It Runs in the Family • A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic (DISCONTINUED!)

Chapter 3

first posted: 7/15/21

WARNING: cursing

Recap: She opened her mouth to say something, when she heard someone else walk into the room. Nathalie turned towards the source of the noise and saw Gabriel Agreste standing at the other end of the table.

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Gabriel's face betrayed no emotion as he addressed his assistant, "Give me a minute, would you Nathalie?"

She nodded her head in his direction, "Yes, sir."

Nathalie turned off her tablet and walked away from the table, standing silently at the edge of the room. Her boss turned towards his children, looking at them disdainfully.

"Neither of you are going to school." he says in a stern voice, leaving no room for argument on the matter. Nathalie felt two pairs of eyes on her, and purposefully avoided eye contact with either of them.

Adrien looks at Nathalie, hurt evident on his face and disappointment heavy in his eyes. He turned his head to look at his sister, who was glaring angrily at the older woman. Both twins had expected her to tell Gabriel, one was just more hopeful than the other.

Adrien turns to the stone-faced man at the other end of the table. "But father-"

"Everything that either of you two need is right here where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you or her outside in that dangerous world."

At Adrien's side, he heard his sister scoff quietly. Starting to get fed up, he responds.

"It's not dangerous father! Charlotte and I are constantly stuck inside this house. Why can't we go out and make friends like everyone else?"

Gabriel looked at his son, annoyance clear on his face. "Because you are not like everyone else, you are my children!" he responded, raising his voice to emphasize his point.

Charlotte raised her head. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Thennnn, treat us like your children?" she said in an exaggerated, (probably mocking) tone.

Gabriel turned to her, "Excuse me?" he said.

She raised an eyebrow at him, agitation sparking in her eyes.

"You constantly keep us at arms length, you make us follow all these rules, do all these photo shoots and events and extracurriculars-which we do with no complaints-and then when we want five minutes of your time you tell Nathalie to have us schedule a fuckin appointment. Do you really think that's the proper way to treat your children?"

Adrien's jaw dropped to the floor. Watching as his father's eye twitched upon hearing Charlotte curse, he felt a sense of satisfaction at Gabriel's speechlessness.

Without missing a beat Charlotte continued, "Ever since mom disappeared you've become so controlling and impassive and overprotective. You have us stay in this house 24/7 to 'keep an eye on us' but you quite literally never have your eyes on us. In fact, I think this is the first time in half a year that we've been face to face with you."

Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, but at this point there was no stopping her until she wanted to be done.

Her voice got louder, "I know that you're hurting father, but so are we! We were just as affected as you were by mom's disappearance, if not more affected." Pushing her chair back roughly, she stood up. Charlotte's eyes stung with angry tears that she refused to let fall as she stared at her father.