Summary:
In a divergence from Karmic Backlash, Lila was heading toward a well-deserved death after all she had done in Paris. However, with help from the Miraculous, she averts that fate and sets her sights on the remaining few she has yet to claim. Along the way, she questions how she has as much luck as she does and how she gained all these fortunes while everyone around her kept having their personalities warped. What will she find out about the world? What will she do if she gains the power she wants?
Did Karma make a fatal mistake with letting her go?
Also Inspired by Karma Overbalance by Shadymissionary and by Karma and Reality by N2002.
Spoilers for Karmic Backlash, of course. This story is inspired by that fic as well as Karma and Reality.
Also, mentions of suicide and rape, as well a brutal death scene. Turn away if this type of material is more than you can stomach, because it comes up fairly frequently.
Lila Rossi was having a ball at her new school. She has it all. Well, not quite, but she's definitely getting closer. She's under the new name of Iris Verdi in a school far away from that demented insect back in Paris. Not even her mother would be able to find her, let alone the disgraced "heroine" in red and black. One last punishment towards that faux-goody two shoes since she started her revenge plan against her.
It all started a couple of months ago when Marinette came up to her and told her that she was going to die if she continued down her path of cons. She said how she used the Rabbit Miraculous to see a future where she died in prison.
Looking back on it, it had to be nothing more than a lie based on a hunch. Lila was able to skip merrily away with 50 million euros straight out of sweet, gullible Adrien's trust fund right before the town accused him of helping his terrorist father. Marinette also didn't SHOW Lila this future and just hoped Lila would take her word for it. It also took Marinette an entire year to finally tell Lila this news, which frankly should have come much sooner if it were true, even if Marinette had other reasons not to force Lila into the Burrow to witness the alleged "future" for herself.
Lila, however, had to admit one thing she wish she hadn't: Marinette got her good. Lila began spiraling for several days, wondering when it would happen or if it was too late to change her ways. She panicked, locked in a doom spiral at this piece of information given to her by the nemesis she failed to eradicate before being forced to leave town like she always did to escape the consequences of her actions.
But then her emotions finally waned enough to allow her to think. Even if what Marinette said about her coming death were true (and Lila knew that she can't turn over a new leaf at that point even before these current events), Marinette was the one who told her this. In short, it wasn't a warning to "be good", it was a sign of dominance that the red and black villainess in heroine's clothing had tried to enforce onto Lila. One last thing to do just to ease her conscience and get one over on the remaining monster who got away.
Just like Lila did to every person she went after before ruining their lives.
Another revelation was that since Marinette was the one to give her that warning, it meant that Marinette had a very high likelihood of being the reason for her downfall, especially with all those Miraculous in hand. Champions could come and track her down. She could go back in time and record evidence to expose Lila's crimes. She could use illusions to frame Lila for crimes that the latter may or may not have committed.
