Note: It's been a while since I wrote on this. Sorry about that. My life has been busy between being sick with a sinus infection and the start of pneumonia, to a new job, to Thanksgiving. Plus my husband and our son being sick. haha Anyway, I am here to update this. Finally. XD

Adrien sat at a table in Folies Bergere, nursing a drink. He slowly swirled his glass in his hand and stared at the liquid move. The ice swirled around and he rested his cheek on his fist. His emotions were all over the place and he couldn't tell if he was angry or sad. He considered the fact that he could be both. That he could be furious and broken at the same time. That he didn't have to pick one. He slid a hand into the inner pocket of his coat and ran his fingers along his pistol. Beside it was the Twenty-Six Commandments that he carried for a duel. If she wasn't going to deal with the monster then he would in the most gentlemanly way that he knew how. The only way that he was taught. Even if he did not like it. Even if he didn't want to. It was the correct way to handle a dispute. Just one shot, maybe two. Never three. He had extended practice with sabres, but that did not mean that Luka had gotten the same schooling. Pistols were more widely used and it didn't take much skill to pull a damn trigger.

Adrien took his hand from the handle on his gun and brought the glass back to his lips as he downed it. He needed to meet with Chloe. He hadn't seen her in a while and he knew his father would notice if he was gone too long. Knew that his father would take up an issue with him if he did not formally apologize to the Bourgeoises. He slammed francs down and got up to leave the bar.

He grabbed a carriage and told the driver to head to the Bourgeois Chateau. His stomach felt sick as his mind wandered more on what Marinette was doing than the words that he would tell Chloe's family. He could care less about what they thought of him. Adrien sighed as the carriage jumbled along the road. The sound of the horses' hooves echoed in his ears as they neared the Bourgeois Chateau.

The carriage stopped and he got out, thanking the driver. He walked up to the front door and knocked on it. He took his top hat off of his head and waited for their butler to get the door. He nervously ran his fingers along the brim of the hat as he waited.

The doors opened and he stepped inside, wiping his boots on the ground.

"Why are you here?" Chloe looked at him with her nose to the air.

"I wanted to offer my deepest apology for how I acted the other night. I was hoping to speak with your father." Adrien played with brim of his hat some more.

"I am not sure if my father would even fathom speaking with you at the moment. You really upset him." Chloe fanned herself with an ornate black lace fan that had a woman in a blue dress painted on it.

"I am well aware that I acted distastefully, Chloe. I simply came here to apologize to your father." Adrien sighed as he tried to get past his fiancee.

"I-" Chloe was interrupted by a slender hand on her shoulder.

"Let the man apologize for his actions. It is only proper for him to do so." Audrey smiled as she gripped her daughter's shoulder. "Please, do come in. Andre is in the study. Would you like some tea while you wait in the drawing room?"

"Yes please. That would be absolutely lovely." Adrien smiled at the woman before he walked towards the sitting room.

Chloe picked up her skirts and chased after him as she whispered in an angry tone. "You really believe that you can waltz in here like a knight in shining armor and win over my father again like some- some- BRICKY double-breasted water-butt smasher?"

Adrien turned around to stare at her with widened peridot eyes. "While that is flattering on many terms… I simply want to mend this so that we can move on."

"Move on to what, Adrien? To being wed? Because that was the plan. You were to marry me. Is that not what you want anymore? Do you not see anything in me anymore? Am I no longer the jammiest bits of jam to you?" Chloe became heartbroken as she realized what Adrien was telling her. "Tell me you are selling me a dog."

"I am doing no such thing, Chloe. I can not marry you." Adrien sighed as he watched the woman fall apart in front of him.

"But why? Tell me. Tell me why you have changed your mind." Chloe let the tears fall down her cheeks.

"Adrien?" Andre stepped into the drawing room right as Audrey came in to bring him tea on a silver tray. A small cup of sugar cubes sat off to the side of the tea pot and tea cups. They were white with small ornate pink roses along the sides.

"Monsieur Bourgeois." Adrien responded as Audrey set the tray down and excused herself and Chloe from the room.

"Let's take this to my study, shall we?" Andre waited for Adrien to follow him, leaving the tea to grow cold.

Adrien followed him through the halls and into his study. Andre shut the door behind them and waited for Adrien to sit down.

"Why have you decided to appear before me after that shake a flannin we had the other night?" Andre stared at Adrien as he sat down in an ornate arm chair at his desk. "Care if I smoke?"

"By all means." Adrien gestured towards him and watched him reach over for a cigar.

He picked it up and clipped off the end before he struck a match and set it aflame. He held one out to Adrien and he took it.

"Havana?" Adrien gestured with the cigar after he lit it, blowing out smoke.

"Is there any better in France?" Andre smirked as he put the end of the cigar between his lips.

"Of course not, Monsieur." Adrien smiled as he brought his own to his lips. He knew that he would have to change his clothes after this and brush his teeth. But smoking something so undignified also meant that he got to avoid Chloe at all costs.

"Good man. There might be some saving within our relationship after all." Andre played with his suit as he got more comfortable, putting his ankle over his thigh. "Now, what did you come here to speak with me about?"

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night." Adrien rested his ankle on his thigh as he held his cigar between his fingers. "I also felt like I should inform you that I can not wed Chloe."

"Excuse me?" Andre choked on his smoke as he let Adrien's words register in his mind.

