Chapter 3

WHO'S THE LIE-LA NOW?

Lila Rossi, 24, has finally been sentenced for treason to her country.

Lila Rossi aka 'Farfalla Viola' has finally been sentenced following incriminating evidence presented by her once partner in crime, Felix Graham de Vanily, 24.

Graham de Vanily was the third and final witness called to the stand, following the recalled accounts of both Ladybug and Chat Noir. The evidence given indicated the thoughts and planning regarding Lila Rossi's disruption in Paris, and the lack of consideration to all that live there. Felix had been acquitted of his own charges earlier this year due to solid evidence that he was under the control of Rossi herself. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir were in agreement with the ruling, and in full support of Felix attempting to piece together his life, allowing him to finally be in full control.

Rossi was captured two years ago, finally putting an end to the reign of terror in Paris. 'Mode Mania' were lucky enough to be contacted by Chat Noir (age unknown) with a statement regarding Ms. Rossi's sentencing.

'Myself and Ladybug would like to start by thanking the citizens of Paris for their support over the past ten years. As many of you know this has been a hard and bumpy journey for us both, and it seems as though finally Paris has some sort of closure.

Ms. Rossi made some disappointing choices over her two years of anarchy, causing both psychological and physical damage to the citizens of our beloved city. We hope Ms. Rossi can now get the help and support she needs to overcome her own issues and go on to live a more worthwhile life when and if she wins her release from prison.

Even though the threats to our city have diminished, M'Lady and I will be continuing our usual scheduled patrols and will be keeping a watchful eye over our, once again, peaceful city.

Our eternal thanks,

Chat Noir and Ladybug.'

•••••

Marinette handed Alya her laptop back, a smile plastered on her face.

"He's quite eloquent isn't he?" She said, impressed by her partner's statement. Over the years they tended to split the PR stories between them. Marinette would admit she was good, her statement regarding Shadowmoth's take down was golden, but her Kitty was just so much better at it in general. "It's like he's been trained in this kind of thing. He's like a walking press release."

Alya laughed as she continued her article. Working for 'Mode Mania' had been an interesting choice. No one expected it when she announced her reporting job there. It wasn't that 'Mode Mania' was anything bad, it just didn't involve the hard hitting journalism everyone thought Alya would go on to do. Though no one would have expected Marinette to become a Honey Trapper either. She was Francoise Dupont's most likely to become famous thanks to her skills as a fashion designer.

Oh well, things change.

"He really is. So when are you going to sleep with him?"

Marinette rolled her eyes and headed into the kitchen of Alya's apartment, grabbed the bottle of wine she'd brought along with her and two glasses. She placed them down on the coffee table, and took her time opening the screw cap on the bottle. She was doing it purposefully knowing it would wind her friend up. One thing Alya lacked, and that was patience.

"Come on, M, you know he's as fit as fuck. He's like number one in Europe at the moment."

She poured out the wine and took a swig of her own before swirling the glass in small circles as it hung from her fingers tips, her eyes fully focused on the red swirling and the reflection of Alya's spotlights in its depths.

"Just think about it, reveal and get what you've been waiting patiently for, for over a decade."

"He's still married, Al. I'm not going to hit on a married man."

"You're shitting me right?" Alya placed her laptop down and took her own glass from the table. She positioned her feet under her bottom and turned to face her friend, her knees tucked tightly next to her. "You literally do that as a job."

"That doesn't mean I'd do it in real life."

"Woah, double standards there girl." She downed the glass of wine and then reached for the bottle for a top up. She filled the glass to double the amount Marinette had their first, and took half of it in one gulp.

"Hey, slow down. You've got that article to finish and I don't want you making Chat sound like an overactive toddler." Marinette reached for Alya's glass and prised it out of her hands. She looked her friend in the face and saw sadness. "Al, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Her friend's eyes began to fill with unshed tears, the droplets glistening as the overlights reflected in the clear liquid. "You saw him today didn't you?"

Alya nodded, a couple of droplets releasing down her cheeks.

"I thought he'd be back by now, that we'd be back together."

"Was she there?"

Alya nodded again, a few more tears flowing down her cheeks leaving only glistening tracks of heartbreak in their wake. Without a moment's hesitation, Marinette wrapped her arms around her friends shoulders, embracing her as the sobs wracked through her body. 'She' was a girl they'd spotted Nino with a couple of times, and also the girl which seemed to keep reappearing on his Instagram feed. They had no idea who she was, what they were or whether Nino had been cheating during his and Alya's relationship, but Alya was too scared to ask anyone, too scared to find out that the break that Nino actually suggested meant 'break up'.

