The very next day Adrien signed My Lady Fashion back over to Marinette. Explaining in a post that Adrien's internship had changed and He gave it back to Marinette so she could have the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her brand. Other than that, they stayed quiet about the return of ownership.  

After that weekend Mari and Adrien worked harder than ever. Mari understood Adrien's desire to get done school as quickly as possible. So they worked overtime, Gabriel informed the school of his failing health and they worked with Adrien and Marinette. They were prepping to challenge some second-semester classes and had agreed to take summer classes. On top of their work for the company. Their trip to the temple of the god and goddess were quickly forgotten. 

With a goal in mind, the two were an unstoppable team. They pushed and challenged each other, they helped each other take nights off and made date night a priority. Often doubling up with Alya and Nino, who knew about his father. 

All of these choices they kept a secret from Gabriel. Adrien sent messages back and for between Marinette and Nathalie and did his best not to see him. 

"Adrien?" Mari popped into his office, "Nathalie gave me a message from your father?" 

Adrien looked up from the plans he was working on, "Let me guess if I have thought about his offer." 

"Well yes, but he also asked to see us in his office. In an hour" Mari looked down, "He actually said you, but I don't want you going in there alone." 

"Mare, you don't have to." Adrien stood. Attempting to go hug her before he finished his sentence. 

"No! Adrien, I'm not letting you go alone. If I'm not allowed to see him alone neither are you!" Mari stood tall and step back not accepting his embrace. Adrien stopped for a moment and took in the girl before him. She stood there in heels and a pencil skirt and the button-up shirt she had made what felt an entirety ago. She didn't look like the same girl who had begged on her knees for him to free her but rather a strong woman.

"Alright, Mare. We will go together. We have about 45 minutes so why do you come and look at these plans I have been working on. It's a marketing scheme for the new line up the girls downstairs are working on." He took her hand and pulled her closer. 

"The spring line?" Adrien nodded, "The one I'm the head designer for?" 

"Yep, even though father no longer owns your brand, He wanted us to work together, he figures once I'm head of the company you'll rejoin the Agrest Brand and he wants us to be able to work together." Adrien rolled his eyes. 

"Adrien? Do you really want this company? I mean I know you're getting the business degree but I know you miss modelling, I know the two shoots a week aren't enough." She placed her hand on his. 

"Well, father hasn't finalized his will yet, and I did tell him I didn't need him in a fit of rage. So who knows. Maybe that what he want's to talk to me about." 

"I like the marketing scheme. I think it would do well, but your father will never approve of it. He likes the clean lines. not fun colours." She sighed. 

After going over things and looking at what Mari had planned, Adrien noticed that all her light about designing was gone. He knew she hated this clean line thing, it was messing with her style. They went hand and hand into his father. 

"Mr. Agreste, you wanted to see me?" Adrien said as he walked in. 

"Adrien, you may dismiss your assistant," he said coldly and sharply. 

"No Father she stays." Adrien stopped firmly. 

"FIne, this could affect her to, I suppose. Son, your cousin has asked to take your place."

"Oh? Felix decided he wanted to design for you?" Something didn't add up, Adrien knew that Felix didn't particularly care for his father and his father wasn't a fan of Felix either. Felix was planning on getting married soon, and on top of that, he lived in London now and was not planning on coming back. 

"Something like that yes." 

"Ah, well what do I have to do to convince you to leave the company with me." He glanced at Mari and she quickly started to take notes. 

"I want you to meet with me for dinner every week." 

"Twice a month at Tom and Sabines." Adrien quickly countered. 

"Fine. I also want plans for the future. How you plan on growing the company in the future." Adrien nodded. "Lastly, I want you to married before I die. I don't want to miss my only son's wedding because I am bedridden in the hospital." 

Adrien and Mari sat shocked at the last condition. "Alright is that all Father?" Gabriel nodded. "Good we will be off then. We have an evening class in two hours and I want to treat my lovely girl to dinner." 

Without another word the two left. As soon as they were out of earshot, "Set up a meeting with Felix for after Christmas. I don't believe a word that man says. But we will play his game. He wants to have dinner with us, fine let him see what family looks like and what he missed." 

"Yes, Adrien."

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Over Christmas Nino and Alya, Adrien and Mari went way for the New Year. They slipped away into a cabin in the snow coved hills, where no press could find them. While they were away, the school called them. They had passed the tests they could move on to the third-year classes. The school also offered to let them challenge third year too, and if they passed, they could do the fourth year classes this semester and over the summer and graduate in the fall. After all, they seemed to have a knack for the fields they wanted to be in.

