One Way or Another

A Horrible Tragedy and A Genuine Reaction

Lila couldn't believe her ears. "Marinette?" she repeated in a whisper.

Gabriel nodded.

"You're willing to sacrifice your own pregnant daughter-in-law to protect Ladybug?"

"Like I said, Ladybug is nothing but a nuisance. I can afford ten thousand a month to shut her up. Marinette, on the other hand, is causing quite the headache for this family."

"Really?" Lila asked, intrigued. "How so?"

"You already know how I feel about her, and you already know that she was never good enough for Adrien. I tried to convince him myself, but he wouldn't listen, too blinded by his love for her. But that love is gone now."

She cocked her head. "But they seem so enamored with each other."

"It's all an act for the cameras. The reality of their relationship is far from the image of the happy couple they portray to the media. Things have been bad, and they've been slowly getting worse through the years. Adrien has been suffering, and now it's gone too far." Gabriel paused and turned away. Then he continued in a softer voice. "Adrien confided in me a few weeks ago. The timing for the pregnancy just doesn't add up. They hadn't been intimate with each other around the time that Marinette got pregnant." Another pause. "I've had my suspicions before that she was cheating on him, but I never had any proof."

A snort of derision. "I certainly wouldn't put it past her. She was always popular with the boys back in school. She was probably cheating on him way back then too."

"Indeed."

Lila shook her head. "Adrien doesn't deserve to be treated like that. But why doesn't he just file for divorce?"

"He can't. There was no prenuptial agreement signed when they got married. If he divorces her, she could go after everything. All of our money would be at stake." He looked at her again. "So you can understand my predicament now. If Marinette wipes out the family fortune, I won't be able to pay Ladybug off anymore."

All the pieces of the puzzle falling into place in Lila's mind, she nodded.

"My wife, my daughter, my son and myself, we're all at the mercy of a wretched specimen of a human being," Gabriel continued in a low growl. "But if Marinette were simply gone, everything would be fine."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Gone?"

"Let me put it this way; horrible tragedies happen every day. It would certainly be a shame if Marinette were the victim of an unpredictable freak accident. I can just imagine her walking down the street one day and she slips and falls down a flight of stairs, smashing her head open in the process. Everyone knows how clumsy she is, after all. That would be such an awful, awful shame. Don't you think so?"

Lila tried to contain her evil smile. "Well if accidents happen all the time, why do you need me? Why not take care of it yourself?"

"Unfortunately, whenever a young woman meets an untimely demise, even one that looks like an accident, the husband is always the number one suspect. And following the husband is the extended family. So, this horrible tragedy has to happen when Adrien, Emilie, and I are all in a highly public location."

"So you want me to do your dirty work for you?"

A shrug. "You're the one who craves revenge. I'm simply giving you the chance to exact it on someone you hate just as much as Ladybug."

And Lila didn't respond as she started weighing her options.

"Well?" Gabriel asked.

"I'll think about it."