Marinette sat rocking her friend, soothing her with whispered reassurances. She was beautiful, loyal, kind, supportive ... everything a guy could want and need. The parallels of this scene after both Adrien and Dominic's betrayal's were uncanny. Alya had always been there for her. Others had come and gone, but her best friend had stayed. Without Alya, and Chat Noir, she would have given up by now. Love was a strong emotion, and when that was broken so was your spirit.

"You want to see something that'll cheer you up?" Marinette moved away to grab Alya a tissue, after giving Alya an additional top up of course.

Alya's enthusiastic 'yes' made Marinette giggle as she walked to her bag in the hallway and pulled out the folder containing her next Honey Trap. Oh how Alya was going to eat this up.

She handed the envelope to her friend, watching like a kid at Christmas as she opened it up and pulled out the documents. Her eyes grew wider and Marinette could tell the exact moment that Alya had spotted Adrien's name before she found the amount she was going to be paid.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Alya's eyes shot up to meet a smirking Marinette's. The raven haired beauty grabbed her glass and finished it off, all whilst keeping her eyes on Alya. "Karma is sweet, and so is that paycheck. Where are we going to go? Rome? New York? Dubai? All three?"

Marinette started laughing. As she was leaving the office earlier that day she couldn't help but have the same trail of thought. Perhaps they should go to some of their bucket list locations, they'd both been through enough over the years. Akuma's, exams, crushes, boyfriends, ex boyfriends, one night stands, ex fiancé's which leave you with a want to cut off all mens balls. It was fair to say they deserved the break.

"Why not? I'm sure the press will catch wind of this and I'll be out of a job. I'll need a break to think about my next move." She reached forward and topped up her own glass. This would be her third and final one for the night. She would never compromise herself or her kitty's safety by getting hammered regardless of having all the Miraculous' in her wake.

"I never thought about that," Alya winced. "Well, maybe it's about time something gave you a kick up the ass and got you moving on your fashion line. You'll have quite a nice nest egg to get started after this."

Marinette completely agreed with her friend. This could finally be the thing that got her started on her dream. Even though she only designed and created for fun now, she had to admit she still longed to be part of Paris fashion week, and London and New York, oh and not forgetting Milan, she'd love to be involved in Milan.

So many opportunities she wanted to grasp and now, thanks to Vivica's very generous wage, she could afford to do it with no problems. A sudden thrill of excitement shot through her veins, maybe Adrien's promise to help her get started would be delivered in a different way. A way he never would have expected. Awww good old karma.

"Do you think he will recognise me?" She'd changed a lot over the past three years. Growing her hair out so it sat mid back, and she'd filled out a little in her hips and bum, but it was her face which had unexpectedly changed the most.

She'd always been pretty, but now, the only word people could use was exquisite. Her bone structure was perfect and her flawless skin was, well, flawless. She wore make up which accented her eyes and her cheekbones, and she refused to leave the house without her mascara and trademark pink lip pout on. She was a divine woman which some people would say was down to luck. She knew it was down to the Miraculous.

"I don't think he will, Marinette," Tikki had finally woken from her rest and came to settle between the two girls. Usually she'd fly off to see Trixx, but unfortunately the kwami fox hadn't been feeling too well and was currently healing in the Miracle Box.

"I agree," Alya said, reaching for the bottle again. "I mean it's not like you weren't beautiful before, but now you're just drop dead gorgeous. It was as though your face and body waited for Adrien to sod off so it could create its masterpiece."

Marinette started laughing, tapping her friend on the shoulder. "It's times like this I'm glad I kept you around."

"Please," Alya drawled, "without me and Chat you'd be a broken down mess." And oh how that was true. Even through their own problems, Alya and Chat were her rock. Solid and always there. She was lucky to have such close friends.

The sound of Marinette's phone vibrating in her bag caused the scene to change. She stood again, walking over to her back and lifting it onto the kitchen countertop. After rummaging around in the depths of her bag, and pulling out everything from her diary to her pepper spray (a gift from her father when she moved out of her childhood home), she found the cause of the noise and checked the screen.

Peyton.

"Hey," she said, placing the phone to her ear.

