We finished our food and started to put our plates in the sink, Nathalie promising to wash them. I'd offered my help, but Nathalie had said she didn't need any. "Besides," she added, "your father would like to have a word with you, Adrien."

For some reason, those words made me shudder. Maybe it was because I already knew what he wanted to talk about with me, or maybe it was just because I hated having a conversation with him due to how many times he'd stare coldly at me. But then I remembered I had wanted to speak with him as well, but hadn't gotten the chance because he had been busy with the others. It was like he had been avoiding me, only staring at me from far distance. I nodded at Nathalie anyway and started to head out of the kitchen. When I walked out, Marinette seemed to have been waiting for me.

"H-hey," I waved at her. Looking around and seeing that no one else were paying us any attention, I smiled and turned back to Marinette.

"Yeah, hey," she smiled back, but it only stayed up for a second before she dropped it. "Listen, something has been bothering me a bit. Ever since I saw that photo back at the picnic, I couldn't stop wondering why it had been taken in the first place, but. . .what really got my attention was that wound on Lila's body. It looked fresh too, and when I asked her about it, she hadn't said a word, almost like she was too afraid to say anything." Marinette suddenly looked pissed, clenching her hands and jaw and glaring at nothing. "I'm tired of waiting around, and since Lila doesn't want to do anything about it, I've decided to take matters into my own hands!"

"Meaning. . .?"

"I'm going to pay her father a visit. Even though years back, Lila said not to do it, I've been trying so hard to prove that her father was abusing her to the police. . .but I always failed. I tried putting cameras in their house to catch him in the act, but he was being so careful, almost as if he knew the cameras were there. Later, Lila had came up to me and told me to forget it. She told me that he had forced her to blurt out the fact that there were cameras hiding around and he started acting nice so as to not arouse any suspicion. It obviously made me mad." Marinette inhaled and exhaled, her face growing calmer now. "After that had happened, I decided to just go to the police myself, but the police officers said that Lila had to admit the truth to them herself in order for them to take action. I told Lila to tell them what was going on, but instead she lied and said she was absolutely fine. She made me look like a big fool, but I figured she had only done that because her father forced her to."

"I. . ." I was shocked at every words she had told me. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want to pay her father a visit, but I don't want to go alone." She looked at me. "So, I was wondering if you were willing to go together with me."

I stood, surprised for a few seconds, not believing that she had actually asked me that. But then I nodded with a determined look, wanting to get to the bottom of this as well. "Alright, I'll go together with you. . .just after I finish talking to my father. Wait for me, okay?"

"Okay, thanks."

I walked past her, heading upstairs. At the top of the staircase, I turned around and looked down, only to see that Lila had walked up to Marinette and was now talking to her. They were talking in a low voice, so I couldn't hear them, but I had a sick feeling their conversation wasn't going to be something to like about. I turned back around and walked over to where my father's room was. I stared at the closed door, before taking in a deep breath and knocking. I heard a faint "come in"  coming from the inside, so I opened the door and walked in, making sure to close the door behind me.

"Adrien," Father looked up, staring right into my eyes. I looked away as I could feel my skin shaking with nervousness. "I wanted to know. . ." He stood up from his seat and started walking towards me. ". . .how you enjoyed the photoshoot I set up for you. I mean, I do think it was quite obvious that you had fun seeing as you looked really happy back there, but I just wanted to hear you say it with your own mouth."

"It's true, I did have fun. It was really nice. . . Makes me wonder why you even set the photoshoot up like that. I'm guessing you want something from me, so you're deciding to get me to be all happy and stuff like that." Telling from his face, I knew I was right. . .after all Nathalie and Felix had told me the same thing.

"Listen, Adrien, I don't want anything from you. I just need you to keep modelling for me. Over the years I've been a fashion designer, my popularity has really been growing; everyone in Paris knows me, and I even have my own company that I run. I started off as a model as well, and soon, I even started to model my own clothes, held amazing fashion contests that quite a lot of people attended to, and I remember myself walking on so many red carpets. It really has been such an amazing experience, and now. . .I want you to experience it for yourself." He walked up to me and took my arm. "Adrien, I just want you to be the next number one model, and soon with the help of me, you'll be so much more than that. You'll be known by all of Paris. People won't see you as Gabriel's son anymore. Instead, they'll see you as Adrien Agreste!"

I opened my mouth to say something against that, but Father didn't give me a chance. He instantly began talking again as he took a seat down on his large bed. "This job has been passed down from generations to generations. My grandfather and father were all super famous fashion designers as well, and my grandmother and mother had been models and fashionistas. In fact, so many people in Paris still remember them. I promised my father that I'd train you to become one of us, just like my father had promised his father that he'd train me to be one of them." He chuckled a bit, looking down at the floor. "I don't want you to break this chain, Adrien."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to!"

"W-what?" Father immediately looked up at me once he heard those words. "Adrien, I thought you'd understand!"

"Understand what?! That you get to control my future however you wish?!" I angrily retorted back. "Your parents may have wanted this kind of life, but who cares?! This is me, not them. I want to pick what I want to be. It almost feels as if I'm sharing my life with you! It's not fair. I've always listened to your orders, did everything you've ever wanted. Well, now it's time that you listen to me and agree with something I do for once. I'm not someone you can order around anymore."

