Chapter Forty-Five

* * * * *

We are at the very last chapter of this book (finally). I would like to that those who stuck with me and continued to read this book even though I practically abandoned it at one point. Thank you all so so much. I wish I could give you ALL shoutouts, lol. Thanks for reading and for sticking around. Onto the story!

* * * * *

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

A groan bubbled in my throat as I heard an annoying beeping sound. Smells of alcohol and medicine filled my senses making me want to gag.

My eye lids felt awfully heavy and I practically had to pry them open. I squinted to adjust to the bright light in the room. 

Hospital room.

I was definitely in a hospital room. How did I get here?

Emma...

Alya, Lila and Chloe

Guns and Gunshots...

Adrien...

Alya shot me.

My eyes roamed the room and stopped when they caught something.

Adrien was sitting on a chair right beside the bed, with his head rested on the bed. I assumed that he was sleeping.  

I tried to lift my hand, but it was harder than it looked. My limbs felt heavy and I could barely move. When I finally lifted my hand, I lied it on Adrien's head and ran my fingers through his hair.

He purred (yes purred!) then stirred and lifted his head, causing me to retract my hand.

His green eyes widened as they met mine. 

"Princess," He rasped out, sitting up straight and rubbing his eyes. "You're awake?"

I wet my lips before drawing the bottom lip between my teeth. "I believe so."

He nodded, seeming to be in some sort of daze. He then went to get the doctor.

After checking up on me, the doctor left with a promise of returning soon. Based on what the doctor said, the cut on my side got infected and I got a shot in my leg and the other in my abdomen area. That bullet, luckily didn't hit anything too important. It had barely grazed my intestine. 

I also found out that I had been knocked out for a little over five days due to a concussion. I don't even know how I got one. The doctor also said I had lost a lot of blood, so I got a blood transfusion.

Adrien and I sat in silence. I didn't know what to say and he didn't look like he wanted to say anything.

Startling me, Adrien suddenly took my face in his hands. 

"Adrien-" I started, but cut myself off when I saw tears fill his eyes. I had never seen Adrien cry before.

"I'm sorry," He started, dropping his gaze from mine but keeping his hands on my face. "I-I broke the promise I made to you."

"Adrien," I tried again. "Please don't tell me you've been beating yourself up over this."

He still didn't meet my gaze.

"What you're doing now is going against everything you told me not to do," I told him. "You told me not to blame myself, because it's not my fault. Well guess what? It's not your fault. It's not my fault and it's not Emma's fault. Lila and Alya need help. No normal person would do what they did. Please don't beat yourself up over this." 

Adrien dropped his head to my shoulder and inhaled deeply. "I love you so so much."

My breath hitched and I shocked myself with my reply.

"I love you too."

My voice was low, but because of his close proximity I was sure he heard me loud and clear.

His head shot up and he looked at me with wide eyes. "You do?"

Biting my bottom lip, I nodded slowly.

My heart warmed at the grin that rose to his lips and watched as he leaned in to kiss me. I quickly put my hand on his mouth. He rose his brow at me.

"I am not going to kiss you when I have five day old morning breath," I told him and he let out a chuckle. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to me forehead.

After some time, something struck me. "Where is Emma?"

"She left with my father about an hour ago to go get some sleep," Adrien told me, nuzzling his head into my neck. "She's been with me since we brought you here."

"Are we still in Australia?" I chewed on my lip, resting my head against Adrien's. I felt him nod. "Where is Chloe?" 

"She's in the room beside this one. We contacted her father, so he's here too," He replied, and I felt his lips brush my neck lightly causing me to shiver.

"Lila and Alya?" 

A growl erupted from Adrien. "They have been sent to Russia to be dealt with for now. They'll be sent to France when we get back."

"What are they going to do to them in Russia?" I got curious.

I felt Adrien's breath on my neck as he laughed lowly. "Let's not worry about that."

That only made me more curious, but I decided to let it go. 

Adrien got comfortable on the hospital with me and I rested my head on his chest, intertwining our fingers.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of content.

* * * 

"Can I go on the bus?" Emma asked, giving me wide puppy eyes.

I laughed before nodding. She squealed, giving me a small kiss on the cheek before skipping over to the bus. 

It has almost been two months since the incident and our lives were somehow back on track. 

We had gone to court last month for Alya and Lila and both of them were put away for life, Andre Bourgeois made sure of that. 

Ms Matilda wanted to take the girls at the orphanage on a small getaway, so Adrien and I suggested that she took them on a day out at the beach. We had rented a bus for the day and made refreshments for the girl. 

Adrien and I took the day off to accompany them. 

I leaned on Adrien's car as I watched him discuss something with Ms Matilda by the bus door. 

I can't get over how fast I developed feelings for the tall blond. He actually hadn't given me a reason to hate him.

Why did I hate him in the first place again?

I didn't even remember, but it was probably over something stupid. 

After about ten minutes, Adrien and I were in the car while the bus trailed us.

The conversation in the car with Adrien remained neutral and most times playful. There was never a dull moment when I was talking to him.

Soon we were all piled on the beach. 

A public beach.

The beach was definitely not empty, but it wasn't overly full either. We had our area set up where the girls could come when they weren't playing in the water. 

