You're my dearest lie || Miraculous Adult

Chapter 42

I wanted to leave - SYML

Adrien

It took me a moment to let the question sink in.

At first I was irritated, but mainly because Marinette was staring at me in alarm. What could Juliette do to me, she'd never threatened me with a knife before.

"She's one of my father's many business partners and acts as a kind of manager for me," I said, deliberately vague. I have no idea how much she knew about modeling and could therefore recognize parallels to me as Adrien.

But Marinette listened to me intently, as if she was waiting for me to mention a certain detail.

"Um, she was hired at my father's company about a year ago and was in charge of my work there," I continued, which wasn't really a lie, "and when I had more or less ended my relationship with my girlfriend at the time, she made me an offer."

I told it exactly as I remembered it. Quite normally, without anger or panic, which Marinette seemed to expect for some reason. For me, they were facts that I had come to terms with.

"What kind of offer?" she asked hesitantly, and I noticed that her hands were trembling in her lap.

I took an awkward breath and hunched my shoulders. I didn't want to go into that much detail after all. Mainly because I didn't know whether it was a good idea to tell Marinette of all people.

"A casual thing to start," I replied, trying to be relaxed, but not daring to look at her.

"Although she had precise ideas about it," I added, the memory sending a chill down my spine.

Marinette must have noticed something. For a moment, she looked at me scrutinizingly and confused, as if I were an inexplicable riddle.

"So she's above you in business. What's in it for you?" she asked with a steady gaze, to which I just furrowed my brows.

I didn't know what she was getting at. And why she wanted to know so exactly after everything.

"What do you mean by 'jumping out'? Well, I was following her preferences, while for me it was a balance from my everyday life."

Marinette looked at me as stunned as if she had found out that I had killed someone.

"I don't know what you're getting at. Well, sometimes she can be a bit demanding, but she's never threatened me or anything. Besides, I don't know what I'd do without the sleeping pills she always provides me with because she knows how stressful my day can be. It's a win-win situation, as she always says, and it's true."

Marinette shook her head in disbelief, as if she had just come to a realization.

"And you turned eighteen last September, right?" she asked, her quivering voice troubling me.

"Um yeah, why?"

I blinked several times, but Marinette's alert, pale expression didn't change. On the contrary. All color drained from her face.

"So she made you the offer when you were seventeen?"

I nodded, irritated, wishing I could somehow take away the worry in her voice.

"You were underage. And she's your supervisor. I'm sure it's not a win-win situation like she's trying to tell you, Chat."

I looked at her again, confused, and she just threw her hands up in anger at my expression.