Marinette stared over at Alya as Peyton began to ramble off information into her ear. It seems Vivica wanted her to get started sooner rather than later, and the trap was set for the following evening. Now all Marinette needed to do was get a hold of her heart attempting to break free of her body, and the spiralling of her dinner in her stomach.

Tomorrow night she will face Adrien Agreste once more. Tomorrow night she will finally begin her revenge.

Only one thing was left to decide. What was she going to wear?

"Alya," she screeched as she stormed back into the lounge, this was definitely going to be a two woman job.

•••••

"Boss, she's on the phone again." The intercom sounded before Adrien heard his PA's voice. He was currently seated in his office at his third, yes third job. With his new acting role in 'Legal Blue' he needed to make sure the company was in a good place and one where he was comfortable leaving it.

Even though his role was as a silent partner in 'Gamer Noir Enterprise' (GNE) he wasn't exactly silent. He kept a close eye on the business, and helped support the new products as and when they were created. The business was the baby of Max Kantè, Adrien's old collège friend, and Adrien was purely there to support with his wallet. The technological giant was a combination of high standard products and the most up to date technologies. Max was a genius, and thanks to Adrien's financial backing he could share his visions with the world. Of course, Vivica had zero idea about how involved he was in this business, stating she wanted no part of it. So he made sure she wasn't and also that their prenup waivered anything to do with the company.

He sighed and rubbed the creases in his brow, there was so much to do he really didn't want to have to talk to his wife at the moment. He was due to start filming in just over a week, he really didn't have the time or energy to deal with what would most certainly be another argument. He sighed and reached over towards the intercom and pressed down the button.

"Tell her I'll call her back later." Her muttered response was all he needed as a guarantee that he wouldn't be bothered by her again, for a while at least. Turning back to his laptop he pulled up the stats for their latest game to match them against the printed figures on his desk. Their latest release had taken off and, thanks to both Max and Adrien's gaming skills and knowledge, had become a phenomenon bigger than anything they could have imagined.

As Adrien glanced at the figures and some of the emails he noticed how they'd been approached by clothing and toy brands wanting to know if they could buy into the game and licence their own products. He didn't know where to start. Writing a note reminding him to contact their lawyer was taken from the top of his Post-It pad and placed alongside his dozen others. How was he going to leave the company for half a year?

"The fun has arrived!" A voice sounded causing Adrien to tear his gaze from the ream of numbers and up to the doorway.

"Where?"

"Oh, come on dude, give me a bit more love than that." Nino walked into Adrien's room making his way to the sofa, sitting down and swinging his legs up onto the length.

"Shouldn't you be working?"

"Nah, Max said I could have thirty minutes off to come and talk to you. He didn't appreciate having 'Where do broken hearts go?' as the track for the new game."

Adrien smiled at his friend, he could just imagine the judgemental looks Max had given him. Not only did Max have specific techno visions for the game music (hence why Nino was employed there), but he hated anything mushy. Having Nino playing Whitney Houston, and probably singing along (badly), would be Max's idea of hell.

"So where were you last night?" Nino asked.

Adrien wove his fingers through each other and placed his hands on the table.

"I was at the rental." Technically he wasn't lying. After spending most of the evening flirting with Ladybug he had returned to the rental, not wanting to head to the house.

"Alone?" Nino quizzed, his eyebrows wiggling and causing Adrien to roll his eyes.

"I was with Jess actually."

"I was ringing you man. I needed you. What happened to bro's over hoes?"

Adrien placed a Post-It on his documents - Market research to be updated - before placing everything to one side, knowing this conversation had only just begun his work would have to wait a while.

"FIrstly, she is definitely not a hoe, and you know she'd kick your worthless butt for even considering it and secondly you saw her didn't you?" He watched as his best friend turned ashen and his smile slowly turned down.

Adrien couldn't understand why Nino didn't just give Alya a call. The dude was obviously still head over heels in love with her. Adrien sighed as he couldn't help the thought that Nino had made a grave mistake and that he was partially to blame.

Since Adrien confided in Nino about the depths of his relationship with Vivica it had knocked his best friend for six. Nino had thought they were solid, that Adrien had found his true love and that he was going to sail off into the sunset and live happily ever after ... on his Island, eating nothing but fruit and looking after his hamster. So when the divorce was announced he panicked. Nino had told him how he couldn't fathom that if Adrien couldn't make it work how the hell would he.

