Chapter Text
The metro car rattled around Marinette, almost loud enough to mute out the people around her. Every day it was getting harder and harder to return home from the hospital after visiting Tikki. She wasn’t doing well, and Marinette feared she was running out of time to help her.
Tikki was the closest person to a parental figure Marinette had ever had. She didn’t remember her real parents, the Dupain-Chengs, but her adoptive mother did not let her forget her place in the family she grew up in. The only love Marinette had ever received was from Tikki, the family’s maid who practically raised her to be the young woman she was today. Tikki had helped her get through every obstacle she’d faced, whether be that school with its workload and elitism; their family’s social circle and their disdain; working through university and taking side jobs so she could pay for her expenses; or the bullying, courtesy of her very own stepsister, Chloé Bourgeois.
She couldn’t let Tikki down. Even if it meant Marinette had to pay the hospital bill and the liver transplant fees with all the money she’d saved through the years to start her own little fashion boutique. No one else was going to help her.
She exited the metro car and started the short walk back home. She was used to taking public transportation everywhere, despite her adoptive family’s status and wealth. While Chloé used the family limousine to go anywhere and everywhere, Marinette was told to walk or take the bus, if she had to go somewhere, even if it was school.
Well, as long as she and Chloé did not attend the same school.
Not because Chloé insisted on Marinette joining on the ride. On the contrary, she threw one of the biggest tantrums that year, and the whole mansion heard her screaming how much she did not want Marinette to enter HER limousine. That incident was one of the very, very rare instances when Audrey Bourgeois did not take her real daughter’s side. They had a social status to behold, and it would not have looked good on them to have one of their daughters walk to school, while the other had a chauffeur to drive her.
It wasn’t like Audrey liked it either. She had a special hate towards the adopted girl.
André and Audrey Bourgeois had no luck with having a child for the longest time after they had gotten married. They were pressured to adopt a child, the youngest they could find, by the elders of the prestigious Bourgeois family. Marinette was the lucky baby girl to get chosen, just a few months old infant whose parents died in a car crash without having any relatives to take the baby in. A few years later, Audrey finally got pregnant, and gave birth to Chloé.
It made her hate Marinette even more, as her existence was proof of her previous infertility and the situation they were forced into. After giving birth to Chloé, she became partial towards her real daughter and despised Marinette, a fact her husband knew very well.
As time went on, Marinette grew up to be a better woman than her daughter in every aspect. That seemed to intensify her hatred towards Marinette even more, something that her adoptive daughter was reminded of every time when she was as little as seen. Marinette had learned from a very young age that when it came to Audrey - or any one of the Bourgeois really - it was best to be neither seen nor heard.
That was why when Marinette entered the house she made her way upstairs to her room as quietly as possible. She was tired, her shoulders slumped down with worry. She wasn’t in the mood to talk with anyone, especially as her route was taking her in front of Chloé’s slightly ajar door. Marinette made her steps even lighter, she did not want to listen to an unreasonable screaming rage from her sister over “way too loud footsteps”, or whatever else she would complain about this time.
“Why don’t you break up with Marinette?” The breathless inquiry came from the room, which made Marinette freeze in place, her eyes turning wide.
Break up with… me?
“Now?” the man grumbled. “You’re bringing her up now, right after we just…”
Marinette's heart dropped like a stone. The voice was way too familiar.
His companion let out a dissatisfied huff, like it wasn’t the answer she wanted.
Heart beating painfully in her chest, Marinette turned towards the door slowly. She was desperately hoping she was mistaken, that she did not recognize that voice that answered to her sister , in her room.
“But LukeyPoo, you promised me.”
“Squeaky saxophones Chloé, I told you already to drop the nicknames. They just really aren't armonioso with my vibes.”
Dread washed over Marinette. Her heart tried to deny it, but her mind screamed the obvious. She did recognize the voice, and knew very well the man who it belonged to.
The very same man she went on a date with not even 24 hours ago.
It had been a short and uneventful date, though, because she needed to go to the hospital before the end of visiting hours, and her boyfriend assured her that he was okay with that, he understood, he could wait…
Clearly, he wasn’t as okay with it as he’d promised.
“And I told you that you have to make your decision tonight. It’s either me or her. You can’t put it off any longer, Luka.”
Marinette staggered and had to lean on the wall beside her, her chest rising and falling with silent but ragged breath.
She tried to deny it. Her heart was screaming at her to walk away and forget what she’d heard. That it wasn’t what she thought it was. She should just walk away, and pretend that nothing happened. Surely when she called him tomorrow, he would be happy to hear from her, to meet up with her…
But her mind’s silent numbness was louder than her heart. Who was she kidding? This was one of the reasons she’d turned Luka down for so long.
