"Future Rewoven" Book 3 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 47: Changes.

Lila stomped through the door of the lab.  "I've done everything that our business associate has asked of me, but I haven't . . ."  She trailed off as she looked at Max and Maya who were taking apart the portal.

"What are you two doing?!" she screeched, forgetting her nice act in her outrage over what Maya and Max had done.  "That's what's going to make me rich!  I mean, us rich!"

"We have decided that the world is not ready to use our discovery responsibly," said Max.  "We may return to it at a time in the future," he said while he looked at Maya and smiled.

Lila glanced at Max suspiciously, wondering at his choice of words.  "Well, how are you going to make me . . . us . . . rich then?  And I'm pretty sure that our business associate is not going to be happy!" said Lila, worried about what Mr. Agreste might do to her if she didn't follow through on their bargain.

"Don't worry, Lila.  You let me know if you hear from the man and I will talk to him.  I can deal with him," said Maya, pretty sure that Lila would never be hearing from Gabriel again.

Lila humphed at her.  "Well, okay, if you promise to do that.  So, what are we working on next?"

"We aren't working on anything," said Maya, pointing between Lila and herself.  "But, Max and I have some plans, don't we Max?" said Maya with a grin.

"Yes, I was approached by a gaming company that is interested in the video game I developed.  You know, the one I told you about where Ladybug and Cat Noir fight against all of the akumatized people who were turned into supervillains?" he said.

Lila looked at him blankly before covering by saying "Oh, yes.  The video game!"

Max frowned once he realized Lila had never listened to a word he'd said about his game.

"And then Maya had an idea about turning it into a virtual reality-type game where you could choose to be any of the superheroes in Paris to fight against the supervillains.  When I contacted the company, they were really excited about the idea and we are going to be part of their booth at the Paris video game expo in a few months!" said Max excitedly.

"But, Max," said Lila, in a coaxing voice, "I don't think that developing video games will bring you the fame and fortune you deserve."

"I appreciate your concern for my future, Lila, but you are no longer a part of my life.  Starting now," he said firmly as he took another piece off of the time portal and set it aside.

"What?  What do you mean?  I thought . . . I thought you liked me?" Lila said, setting her lips quivering to make it seem like she was upset.  And she was, but mostly about the loss of her promised future.

Max stood up and crossed over to her, bringing up the photos of her and Adrien on his phone.  "I'm sorry, Lila.  But, I no longer trust you after seeing what you tried to do to break up Marinette and Adrien!  And, you knew I liked you and you still did it!"

"No!  That's not . . . Adrien was the one who kissed me!  But, when I rebuffed him after he forced that kiss on me, he plastered those photos everywhere to hurt me and turn everyone against me!  Max, you have to believe me!" she pleaded.

Max looked at her in disbelief.  "I know with 99.99% certainty that your recounting of the story is false.  And, now it is time for you to leave our lab!" he said as he pointed to Maya and himself.  "Bye, Lila!" he said as he gently took her arm, escorted her to the door, maneuvered her through it, and shut the door in her face.  He leaned against the door for a moment, relieved he was able to do what needed to be done.  Max gave a big sigh and then pushed himself away from the door.

"Impressive.  Most impressive!" laughed Maya as she held out a screwdriver for him.

He walked back over to the portal and took the tool, ready to get back to disassembling with Maya.  He realized he felt happier than he had in quite a long time.

"Okay, come on G.D., let's get this thing taken apart!" said Max eagerly.

"G.D.?" asked Maya, wondering what he meant.

"G.D.  For granddaughter," he said.   The two of them smiled at each other before resuming their plans for the future.

- - -

"None of us have seen much going on at Adrien's in awhile.  Just the bodyguard guy going in and out.  And, that woman- the one with the dark and red hair- has been seen again.  I hadn't seen her in forever," chatted Odette as she finished sewing the last seams of her tunic.  She could hardly believe that summer was almost over already.  "We won't be able to watch Adrien's house much soon," added Odette.

The girl looked at Marinette, who was staring out the window.  "Marinette?" she asked.

"What?  Oh!  I'm sorry Odette."  She tried to recall what Odette had been talking about.  "It's okay if you don't watch anymore."  Marinette had been thinking about what to tell Odette and finally came up with a simple idea.  "There haven't been any photos posted of Adrien recently- well, photos of the kind that we had discussed.  I think whoever was doing it has finally stopped.  We appreciate all of your help, though!

Odette nodded.  She was pretty sure there had been more going on then some misleading photos of Adrien, but it really wasn't any of her business.

"Is Adrien going to be home soon?" asked Odette, trying to change the subject as she cut the threads connecting her tunic to the sewing machine and then held it up to examine.

"Yes, he's almost done with rehearsal."  Adrien had been one of the solo winners, so he had been spending a lot of time rehearsing by himself and just recently he'd started rehearsing with the full orchestra.  He was so excited about it and it helped to keep him from despairing over the loss of his parents.  It had been especially difficult for him as no one but Master Fu, the kwamis, Alya, Nino, and herself knew that he had lost his parents.  Nathalie was still keeping it under wraps that Gabriel wasn't at the mansion.  Marinette had no idea what Nathalie thought had happened to Gabriel or when she planned to report that he was missing, but she was fairly confident that whatever Nathalie was planning was in Adrien's best interests.  She could see how much Nathalie loved Adrien.

"We are all really looking forward to going to his concert!  Jessa just went to pick up the tickets yesterday!" said Odette.

Marinette smiled at her.  "Thanks so much for your support!  You've all been good friends to us!"

Odette beamed at her.  "So, can we iron this for me to try on?"

Marinette stood up.  "Of course!"  They walked over the other side of the room to set things up for ironing while Odette continued to chatter away.  Marinette was glad the girl was one of those happy talkers that rarely needed a response.  The past few weeks had been hard, but the girl brought such a happy exuberance to Marinette's life that had been much needed and appreciated.  She had really needed the distraction that teaching Odette brought and she was sad to think that their time together was almost at an end. But, she expected that the Adrienette fan club would continue to be good friends.