So Nino had left Alya and ended up in some weird to and froing with weather girl, Frankie LeMec. Adrien was still not clear on how the two had met, it just seemed to have happened one day. Unfortunately, Nino had never known the true extent of Adrien's relationship with Vivica, no one did, except himself and his father, and when Adrien had finally confided in Nino it was too late. The mistakes had been made and he no longer felt worthy of Alya's love.

Nino groaned and threw his head back, running his hands from his hairline down to his neck before taking both of them behind his neck and gripping them together. "I was with Frankie."

"Dude!"

"I know, Adrien, I need your help man. I can't get rid of the girl."

"Have you tried just telling her you don't want to see her anymore?"

"I wasn't seeing her in the first place. I sat and chatted with her once in a coffee shop, I have no idea how she found out where I lived."

"Well ... at least you haven't slept with her." Adrien chuckled, reaching out for his next set of documents to check. He realised Nino hadn't answered, so he took a chance to look at his friend, placing the documents down again.

Nino shifted awkwardly in his seat, turning his head away from Adrien's intrusive eyes. "Nino, you haven't slept with her, right?" The look on Nino's face gave Adrien the answer to his question. It's fair to say that they had slept together, and it was also fair to say that he regretted it. "For fuck sake, man, why?"

"I was drunk and she appeared at my doorway. I felt lonely -"

"Felt lonely? I've been a married man sleeping in a bed by myself for three years because of my fucking father, that's lonely. You had one of the most wonderful girls in Paris and you messed it up because you're a commitment phobe."

"I'm not a commitment phobe at all, I was with Alya for nine years."

"Exactly, you should have been proposing, not breaking up so you can sleep with some psychopath who stalks you and uploads her own selfies to your Insta account. You only see her because she has big breasts and used to be a dancer at the Moulin Rouge."

"Fucking hell, not again." Nino pulled his phone out of his pocket and searched for his Instagram app. His expression changed as he looked at his recent posts and found a picture of Frankie with a rather interesting caption.

'She's everything I didn't know I needed.'

"No you fucking aren't!" A growl left his mouth as he deleted the post and refreshed his feed to make sure it had disappeared. He just prayed Alya hadn't seen it. "I'm calling her tonight, this needs to stop."

"You're an idiot, do you know that? I'm officially passing my crown over to you."

"Yeah, well, I'm definitely following in your footsteps. I kept calling out Alya's name when we had sex." Adrien couldn't hold it back. The laughter came out hearty and heavy, the exact stress relief he needed at the moment. He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I've never called out Alya's name in the throws of passion so I don't know how that's following me," of course Adrien had to make it sound something softer and more romantic than screaming out one woman's name whilst finishing inside another, but still the fact still stood, that on his wedding night, he had groaned out Marinette's name instead of his new wife's.

"I've never called out Mari's either, so we're equal there."

"I never should have told you anything."

Before Nino could comment further the intercom buzzed again. "Yes," Adrien answered, he was seriously getting nothing done today. It was seven in the evening and he still had a long way to go.

"M. Agreste, I have a call for you from Madam Couffaine."

Adrien hadn't heard from Juleka for a couple of weeks. They'd struck up a bizarre friendship during their late teens due to both of them modelling for 'Gabriel'. Right at this moment she was meant to be out of town on a shoot for his father's label, so why would she be calling him? It wasn't like they were going to go on one of their coffee runs.

"Okay, put her through."

Adrien picked up his phone, listening to Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over troubled water wanting nothing more than to jump off the bridge and into said troubled water. He pulled his Post-Its out again and made a note asking Max for a new song to use as their hold music. There is no way he could tolerate this goddamn song anymore, and with him being out of office and ringing in almost daily ... well, he might just cataclysm the phone lines in revenge for the pain it's putting him through.

"Adrien Agreste, I can't believe I have to pretend to be someone else just to get you to answer your fucking phone."

"Hello love, how are you?" The sarcasm dripped out in his voice and he knew Vivica was about to go apeshit at him.

"Why have you been so set on ignoring my calls, Adrien?"

"I'm working."

"And?"

Adrien sighed. Would it be rude to come out with a simple 'I dislike you and wish you weren't such a vindictive bitch.'

"Viv, seriously, I'm busy. What do you want? I've got a meeting in ten minutes." He winced as he told the lie, praying she wouldn't see through it.

"Nino depressingly talking about his failed relationship isn't a meeting, especially when you should be trying to save ours."

