The chapter y'all were waiting for.
While the trio sat in the bakery, laughing and conversing over various topics, big or petty, Lila was sitting in an adjacent cafe.
Wondering.
About how to tell Adrien what she's done. I mean, he'll be mad at her but not so mad now that Marinette's alive and healthy, right?
She did not know.
So, she did what Adrien did.
Confront Emilie.
Surprisingly, that woman was really good at giving advice. So, Lila told her that she had a secret and that she wanted to share it with someone but that someone would be furious when they would hear it. They might even kick her out of their life.
"Does this secret involve that person you're talking to?" Emilie asked.
"In a way. Mainly it involves another person they're close to." Lila answered.
Emilie knew that the brunette was hiding something. However, she did not force the secret out of her. It could be personal, after all.
"Tell them."
"What?"
"Yes. If this secret has been making you feel guilty, then take the load off your shoulder. Tell them."
"Who?"
"Up to you. Does the other person you mentioned know this?"
"...No."
"Then tell that person first."
Lila gasped. Here, Emilie did not know that the subject of their discussion was Adrien. Neither did she know that the person she was telling Lila to spill the beans to was Marinette.
"Are you... sure?" Lila stammered as she looked down on the floor.
"Yes."
*
"Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out." Lila kept trying to console herself.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." She sighed.
She was about to confess her crime... To the person she supposedly killed. Why!? Just, why was she so darn selfish! If only she did not obsess over Adrien so much, this would never have happened!
"Lila?" Adrien called out.
"She's ready to meet you know. I do not know why you want to talk to her alone all of a sudden. Every time we go to meet Mari you just run away. Here. I had to introduce you properly to her. She doesn't know you yet." Adrien smiled.
"Thanks, Adrien." Lila sighed.
"Thanks, Mrs. Agreste." She said quietly.
All of the air started to leave her lungs when she opened the door. It seemed as if the world had stopped and as if she was walking towards her own death now.
She opened the door to reveal a smiling Marinette. Even when she didn't know her, she smiled.
"Hello. Lila, right? Adrien told me about you."
Lila started to shiver tremendously. She couldn't stand there anymore. Every part of her body literally screamed 'Run. Get out of here.' but she froze. She couldn't move any limb.
"H-H-H-" Her mouth couldn't form any words. Her eyes wide open and mouth agape, she was about to fall. Her knees buckled as she held on to a chair to prevent crashing down on the floor.
"Are you okay?" Marinette noticed her body language and her shivering legs, her grip on the chair as if she was holding on to dear life. There was something severely wrong with this girl and Marinette, being Marinette, wanted to make it right. She wanted to comfort her so, she hugged her.
The anonymous hug she received from Adrien first, then Bridgette and now, she was giving this hug to Lila. The hug given by strangers but still able to percolate through people's hearts. Giving them warmth when they need it. Comfort. As if she'd known them from ages but still, never met them. That was what she conveyed to Lila through the hug and Lila did not retaliate.
Her shaking breath and body seemed to calm down to a comforting ease and her knees gained stability again. Her brain again acquired to power to process and form words again. She reciprocated the hug and felt warm.
"Sorry." Lila said.
"Its okay. What happened though? It was as if you'd seen a ghost!" Marinette laughed as she broke the hug.
"Nothing... You just... remind me of someone." Lila said sheepishly.
"So, what did you want to talk about."
"You may not believe this but..."
*
"I... have no idea what to say."Lila looked at the floor, ashamed. She told Marinette the story. True story. Not mixed with lies such as Adrien's girlfriend resemblance or Mari Nette. Nothing.
Lila told her that she was the love of Adrien's life.
That she was not originally from China.
That she was in a coma before she was healed and god knows how, brought here.
That there was the fire at the hospital.
That Lila was the one responsible for her condition.
That it was all because of her that Marinette, herself and Adrien were in such a position.
That she was the reason for making everyone suffer for twelve whole years.
That she was the one Marinette sacrificed her life for.
That it was because of her unworthy soul that Marinette jumped off of a twenty storey building that dreadful night.
That she was unworthy of living.
That she had wanted to end her life every second she lived.
That she was too coward to do that and decided to live until she had told Adrien the truth which she never had.
"I don't believe you." Marinette said with a grim expression.
"All the other stuff you said about Mari Nette being a made up story and me being Adrien's love could be true. I knew that blond was lying. But I won't believe that you killed me." Marinette said.
Lila sat with her mouth open and tears spilling out of her eyes.
"Trust me. I know that I'm not originally from China. As far as I remember, I woke up one day with a throbbing pain in my head in the house of an old man named Fu who told me that I was found unconscious and that he gave me shelter until my memories came back... which never did. I had to help him, so I came here at the bakery and I was shocked to learn that I could bake pretty well. The only thing I could remember properly was my name."
"..."
"Anyway, I won't believe I'm in this position because of you. You don't look the type who would go full on yandere mode." Marinette tried to lighten up the mood but failed as Lila continued to cry.
"I don't care how you were back then. I don't care about what actually happened to me. My origins. Nothing. All I know is that now, you're a good person. And that I'm alive. How can you live with the guilt of killing a person who isn't even dead? Besides, you told me I jumped in order to save you. That was my decision. Glad to know I was actually a kind person."
Amongst all the speech Marinette had delivered, the words that shocked Lila the most were, "All I know is that now, you're a good person. And that I'm alive. How can you live with the guilt of killing a person who isn't even dead?"
She broke out of her trance and hugged Marinette as tight as she possibly could. As if leaving the latter would cause her to go away again. To leave them all again. To leave him again.
"Thank you. Thank you. Marinette, you're a wonderful person. I'll never forget what you did. I will never be able to make it up to you for forgiving me. Thank you. Thank-" Lila chocked on her tears and sobbed her heart out and Marinette kept calming her down. Whispering soothing words in her hear or lightly moving her hand above her head in calming patterns.
"Promise me, never tell this to Adrien." Marinette said.
Lila understood the meaning behind those words. Marinette wasn't the least bit selfish. She was nothing like Marinette. She would never be. Not even close. That's why Adrien would be dead the second he hurt her.
"Never." Lila cried at her selflessness.
*
"I'm getting sick of this. Let's put an end to this 'Marinette' drama before any more characters come around."
"Please! Don't use the Ladybug miraculous to do that! You can't hurt Marinette!" Tikki pleaded weakly.
"Why not!? Can't Paris' beloved, the former Ladybug protect herself? We'll see tonight."
"You already stole the miraculous from Bridgette! Don't do another crime! Plagg won't be able to bear see his holder go through the same pain again!" Tikki cried.
"I couldn't care less about Chat Noir... Dare I say... Adrien Agreste... Hmm... Tonight, will be the end of Marinette Dupain Cheng. For real."
HEY BUGHEADS!
Adieu is nearing its end... :)
Interaction between Tikki and the thief.
Lila confessed.
What's left for the end?
Yes.
The fight. (and other things xD)
Bug out.
Way to sound intimidating, author-chan.