It didn't take long for all the girls to abandon dry land and head into water.

I pulled the yellow sundress I had on over my head before folding it and putting it in the beach bag. I had worn a red two piece bathing suit that I had made for fun. It came out good so I decided to keep it. 

The bathing suit Emma wore was also made by me. It was a pink one piece bathing suit with frills around the waist. It fit her just fine. I had even done her hair in two pigtails and she looked extremely cute.

I wasted no time to lounge around on the beach chair with huge sunglasses on my face. 

The bullet I took had left a scar and it was on display for the world to see. I was, surprisingly, not insecure by it. The bathing suit I wore didn't hide it.

As I lied there, I allowed my mind to drift off. Oddly enough, I drifted off to the meeting Adrien and I had with Emma's mother...

"I hope she's not as crazy as that other guy," I said to Adrien as we were lead to the meeting room by a few prison guards. 

I was honestly nervous to meet this lady. Why? I wasn't quite sure.

We were at an all women prison halfway across France. Emma was currently at school while we were here, so we didn't have to worry. 

The meeting room was identical to the one back at the other prison. Same layout, same everything. Adrien and I took a seat at an empty table in the middle of the room.

About five minutes later, a blonde lady was being led out by a guard. I saw where Emma had gotten her looks from. The lady had blonde hair and blue eyes, of course.

She was soon seated in front of us with her head hung low. She didn't say a thing.

"Hello, Cora," Adrien greeted her with a frown and she slowly looked up at us. "As I am sure you probably know, we are your daughter's adopted parents."

She nodded, "I do know."

I had questions. "Why?" I suddenly asked, causing her to give me a look of shock.

"Why what?" She asked, squinting her eyes at me.

"Why did you do what you did to Emma?" I inquired, clasping my shaking hands together on the table.

She lowered her head once more and shook it. "I-I don't know."

I got upset. "How can you possibly not know why you abused an innocent, little girl?"

She flinched at the harshness in her tone. "I d-don't have a reason. I just d-did it, yeah? I was angry, I filled with so much anger and that girl...she was just always there."

"That still gave you no right," I almost slammed my hands on the table if it wasn't for Adrien taking a hold of my hands in his. 

"Calm down a bit, Princess," He told me, but I knew he was just as angry at her as I was. 

"Do not tell me to 'calm down', Adrien," I huffed at him, but didn't pull my hands from his. I then turned back to Cora who was watching us with wide eyes. "Emma deserved nothing that you and James put her through."

"Did you know Emma was a twin?" She suddenly blurted out with tears in her eyes. That caught both me and Adrien off guard.

"What?" My husband asked, narrowing his eyes at her. 

"Emma. She was actually was a twin," She licked her lips, dropping her gaze to the table. "I had promised James a girl he could make money off of. He said that he would kill me if I didn't have a girl. I ended up having twins. One boy. One girl. James killed my son and at that time I blamed Emma. I blamed her so much and I had so much anger towards her, so I ended up hurting her."

I was speechless. What was I to say after that? Adrien, too, was rendered speechless at the confession.

Cora then decided to continue. "I loved James. I loved him so much. He killed my baby right in front of me, but I didn't leave him. He always seemed to care for Emma though he didn't show it. He always had a special like for her, more than he ever did for me even though we were married. I hated her for that too. He hit her too, so I didn't understand his weird admiration. I blamed her for the death of my son.

"Being in here has made me regret everything I did to her. She...she shouldn't have gone through what she went through with me and James..."

I couldn't listen to her speak anymore. 

I stood, pushing the chair back until it tipped over before storming out. I knew Adrien was close behind me.

How could they....

"This again, Princess?" I heard Adrien tut. I lowered my glasses to look at him clearly.

"Let me sunbathe," I told him, pulling the glasses back into place and closing my eyes. If Adrien did what he did last, I will definitely kill him in his sleep. 

Seems I had spoken too soon, because Adrien hoisted me into the air and carried me far out into the water. He even ignored me harshly yanking his hair. The girls simply laughed at us.

"I can't stand this far out, you giant," I growled at him, slapping his shoulder. We are a decent distance away from the others, but we weren't the only couple this far out.

 Adrien only. laughed and instructed that I simply wrapped my legs around his waist.

I also wrapped my arms around his neck and played with his hair before pulling him into a short kiss. 

"What do people even do at the beach?" I asked after we pulled apart. 

Adrien shrugged before leaning in for another kiss.

So yeah, that was how majority of the day was spent at the beach. 

Soon, we were headed back home. 

Emma decided that she wanted to ride with us on the way back. I looked around at her and realized that she had wrapped herself up in the towel and was fast asleep.

I felt Adrien take my hand in his and press a kiss to the top, his eyes still on the road. 

I could see my wedding ring glisten. 

Yes, I got them back. 

Nino told me that Adrien almost broke Lila whole arm when taking them back. That made me laugh.

We sat in silence for a bit. 

"Hey, Husband?" I called and he glanced at me briefly.

"Hmm?"

"I love you," I bit my lip as my cheeks heated up.

He chuckled.

"Hey, Wife?" He called back and i grinned.

"Yes?"

"I love you too," He smiled at me.

At that moment, everything was just perfect.

The End