Sequel to IRONY

7

"They've been like this all morning," said Mylene in an amused tone. "Damian Wayne is here, again. I guess they all want to impress him."

Marinette almost jumped at the sudden mention of his name. Then, she stared at Mylene in disbelief. "Are you telling me... that he got everyone to work hard just by his presence alone? Something I've been trying to do during my entire stay here?"

"Well, yes," said Mylene. Marinette cursed under her breath. "Oh come on Marinette, now that the Ministry has confirmed his innocence, he's back to being influential. A Wayne. He's rich and powerful, and he's handsome to boot. It's only natural to want to please him."

Then Mylene leaned on her and spoke in hushed tones. "He's been asking me about you."

Marinette flinched. "What did he—"

"If you want to know why Damian Wayne's here, he's checking to see if his money's being put to good use," said a person from behind them. They both turned around to find Lila walking towards them, wearing a very short black skirt and a green top that showed off a lot of cleavage.

"What do you want, Lila?" Mylene asked icily.

"Nothing that concerns you, Mylene," Lila told Mylene condescendingly. Then she turned to face Marinette and smirked. "You know he talked to me this morning, Damian Wayne. And guess what? He seemed to be really interested in me."

"Oh really?" Marinette said, while turning to walk away, determined to stay away from Lila.

But Lila grabbed her arm, "Oh yes. In fact with the way he was looking at me, I think it's only a matter of time before he makes a move."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You know, I really don't care."

"For your information, Lila, Damian Wayne asked about Mari—" Mylene started to say, but Marinette cut her off. She stared back at Marinette. "What?"

Marinette didn't really want anyone to find out about her and Damian.

"Jealous, Dupain Cheng?" said Lila, completely ignoring Mylene. "Scared that I might convince him to reconsider his offer of funding your project? The Denovorum is a complicated medicine, what makes you think you can actually succeed in making one?"

"It's just a matter of patience and skill, Lila," Marinette said, her fists clenching in anger. "But you wouldn't know about that, would you? You don't have any."

"You little bitc—"

She walked away before Lila could finish, but not before relishing the sight of the cow's face flush red in anger.

The Department of Medical Research and Development was an old historical building beside the Ministry, built during the late 16th century. The outside was constructed in baroque style, with bold massing, twisted columns, a dome, and the bold play of volume and void. There were no doors for entry, but fireplaces stationed in the lobby instead. It was disguised as an old, abandoned building in the eyes of muggles.

The inside interior was amazing, more beautiful than even that of their school. The entrance lobby had a frescoed ceiling painted by a famous painter who had died some years ago.

It had twenty floors in total: six floors for the offices, conference halls and work related matters, two floors for the library, five floors for the laboratories and experiment conducting rooms. And the remaining floors were the seven floors of whimsical wonder.

At least that's how Marinette had classified them. She giggled inwardly as she descended from the staircases. It was quite silly actually, but she had deemed the title appropriate.