chuckles then turns his chair to face me.

"You seem to want to be close to me right now." he cheekily says, "Not that I mind, though-"

"Mister Agreste." I cut off his words, "Please let me speak first."

He stays silent and I inhale sharply before proceeding with my prepared speech.

"You have given me a lot these past 4 months, and I have accepted them wholeheartedly. You gave me a job, doubled salary every month, croissants at times, kisses on my forehead and your time. The most important one would be your time that you spent with me."

I feel tears welling up in my eyes and I blink for alot of times to not make them fall.

"And every time I would give you something, you also accepted them wholeheartedly. The fencing toy, treatment for your wound...I guess that's just about it."

"What about time, Marinette?" He asks, "You've also spent time with me."

No Adrien. It was always you who would find time to be with me.

Instead of answering his question, I just flash a small smile.

"I haven't given you a lot, right? But what happens if I give something to you right now, will you accept it wholeheartedly?"

"Of course, Marinette..." he whispers.

I bring out the envelope that I have been hiding behind my back and I present it to him.

"Here..." I whisper, "this is for you."

"What is this?" he asks as he receives it. He opens the flap carefully and I decide to tell him what is inside.

"It's my resignation letter."

He immediately stands from his seat and throws the envelope to his desk. "I'm not accepting this!"
"Adrien! You just said-"

"I know what I said! But this-" He raises his voice as he points at the envelope on his desk, "this is too much. Are you running away from me again? You don't have to be scared of me!"

"I'm not scared!" I try to explain myself, "I just think that I'm okay already! I earned enough money to pay for your broken sculptures! I can leave!

"You can just continue to work here for one more month! This art exhibit will close in a month, and after it closes, I will allow you to go..." he offers, his mood falling after every word he says.

"Why not now? Why can't you let me go now?" I ask and he takes deep breaths. He looks around the room, looking troubled and helpless.

"Marinette...I can't."

I grab his right hand and hold it firmly with my left. He looks at our joined hands and then looks straight into my eyes.

"I'm a distraction to you..." I whisper and he shakes his head in denial.

"No. You are not."

"Yes, I am." I say with more strength. "Don't deny it because I know that deep inside, you agree with me too..."

He looks down and I let go of his hand. I place my hand under his chin and I force him to look at me.

"For one last time, can you do something for me?" I ask him quietly and I place my hand on his cheek. "Can you let me leave, please?"

"You really want to go?" He asks and I nod my head.

He searches my eyes, trying to find out if I'm lying or not. His eyes then droop down once he realizes that what I am saying is the truth.

"You have my permission to go..." he whispers not looking at me. I stop holding his cheek and I move back to give him a small bow.

"Thank you." I immediately turn around to not face him as I can't seem to fight my tears from falling.

"See you around, Miss Dupain-Cheng." he says with no emotion at all as I open the door.

"See you, Mister Agreste." I whisper as a tear falls down my face.

And I believe that he saw that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry :( But at least tell me what you think of this chapter! :)

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