"I KNEW ADRIEN WAS ALIVE!"  Eileen yelled out, both eyes shut tightly. Everyone's eyes were on her, their jaws practically touching the floor.

Marinette processed every word over and over minutes after the sudden outburst. She looked at Adrien who glanced at her as well. A single tear rolled down her cheek as Marinette turned her back on him.

"Mari—" Alya started but was cut off when the bluenette ran out the front door.

"Marinette! Please, I'm sorry!" Eileen sobbed as Marinette made her way away from the home. She turned to the others, pleadingly.

"All I want to know, is why did you do it Eileen?" Nino spoke softly. If no one were paying attention, they'd surely miss what Nino had said since his voice was quiet.

"I-I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to do any of this! Things spiraled out of my control, there was nothing I could do!"

"Nothing you could do?" Nino scoffed. "This wouldn't have happened if you thought about things twice. If you took the time to think about everyone you'd effect with this stupid plan, then you wouldn't have attempted it in the first place."

Nino took a step back, letting his back lean against the wall to keep himself up. Alya followed and held onto his hand for support.

"But that's just my two cents." He mumbled, gazing at the floor.

"You didn't really give a reason as to why everything happened." Cole spoke up, earning him a glare from Adrien.

"This has nothing to do with you." Adrien said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, but it does." Cole nodded, smirking.

"How so?"

"It's simple really,"

"Cole, don't." Eileen looked up, her eyes pleading with him to end the conversation.

"No," Adrien raised a hand to Eileen. "Let him continue. I want to hear this and I think they do too." He motioned to Alya and Nino.

"I'd love to hear it but," Alya pushed herself off the wall and let go of Nino's hand. "I'm going to check on Marinette. See if she's okay."

Nino nodded. "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything that happens."

Alya smiled softly. "Thanks. Now if you excuse me," She pecked Nino on the cheek. "My best friend needs me because of something your best friend did." Her head tilted towards Adrien as she walked through the already-opened door. Once she was gone, everyone turned back to Cole.

"No more interruptions, I want to know how you're tied into this." Adrien's eyes narrowed as he glared at the other blonde.

Without hesitation, Cole reached into his ear, pulling out an earphone. He held it in his hands proudly, showing the two other men.

"With this little guy, I've been able to act as you, telling Marinette the same sweet words you used to. Eileen would sit in her room, reading me a script each time Marinette and I had a conversation."

Adrien's eyes widened as he stared at the ear piece. "H-how is that possible? How would she know what Marinette would say next?"

Eileen stood from the floor, her head hung low in shame. "It's all complicated, but I made sure Marinette was my roommate in college."

"You did what?!" Eileen nodded.

"It wasn't easy for her, but with a determined mind to get—"

Cole was cut off by Eileen who pulled him aside.

"Look, this all confusing so why don't we take a break and come back to this?" She said as she pulled Cole away.

Adrien glanced at Nino. "I'm not staying in the same room as her. Let's help Alya find Marinette." Nino nodded in agreement and the two left the house in search of the bluenette.

"Tell me why she's so upset with him coming home if you insisted to me that she wouldn't even care?" Cole smirked at Eileen who fumbled with her train of thought.

"I-I thought she would be!" She admitted.

"You were wrong."

"I know!" Eileen yelled, rubbing her temples to focus. "I know... but if you didn't hear my confession earlier, which I don't see how you couldn't, Adrien was involved in a bad... accident,"

"Which you were behind of." Cole added, knowing she wouldn't have.

"When the police went to investigate, he was no where to be found. They presumed he was missing but before they could file a missing persons report, they received an anonymous call, revealing where he was, which was a lie. Adrien's double was some random person dug up from the cemetery."

"You actually stole someone from their grave?"

Eileen nodded, turning away. "I guess I can't stay away from all this drama..."

Another smirk plastered onto Cole's lips and he turned Eileen to face him, leaning into her face. "I think I know why."

Eileen furrowed her brows at the blonde. "Why's that?"

"It's simple really. The way you look at him, you can see the sparkle in your eyes even if you're crying."

"What are you implying here?"

"I think you're in love with Adrien and you faked his death so you could be with him." Cole crosses his arms and moved back to his original place, yet another smirk on his face.

~•~•~•~

As Marinette ran across the street and into the forest that resided there, her mind went at the pace of a million miles. She began to fumble across thick roots sprouted on the ground, catching herself before falling flat on her face. Her arms were covered in small scratches as she dragged herself up from the many tumbles.

"This can't be real..." she hiccuped, tears streaming down her face. "Eileen knew... she was the reason he was dead!" Marinette's eyes narrowed as she continued to run through the forest, ignoring the pleading calls of Alya, Nino, and Adrien. Each time she would hear his voice call her name, Marinette wanted to turn around and run toward him, but knowing it wasn't that easy, she continued to run in the other direction.

Marinette's emotions began to catch up with her, her mind spun out of control as her feet moved through the sticks and grass. "Now that he's back, I can't just tell Cole to screw off." Her mind wandered to the two men that she had strong feelings for, one being her husband and the other being a potential lover if she let it happen. Both were incredibly sweet, saying almost the same things when they spoke to her. Marinette found it funny that she felt a sense of déjà vu when Cole was around her. Everything reminded her of Adrien... and now that she thought about it, maybe that was a reason she had started to like Cole.

"Wait..." Marinette furrowed her brows, continuing to move through the trees. "What if... Eileen had faked Adrien's death to have him as her own?" Her mind flashed back to college, Eileen and her sitting in a café before one of their classes. Eileen was going on and on about a famous model she had fallen in love with.

"He's just so handsome, Marinette! And I'm sure he's a great person, I'd love to know him better!"

She never went into grave detail of who the model was, but it hit Marinette like a ton of bricks. "And if she wanted Adrien, she knew I'd be heartbroken so instead, she..." Marinette tried to piece everything together, struggling with the next connection.

"Cole always knew what to say..."

She remembered when they first met at the airport. After finding their seats, Cole and Marinette were seated next to each other, pure coincidence she thought at first but looking back on it now, Marinette could remember the look on Eileen's face when she seen Nicolas sit down. She was... smirking!

"Oh my God..." Marinette's bluebell eyes grew wide as realization struck her. "Eileen hired Cole to seduce me!" Instead of being struck by realization, Marinette had ran face first into a thick tree branch. She flew onto her back, hitting her head on an equally thick root. Her vision blurred as she stared up at the starry sky.

"Marinette?!" She could faintly hear Adrien's voice.

"A-Adrien...?"

"Marinette! Guys I found her!"

The noise of footsteps came closer as she blinked over and over, her vision starting to turn dark with each blink.

"Oh God, no!" Alya shrieked.

Her eyes fell closed and she was out cold.

~•~•~•~

{A/N:} I really love cliffhangers, don't you? 🤗

Chapter eleven: coming this Sunday

~miraculousduo♥️