The last attack of Shadow Moth (fanmade version)

Episode 25 - Scene 5

Nathalie was standing on the stage, holding a mic in her hand. She looked so usual and yet she exuded an authority that even made Gabriel Agreste himself shudder. The photographers flashed their camera lights to capture every single moment. There was a soft murmur to be heard, but as soon as Nathalie began to speak, the audience immediately went quiet and paid all attention to her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to welcome you here at the Hôtel de Ville. As you already know, today is a very special day that will go down in fashion history. Paris' most successful fashion designer Gabriel Agreste has an important to make as a result of the company's development in the future. I do not want to take too much of your time and am thanking you for listening. I am now passing the word to Mr. Gabriel Agreste himself."

The audience cheered when Gabriel Agreste got up from the first row and walked to the stage. As he got upstairs, Nathalie gave him a mic and went to the backstage.

Gabriel closed his eyes, putted his fingers between his throat and his tie scarf to loosen them up a little bit, cleared his throat and opened his eyes. With a serious and determined will he looked into the crowd.

"Thank you very much, Ms. Sancoeur. First of all, I would like to thank all the people, who have supported me in my career over the years. Without their belief in me, I would not be here in front of you today."

Gabriel Agreste took a break from his speech, because the audience started clapping loudly. He waited patiently for the crowd to quiet down again.

"I would also like to express a big thanks to my family for always standing by me and supporting me.", he stopped for a little while and made direct eye contact with his son Adrien.

"At this point, a very special thank you to my son Adrien Agreste, who has played an essential role as a model for my company. This is not something that can be taken for granted. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my son."

Adrien was overwhelmed by these wonderful words from his father that were addressed to him. He would have never thought that his own father of all people would ever appreciate his efforts. He could no longer control his emotions and let his tears flow without hiding from anyone. He wanted the crowd to see that these few words touched him deeply. When the tears reached their limit, he snorted briefly and rubbed the tears off his face with the back of his hand.

In the meantime, he didn't even notice that Nino had put his hand on his shoulder to support him. He looked at Nino with his from tears reddened eyes. Nino nodded his head barely noticeably and lifted the corner of his mouth slightly to underline the success of his best friend in relation to his father and hugged him brotherly. Adrien returned the hug he really needed and let his joy be expressed through the tears that remained on Nino's shoulder.

When he felt ready to break away from the hug, he lifted his head and looked at Marinette. Her eyes had also filled with tears as she watched the two of them. She pressed her lips together gently and smiled at him subtly. Adrien copied this gesture and wholeheartedly returned it to Marinette.

Alya also was seeing the situation. She took Marinette's hand and began to gently stroke the back of her hand with her thumb. She was proud of Marinette that she could control herself so much in such an emotional situation and was happy about the fact that Adrien opened up more and more to Marinette and dedicated himself to her. She saw her best friend in the eyes and gave her the look of affirmation. Marinette put her other hand on Alya's hand and thanked her with a barely noticeable and yet visible smile.

The audience was silent and waited for Gabriel Agreste to continue his speech. Some people were watching Adrien. Although they only knew the son of the most famous fashion designer from advertisements and fashion shows, they were visibly touched by this spectacle.

"The real reason we're all gathered here..." he cleared his throat and continued with a calm expression.

"...is that, of course, I can't continue to run this company forever. At some point, everything has an end and so will my career..."

Many were extremely concerned about Gabriel Agreste's choice of words at that moment, others were quite irritated. Only Adrien had listened intently. He knew that his father was very talented at sensing other people's emotions and manipulating them accordingly. He therefore already suspects that his father will bring an unpredictable twist to his future.

"Therefore, I would like to inform you today that I will make my son the new head of the company when he reaches the age of majority. Until then, I will instruct him in all important matters. In addition, I would also like to announce that a person who, due to his extraordinary talent, has managed to qualify for the management of the company in my eyes. I announce that Lila Rossi will take over the management with Adrien Agreste, the future head of the company. They soon will be leaving for New York for an internship. I hereby ask Adrien Agreste and Lila Rossi to rise from the front row and join me on stage."

The audience was shocked by this decision and faltered before applauding Gabriel Agreste.

Marinette's eyes almost popped out of her head when she heard that Lila had made it to the Agreste company. She was beside herself and could hardly believe she was witnessing. All she wanted to do was get out, knock everything over and tear it apart. She wanted to scream the frustration out of her womb. And yet she kept her composure in this situation, because that's what she promised herself. Her bones stood out white, so tightly did she hold onto the armrests of the chair. Her head was about to burst with rage and run bright red. This was supposed to be her day, the day she could put a milestone in the beginning of her career. Instead, she could put her career aside right now.

Adrien was not exactly pleased with this information either. He would have expected a lot of things, but never the fact that at this moment his future was fixed by his father. He had never been interested in his father's work and that today, of all days, when he had firmly resolved to go his own way after the conversation with Nino and even thought about his future when he was in the car, his father once again put a gigantic boulder in his path and dragged him in the direction he wanted. He was very stunned and also remained sitting on his chair. If he had stood up, it is not unlikely that he would have toppled over.

The fact that Adrien and Marinette were both on the verge of completely freaking out was also noticed by Alya and Nino. Given the situation, however, they could do nothing more than silently calm the two down.

While the couple tried to normalize the pulse of their respective best friends, the footsteps of provocative high heels became louder and louder. A long orange dress roamed the floor, wiping the dust with it. The clacking of the shoes stopped when the person in the orange dress stopped in all its glory in front of Adrien.

"Adrien, they're waiting for you on stage," said a not entirely unfamiliar voice. Adrien looked up to confirm his guess. Lila was standing in front of him, her hair tied into a bun and her glove-covered hands clasped together. Slowly, he stood up in deepest displeasure. Marinette looked up when she realized Adrien had lifted himself and saw Lila's face. She was already looking at Marinette when she met her gaze. Lila had that triumph for herself and degradation for Marinette in her eyes. She made a snide sound and glided in an elegant gait to her victory. Adrien only reluctantly trotted after Lila and kept his head lowered.