"Adrien-" When I looked at his face, it almost felt like I was staring at an angry beast ready to devour me in any moment. I backed away as he walked forward towards me. "If it hadn't been for me, just think about the kind of boy you would be today. You see all those irresponsible children out there, doing whatever they want to do and constantly getting into trouble? They do that because they didn't have someone to teach them the right way of living. Without me, you would be lost, Adrien. Lost! You've grown up all healthy, full of good manner and responsible for anything you do. . . you've grown up to be such a kind person, and it's all been because of me, Adrien. Now you want to leave. . .just like that!"

"It doesn't mean I've been happy though-"

"LISTEN TO ME!" Suddenly he grabbed ahold of my arms and pushed me backwards hard, my back slamming against the door. I groaned, my back aching. When I looked up, I could see guilt and regret written all over his face. "Adrien, I didn't mean that-"

"Just leave me alone!" I screamed out. Never had he ever done that before, and never in a million years did I ever think he'd do something like that. I stood up from the floor, my legs wobbling a bit, and even though he looked like he regretted what he just did, I still didn't care. I grabbed ahold of the doorknob, twisting it and opening the door. "I can't believe you. You're such a monster!" And I hurried out of the room before he could see the tears run down my face. I banged the door shut. Covering my face, I raced to the bathroom.

I can't let the others see me like this. I grabbed a towel and wiped my face, my tears clearing off. My back still hurt as it had hit against the doorknob when he had pushed me backwards, but I tried to pretend it was nothing. I straightened up, ignoring the pain. When I had walked out of the bathroom and walked past his bedroom, the door was still closed, which meant he hadn't even bother going after me. Well, good! I didn't want him ruining my life anymore than he'd already done. I walked down the stairs, putting on a fake smile, hoping my face didn't look as upset as it had before.

"Hey, Adrien," Marinette looked up when heard me coming. When I looked around, everyone else seemed to be already gone. "Oh, uh. . .they all said they needed to be somewhere else," she explained, a finger pointing towards the door. "Uh, anyway. . .you ready?"

"Yeah," I nodded my head, trying not to remember what had just happened and focus my mind on helping Marinette out. "Yeah, sure. Let's go."

•

We were soon standing in front of what seemed to be Lila's house. We were now standing at the door; Marinette had rang the bell 2 times now, but nobody had opened the door for us yet. Marinette sighed, muttering words, "he's probably hiding, that prick!" She looked really angry, so I took her hand and squeezed it, trying to calm her down. She sighed, face looking tired. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess, Adrien."

"Marinette, you didn't drag me into anything. I chose to be in this situation with you." I was still holding unto her hand as I spoke, and she didn't look to be bothered with it. She looked much calmer now, which was good. I was even afraid to imagine what she had look like if I wasn't here to comfort her; she would be banging on the door right now, yelling for it to be opened. She would look like a madwoman. . .an adorable madwoman.

Finally the door opened and a face peaked out. The face soon got angry, and I had a feeling it was because Marinette was here. "You brought back up this time, huh?" A deep voice spoke, and the eyes quickly went on me. I shivered at the look being sent to me, but didn't dare say a word. Then the voice sighed and the door was opened much wider, a full grown man showing himself. As I looked at him, I could see how much he really resembled Lila. "Marinette, how many times do I have to keep telling you not to show up to my house?! You've already caused too much trouble!"

"Until you stop what you're doing to Lila. . .until you report yourself to the police and admit to everything you've done these past few years, I won't let you go!" Marinette's angry face returned once again, smoke puffing out of her ears and nose as she glared at Lila's father.

"I seriously don't know what you're talking about!" Lila's father glared back at her. "Where did you even get the thought that I was abusing my own daughter? Did Lila tell you? Why would she say something that's not true?" It was after he finished speaking that he let loose of his angry face. "Is this still about Catherine?" He actually had a look of regret on his face now. "I've already apologized to Lila for what Catherine did. I do admit that I lost my temper towards Lila quite for some while because I was fooled by Catherine, but I never once imagined hitting her."

"Listen, I have no idea who Catherine is-" Marinette started.

"She's my ex-wife," Lila's father bent his head down.

"What?! No, she's not. That's not what your ex-wife's name is!" Now Marinette seriously looked pissed off. "You're going to start making up fake stories now?"

"Oh- I remarried to Catherine after my first wife broke it off with me. I do admit I acted blindly while she was around. I got fooled with her fake personality, thinking she was this nice woman, but then she completely changed when she moved in with Lila and I. I continued to think she was doing the right thing, until she took it too far and slapped Lila right in front of me. It was then that my eyes were opened and I saw how much of a bad woman she was."

My mind suddenly went back to what Lila had told me before. "He introduced me to this new woman and told me to call her mom from now on. I listened obediently, but that woman became the reason for my father's new behavior. . ."  So, that was what she was talking about back then. Lila's story hadn't been completely lies. . .or maybe none of them were complete lies, but I didn't believe her about the scars though. What I just didn't know was when she started faking them, so I wasn't completely sure if her father abused her before or not. But her father over here is saying that he did nothing to her. . .he even reacted when Catherine slapped his daughter right in front of him. His story sounds so true. . .

Who could be lying?