They met back when she started university. She attended some of the social events, and made acquaintances with a few people in her year and also with a few of her seniors. He was not one of them, but as a second year student he had already had a reputation of a womaniser and was a frequent subject of the who-with-whom-done-what gossip, since he was a handsome man from a wealthy family with a successful record company. Whether they were true or not, Marinette did not know, nor she cared; she rather focused on earning her business degree as fast and possible.
Luka, on the other hand, had focused his eyes on her, and chased her for more than three years. He tried to ask her out from time to time, and she warmed up to his advances eventually.
He confessed his love to her again right before their graduation, not even two months ago.
She could still picture it. It happened on the playground in the public park of their campus. He made a big romantic scene for her, with roses and music, many people around them to be their witnesses.
“You're the most extraordinary girl, Marinette. As clear as a musical note and as sincere as a melody. You're the music that's been playing inside my head since the day we first met.”
The crowd awed and cheered on for him, and Marinette finally agreed to be his girlfriend. She was so embarrassed of the attention that she dodged his attempt to kiss her, and could only hug him to hide her flaming red face in his chest. He chuckled and hugged her close, telling her that he’s okay with whatever she was willing to give him.
Marinette pushed away from the wall and pulled herself up straight despite the pain of betrayal weighing down on her shoulders. She hardened her face into a neutral mask and shoved the door in with such force that it slammed against the wall with a bang.
“Let me help you with the decision.”
Luka and Chloé, both startled by her voice, sat up in the bed, the latter pulling the blanket up to cover her naked chest.
Marinette stared at Luka for a moment before shifting her sharp gaze at her sister. "You can have each other."
Luka’s face blanched by the sight of Marinette stepping into the room. “Mar… Melody, I…”
“Don’t ‘Melody’ me! You have no right to call me that anymore.”
Chloé, getting out of her initial shock, started screeching at Marinette. “How dare you come into my room without permission!”
“Oh, I'm sorry, your door was open. I thought you wanted me to come in!”
The following silence was heavy. The blood rushed out of Marinette's face while Chloé’s got as red as her favourite stilettos’ underside.
“You… you wanted me to come in,” Marinette whispered, taking one more step into the room. “You wanted me to catch you two; you planned this, didn’t you?”
“Oh please, don’t be more ridiculous than you already are!” Chloé scoffed and moved slightly closer to the wide-eyed Luka. “Now, get out of my room, and don’t interrupt us again!”
Luka hurriedly pushed Chloé away and tried to get out of bed, still covering himself with part of the blanket which Chloé tried to pull more towards herself.
“Loulou? What are you doing?”
But Luka did not pay attention to her. “Marinette, please…” he said as he pulled up his discarded pants and started to move away from the bed.
Chloé grabbed his arm, almost falling out of bed after him. “Luka, don’t go. It’s…”
Luke freed his arm from Chloé’s grasp, and hurried to Marinette, falling on his knees in front of her. “Melody, my Melody, please, forgive me!” He reached for her wrist, but she pulled it away before he could touch her. “I’m so sorry, I… I don’t know what I was thinking.”
The foul smell of alcohol reached Marinette’s nose, and she wrinkled it in disgust. She looked down at the dishevelled man with bloodshot eyes she found so handsome just the day before. Now, she only saw a pathetic drunkard with sweat running down his temples.
“Forgive you for what? That you couldn’t keep it in your pants, or that promises mean nothing to you?” Marinette gulped and held her head higher. “Thanks, but I don’t want anything tainted by Chloé. You two seem like a perfect match. We are done, Luka.”
“What do you mean ‘tainted’?!” Chloé screeched from the bed. “How dare you say that!”
Marinette looked up from Luka’s forlorn face to Chloé’s enraged one. She tried to keep her own expression neutral, despite the prickling at the back of her eyes that promised eventual tears, aided by the anger surging through her veins.
She should have guessed this. After all, Chloé always made a sport out of taking away whatever Marinette had, ever since they were kids. Be it toys, books, or art supplies, she enjoyed snatching away her belongings. Now that they had grown up, she’d snatched her boyfriend as well.
She should have guessed it; she should be used to it. It doesn’t matter , she told herself. What should matter was Tikki and her medical expenses Marinette had to take care of. She couldn’t afford any distractions now.
Marinette was about to turn around when she heard footsteps coming from the corridor behind her.
“What’s all this noise so late? Why can’t you keep your voices down?”