"Are you spying on me or something?" He looked around the room for any possible hidden camera. If he was at his father's office then he swore the room would be laced with hidden spyware, but there's not a chance in hell Max, or even Markov, would allow such things to be around the building. They'd pick up the alien interference of software, and if not them, then he was sure Plagg would have known.

"Whatever. What time should I expect you home?"

"I'll be working late tonight, I need to prepare for when I'm away filming."

He heard the sigh and cursed words on the other side of the phone knowing that they were directed straight at him. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow?" Adrien had zero intention of seeing her tomorrow, or the next day, or any day following that. She just wouldn't let go though. Her claws digging in deep and scarring him for life.

"It's my sister's birthday, we're taking her and her boyfriend out for a meal, remember. It's been planned for months." Adrien could only think one thing to that.

Bullshit!

"I'll be busy tomorrow, I've got a lot to sort out at the office before leaving, plus I need to see my father."

"It's my sister's birthday, Adrien. I'm only asking for dinner, not a Tiffany diamond, which the media seem to have thought you'd bought for me." The tension headache in the back of Adrien's head hit him as hard as a baseball bat in full swing. Stretching up, he placed his hand into thick locks and began to massage away the tight feeling from the top of his head to the base of his neck. He did not want to get into this conversation, it always went the same way.

"The media said you've brought a dozen roses."

"That's because I have."

"Are they for me?"

"No,"

There were only so many times he could get away with saying it was for his mother's grave before she'd started to get suspicious and she went to check.

"It was an old friend's birthday, you know I like to treat people."

"Yeah well you should be treating your wife."

It's not like he could tell her he was spending thousands on the one person who had stuck beside him through everything, the most important person in his life. He also couldn't say that person just so happened to be his superhero partner, because, surprise, he was Chat Noir. The idea of her ever finding out made his body shiver. If his closest friends didn't know there was no chance his soon to be ex-wife would. So for now, Ladybug was known as 'just a friend'.

"Fine, what do you want?" He finally said. He knew with Vivica he had to choose his battles wisely, and sometimes it was just easier to agree.

"I want you at the restaurant tomorrow at Seven."

Sighing, Adrien knew there was no way out of this. "I'll make sure I'm out of here by six thirty."

"You better Adrien, I'm still your wife you know." Unfortunately, that he did.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Slamming the phone a little more aggressively than he wanted he groaned and banged his forehead against the table.

"Vivica?" Nino asked, walking over to sit in the meeting chair opposite Adrien's desk and picking up the one photo sitting there.

It was their class photo from Adrien's first year at collège. Adrien nodded to his friend before pushing his hair back off his face. "What did I do to deserve this life?"

"So, do I get an invite to dinner?"

"I wish. We're out with her sister and Disco Dave." Vivica's sister was as boring as a plant and her boyfriend, Disco Dave, was the biggest party pooper he'd ever met. Seriously, watching paint dry had more pizazz than these two. They were boring, stuck up snobs and he was quite sure neither of them had worked a day in their life. Stuck up trust fund babies at best, very similar to his wife.

"Yeah, I'd pass anyway, I might die from boredom. I'll just sit at home, listen to Celine Dion and look at pictures of Alya. I might stalk her Facebook too if I'm feeling perticularly suicidal." Adrien wished he could say Nino was joking, but unfortunately there had been a couple of incidents where Nino's actions had worried him. The guy barely functioned without Alya.

"Nino, call her."

"I can't, I've been a horrible, horrible person and now I will have to admit it to her if I call." he sighed and took off his cap, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I think Alya's a bigger person than that, Nino. Plus you can't just leave her hanging."

Nino groaned. "I'm screwed."

"We can be screwed together." The two held out their hands to make their promise with their special hand shake.

"As long as you're not screwing me, Agreste. You forget I saw your dick back in lycée, it's tiny," and just like that, his best bud was back. Ridiculing and all.

"That's not what your maman said."

"Leave my Maman out of this."

Adrien started laughing as he picked up his paperwork and Post-It notes once more, before looking up at Nino and giving him a wink.

"That's it, I'm out of here," Nino stood from the chair and headed towards the door.

"Thank the fuck for that, I thought I was going to have to fire you."

"Good try, buddy, but you know I work for Max."

Adrien flipped Nino the bird and laughed as his friend closed the door after himself. Placing his Post-It's down on his desk, Adrien reached out to grab the photo frame Nino was looking at and sighed, how had it gone so wrong?

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