Tell Me Why You Love Me

It's Me

The pounding heart that burned against Adrien's lungs blurred any outside noise. Nathalie stood beside him, placing an arm on his shoulder as her voice murmured in the distance. He had asked her if there was a basement under this mansion.

"Yes," she had said to his question. "Right beneath the portrait."

He wasn't sure what made her tell him. Adrien had expected her to change the subject or guide the conversation in another direction like she typically did. His vision was delayed as he saw Nathalie slowly saunter over to his mother's painting, running her fingers along the cracks. No. Buttons.

There were buttons built within the art piece. How did he not know?

After years and years of coming in here, how did he not notice those same cracks? Had he just not inspected it close enough? Was his mind too distracted to notice anything else? He will never know.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" he asked, his voice low. Almost a whisper. If she weren't right next to him, she probably wouldn't have heard him.

"I'm sorry, Adrien," Nathalie responded. "I... Your father didn't want you to know."

"Why not?" he spat out. He swallowed down a sob, a betrayal, caused by his own parent. "What is he hiding?"

"Let me explain–"

"I don't have time for explanations. I want to know exactly how it is."

Nathalie shook her head. It was clear she didn't want to say anything out loud, but Adrien didn't care what she felt at that moment. Marinette's life was at stake. Everything he was doing was for her. He'd do anything to get Nathalie to confess everything she knew about his father.

He took a step forward toward Nathalie. His hands were balled into fists at his side, trying not to let every cloud of thought from racing through his mind into a dark tunnel. "Nathalie, you tell me right now what my father is hiding. What is underneath our house? Is father connected to Monarch? What do you know?"

She stiffened and took a deep breath, holding it for longer than was typical. There was an unreadable expression that fell upon her face. Her gaze refused to meet his. "You must understand, Adrien. Everything your father has done was for you at first. He's gone down a dark hole, and I... I just wanted to protect you from it all. It's what your mother would have wanted."

Adrien didn't move. He didn't know what to say after that. All he did was watch as Nathalie walked over to his mother's portrait. Her hands reached up against the paint. She looked over her shoulder at him with a subdued look.

"I think it's best if I just showed you. I'm...sorry again, Adrien," Nathalie said in a hushed voice as she placed her fingertips in a strategic pattern along the bottom portion of the painting and pressed into the cracks. Small buttons pressed inward, allowing a robotic hum to be heard underneath Adrien's feet.

He quickly looked below him and saw floor panels in the shape of a circle separate from each other, placing Adrien on a small platform. Nathalie stepped beside him before the platform promptly started to move downward.

Faltering in his steps and stifling a yelp from coming out of his mouth, he glanced up at his father's assistance with a stressful look in his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Just... let me show you."

The two continued to drop down below the floor of the mansion. Adrien looked around, his heart racing the longer he got dragged down in this tube. At first, it was dark. Cement walls and metal tubing surrounded him for what felt like an eternity. But then, the encasing around him turned into clear glass. At least, that's what it looked like. He was too scared to reach his hand out or move any muscle in his body.