Marinette stepped to the side and turned around just in time to see the horrified faces of her parents as they took in the scene before them. The half naked man, covered in sweat and love bites, kneeling in front of Marinette; discarded clothes of Chloé and said man, scattered all around her room; and their precious daughter, naked in her bed, except for the blanket she was clutching to her chest.
“What’s this? What are you doing?!” Audrey, snapping out of the shock first, bellowed. “You are going to get married soon! What the hell are you doing with another man?!”
Chloé hugged the blanket closer to herself, and stared at Audrey defiantly, gritting her teeth as if to hold back a snappy response.
Marinette remembered the tantrums Chloé had thrown before, whenever the marriage and the deal with the Agrestes was mentioned. Their families had made the marriage pact even before Chloé was born, and despite all the screaming and pleading and bargaining, Chloé couldn’t get out of it. It was written and signed, their parents said, and they couldn’t back out of it without severe consequences.
Chloé had no problem with the Agrestes per se, or their wealth and influence. She even found the elder son, Félix, quite a catch. But Félix had been engaged to the Tsurugi heiress, and married her not so long ago. The other son of Gabriel Agreste was nothing compared to his successful brother.
Half brother, to be precise.
Chloé’s fiancé was an illegitimate child, frowned upon by all the elite of Paris. He was said to be poor and one who didn’t even have a decent job; just an idler who wasted his time doing nothing but roaming the streets and hanging out with other worthless people.
Chloé did not want to marry him. But a deal is a deal, and her hand was just as forced as their family’s.
Marinette almost felt pity for her. But then she looked at her state of undress, and all of the sympathy evaporated.
“I’m pregnant!” Chloé cried suddenly, pointing at Luka. “I’m pregnant with his child. I can’t marry anyone else, so you have to cancel the wedding!”
Pregnant?
Marinette snapped her eyes back at Luka. He was looking at Chloé dumbfounded, his brows slightly furrowed.
She can’t be pregnant already. Except…
“What nonsense! You must marry into the Agreste family!” Audrey marched to the foot of the bed, seemingly ready to slap her daughter for her stupidity. “We can’t call off the wedding! It’s not just about you, but our whole family! Our prestige, our future! What would we tell the Agrestes, if they ask the reason for calling off the wedding, hm?!”
André stood protectively in front of the bed, shielding Chloé from his enraged wife.
“Now, now, Audrey dear, you shouldn’t be mad at Chloé.” He placed his hands on Audrey’s shoulders. “She just made a little mistake, but it’s alright. We can fix this! Remember how we made the deal? It didn’t specify her name . Marinette is also a daughter of the Bourgeois family. She can also marry into the Agreste family!”
“I’m sorry, what?” Marinette asked, feeling dread creep upon her. “You agreed to get Chloé married to the Agrestes, not me! Why should I get married just because your sweet little angel has been fooling around with someone?”
André was staring hard into Audrey’s eyes, whispering something so low that Marinette wasn’t able to catch a word of it, but it made Audrey’s scowl slowly vanish.
“Yes. We have raised you as our own daughter all these years, Marinette. It’s time for you to repay that kindness, don’t you think?” Audrey turned and slowly stepped closer to Marinette, her voice low and her eyes twinkling with cunningness. “Don’t you want that maid of yours to get the surgery she needs? We can pay for all of the medical expenses, as long as you marry the Agreste son in place of Chloé.”
Marinette saw the triumphant smile forming on Chloé’s lips from the corner of her eyes. The smugness of her stepsister and the words of her adoptive mother infuriated her. However, the doctor’s words also rang in her ears.
Tikki didn’t have much time left.
Marinette had some savings, but it wasn’t enough to cover everything. The chance she’d get a loan from the bank or arrange for instalment payments was slim, since she’d just recently graduated. And although André and Audrey adopted Marinette, they never really cared about her. Tikki was the one who raised her. She was like the grandmother Marinette had never had. She couldn’t let her down.
Noticing her hesitation, Audrey walked closer to Marinette. “You will have to marry someone in the future. Why don’t you help us out by marrying the son of the Agreste family? And for that, I will give you the money as soon as you get married.”
Marinette felt her knees trembling as everyone stared at her. Chloé with smugness, André with hope, and Luka, still kneeling at her feet, shaking his head at her, mouth slightly open and trembling, like he was about to say something but just couldn’t get out the words.
Marinette turned her head away, tears finally escaping her eyes as she closed them tightly. She needed that money, and she couldn’t get help from anyone else. Not the bank, not her "family", and certainly not from the man who she'd been prepared to start a life with. The one who had stabbed her in the back and consequently pushed her into a corner. She steeled her resolve and looked up at her mother, expression neutral but determined.
“Alright. I will marry him.”