"I do not wish to wed your daughter. I do apologize for my actions and I do apologize for this troubling news, but I can no longer marry her. She is a beautiful and wonderful lady, but I find my heart utterly crushed on someone else. I am deeply sorry." Adrien winced as he got ready for her father's onslaught of words.

Andre sighed as he searched Adrien's broken gaze. "I want to be cross with you, but I find that I simply can not be. I understand. Did I ever tell you the story of Audrey and myself?" He brought his cigar to his lips and blew out smoke.

"I do not believe you have, Monsieur." Adrien swallowed hard as he was taken aback by the fact that her father was not mad with him.

"I was betrothed to another woman, but the day that I saw Audrey… I was so crushed on her that I could not even fathom of being with another. I went to my family and told them that I could not wed this woman. That my heart belonged to another. They were not pleased with me. I am sure you could imagine that to be so, but I loved this other woman with all of my heart. I would lay my life down for her. My parents eventually settled into the fact that I was not going to wed that woman. I traveled to her family's home and I apologized for my actions. I was honest and I broke her heart, but if I would not have done that… I would not have Audrey and therefore I would not have Chloe. She is very special to me, but I would rather she be betrothed to someone who loved her whole heartedly. She deserves that." Andre blew out smoke and warmly smiled at Adrien.

"I can agree with you, Monsieur. Chloe deserves all of the love in the world. I just can not give her that." Adrien sighed as he stubbed out his cigar in a metal ashtray.

"I understand. I wish you the best." Andre shook his hand as Adrien stood up to leave their home.

Adrien snuck past Chloe and left the mansion to go home and change clothes and brush his teeth.

000

Marinette sat at the vanity in her room. She shifted her silk robe over her thigh as she peered at the ointment and rat poison on her vanity. Her mind was going a mile a minute as she tried to gather up the courage to use them. She took a deep breath and grabbed a glass cup. It was clear with gold filigree designs around the sides. She grabbed whiskey and filled it halfway. Marinette put the ointment into it and stirred it around with an ornate silver stirring spoon. It melted into the liquid and became invisible; which shocked her to no end. Adrien had been right. She took the rat poison and put some into the drink for good measure. He had told her if the ointment didn't work then she should try the rat poison, but it made more sense to her if she just did it anyway. It would be nearly impossible to get him to drink another.

She quickly hid the box of poison and the ointment tube in her armoire before a knock sounded on her door. She poured herself a drink in a glass that was slightly different than his and carried them to the door, making sure to take note which hand Luka's was in.

"Do come in." Marinette spoke with a seductive tone and Luka stepped inside of her room.

"What is this? A little surprise for me?" Luka smiled and took the glass that she held out to him.

"Of course. Come, do sit down. Relax." Marinette gestured for him to come inside and sit beside her on the bed.

Luka sat beside her and played with her hair. "To what do I owe this charming hospitality?"

"I just wanted to celebrate our upcoming nuptials." Marinette warmly smiled and held up her glass. "A toast! To the most amazing gentleman I know. To a happy future. To us!"

Luka smiled and lightly tapped his glass against hers and took a drink. He barely took a sip and Marinette giggled.

"Come now. Surely you can drink more than that being a bricky man such as yourself." Marinette encouraged him to drink more with her words and he downed the rest of the glass with ease.

Marinette took the glass from him and waited for him to react to it. It took a few moments and she began to doubt that he had been poisoned at all. He advanced on her and began to play with her hair and trail kisses along her neck. Her heart raced as she realized that she may have to sleep with him again. That she had failed and Adrien would have to fire his pistol after all. That was until he started to groan like that of a man in pain or in pleasure. It was hard for her to decipher which it was until he pulled away.

His stomach began to cramp up and he felt sick. Marinette quickly grabbed him her clean chamber pot as he gagged and began to throw up. She had no idea what affects it would have on him. Adrien hadn't warned her at all. She watched as the man quickly became sicker and sicker.

"Are you alright?" Marinette pretended to care about Luka as she watched the man fade in and out of consciousness until he was lifeless on her floor.

A knock sounded on her back door and she quickly tried to hide the body by grabbing the sheets off her bed. She pulled her robe around herself and cracked the door open to find Adrien in his red mask.

"Did you-" Adrien was interrupted by Marinette flinging the door wide and wrapping her arms around his neck, sobbing. He peered over her trembling shoulder to see a body on the floor with a sheet over it. "By god you did it."

"You did- you should have warned me." Marinette sobbed as she gripped to his coat.

"I did not know what it would do. I am so sorry." Adrien picked her up into his arms and carried her out of the room and into the back alleyway. "Do you have any belongings that you would like to take with you?"

"Where are you taking me?" Marinette sniffed as her makeup ran down her cheeks.

"Away from this place. I have no problem running in there and gathering your belongings." Adrien searched her broken gaze.

"Just the stuff in the top drawer in my vanity. It was my mother's." Marinette held her robe around herself and Adrien nodded as he ran into her room. He gathered the items and packed them into a bag with one of her dresses, a pair of stockings, and a pair of boots." He came out of her room and took her hand as he ran with her down the street. "A carriage is waiting at the end of the redlight district."

"Where will we stay?" Marinette sniffed as she nearly tripped and he swept her up into his arms.

"I have accommodations arranged at my chuckaboo's place." Adrien swallowed hard as he set her in the carriage and threw her bag onto the seat. He sat across from her and gave the driver an address.