Runaway 🌑 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction)

Chapter 15 | I Love You, It's Ruining My Life

Five Days Later

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has been gone for a month now, with no clear signs of returning anytime soon.

Adrien Agreste hasn't stopped looking for her, even when his partner claimed she had fled the city. He knew Marinette better than anyone, even himself. She wouldn't give up and leave, not when she still had her family and friends. He was running out of time, though, and places to look.

Was Marinette constantly moving—never staying in one place for long? Did she know Cat Noir was looking for her, and trying to deceive him?

Adrien checked the time on his phone. His photoshoot just ended, thankfully, and he was in his dressing room changing back into his normal clothes. He agreed to model until the end of the year, and after that he'd be done with modeling. His father didn't have a problem with that, and only asked that he'd stay at the brand as an ambassador. Whatever that meant.

"Mr. Agreste?" His stylist asked as he left the dressing room. "Your father is waiting for you in his office."

"Thank you," Adrien said, and took the elevator up to the top floor. As the doors opened, he stepped out, and his mouth fell open at the sight in front of him.

Mark Arington walked out of his father's office, laughing, and shook Gabriel's hand. "Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate you offering me another opportunity."

"What the hell?" The model whispered to himself as he walked over.

"Hey, Adrien!" Mark greeted as he raised his arm and patted his shoulder. "Great to see you again. I can't wait for us to start working together."

"Excuse me?"

Gabriel cleared his throat. "We can talk in here, Adrien." He turned around and walked back into his office.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Adrien asked. "I thought I made it clear to never come back."

"Right, well as it turns out, you're not the boss of me," Mark said with a grin. "Your father was generous enough to give me my job back, and guess what? I'm not going anywhere." He winked, then walked off towards the elevator.

"Adrien!" His father called out, annoyed.

The model stepped in the office and closed the door behind him. "Why is Mark back?!"

"Excuse me?" Gabriel asked, confused at his son's angry tone.

"I fired Mark myself for a reason," Adrien reminded him. "Because of what that creep did to Marinette."

His father nodded. "Yes, I remember that, son. Though, Marinette isn't here anymore, so what exactly is the problem?"

"So what? It's what he did that's the problem. What if Mark does that again to some other poor girl?"

Gabriel adjusted his suit as he sat at his desk. "Sit down, Adrien. There's something important we need to discuss."

Instead of arguing, Adrien did as told.

"The Agreste brand has been getting a lot of backlash for a few weeks now. I've already lost over a hundred-million euros in sponsors and right now, a negotiator in China is threatening to back out of a deal."

"What does that have to do with me?" The model asked.

"Because you are the cause of this backlash," His father stated. "Well, you and your girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Ever since that video went viral..."

Adrien shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

His father pressed two fingers to his forehead, trying to suppress a headache. "It's gone viral everywhere, not just in Paris, almost the entire world. On the brand's website, there's only comments and reviews about this mess with Dupain-Cheng, how you're still tied to her. We're losing profits, loyal customers, by the second!"