After their trip was over they took the tests, and to no one's shock, they passed. "Guys you are two good at this school thing." Alya pointed out as they sat for their weekly double date. 

"Well, when your father forces you into something at the age of ten..." Mari giggled looking at Adrien. 

"And you been running a slightly successful online fashion brand since age fifteen..." Adrien countered. "You learn a few things." 

"So, since you dudes will be done school in August, will we be seeing a fall wedding? After all, you're father did say you have to get married before you can have the company?" Nino leaned in teasing the two. They were only 19 getting married really wasn't high on their list yet.

"Well we haven't talked about it, but we might need to, Adrien's father's health gets worse every week." Mari sighed knowing that as long as Gabriel was alive they had no control of there own lives. 

"We are telling him at dinner next week that we are jumping ahead in school. And then he'll try to start talks of weddings and Tom will stop him." Adrien smiled knowing that Tom had his back.

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Gabriel was shocked to learn about their progress in school. Tom and Sabine hugged the two close. "I knew you two could do it," Tom said placing a hand on Adrien's shoulders. 

"Your gonna have one full summer!" Sabine kissed her daughter's cheek. 

"Well if your gonna work hard over the summer, it seems only fair, that I give you the fall and winter off and then we will deal with handing the company over in the new year." Gabriel watched the scene unfold, for the hundredth time, he wondered if he had messed up with his son. He'd be so broken by his wife passing that he'd be scared to love again, even if that love was his son. 

"Really Father? You'll give us a break?" Adrien couldn't believe it. 

"Well it makes sense, I'm part of the reason your fighting so hard so unless I'm too sick to run the company I don't see why not. It would be hard to release my winter line without my star model but, the brand will have to find a new face so maybe I can use it to help you out." Gabriel paused, "If the time is right you could go on a honeymoon, take a long trip, hid from the press and enjoying being newlyweds, I'll pay for that trip. If that's what you wish to do." He then got up and walked away. Not wanting to watch the scene anymore.

Later that night Mari and Adrien sat cuddling on the couch. "Adrien? We should talk about what your father said." 

Adrien sighed, "I know Mare, but do we even want to get married? We are only 19..." 

"I know, but really we already live together, we are gonna get married someday, why not while your father is healthy. I know we don't love everything he does or has done to us, but it is his dying wish." 

"I guess you have a point there. He's pushing himself too much, he looks worse every week."

"Look until your father dies we are playing his timeline. I'm not sure if he wants to see us wed simply because he cares or if he has something else up his sleeves, but it is better to play with him then against him." Mari took his hand and held it close to her.

"When did you get so good at understanding my father Mare?" Adrien teased. 

"When I understood you." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Let's stop for a moment if your Father wasn't running our lives what would you do?" 

"I would marry you in the fall, we'd sell this place and find a new that is ours, not my fathers. One that has room for children and hampster, I'd work out a deal with Felix, give him the company if he actually wants it, let him take it to London. Ask to keep the building and sell if and find a cute smaller studio for the Agreste Foundation, and since most of the staff is freelance encourage Felix to keep some of them on or offer them the chance to build there own brands. I'd also sell the old house and put that money into the company." 

"Wow, you've been thinking about this haven't you?" 

"Just a little, I never thought I could be free from his grasp. After he dies he can't tell me what to do anymore and I can be the man I want to be." He smiled down at her.

"Well, I would keep that plan a secret from your father. He'd make it a hell of a lot harder for you to do." She kissed his cheek. 

"How about you love? What would be your dream if we weren't playing my father's game?" Adrien had been curious he had kinda taken over her life. 

"I just want to be known as a designer.  I would have loved for it to be under my own name, but being known as the official designer for you is also good." She smiled. 

"Come on Mare, tell me, if I wasn't asking you to be my designer what would you do?" Adrien did his best to not tell her what to do anymore but he wanted to know and she wasn't being fully honest with him. 

"I... I... I really want to create a name with My Lady Fashion and then once I have a name for myself I want to have a clothing line called My Lady Mentoring Line. Where I partner with schools or just people I find online and let them create an outfit for the line and make it like a one time deal and only sell like 50 of them. That gives the young designer something to put in their portfolio. And maybe become a personal designer for one or two important people. And my friends of course!" She giggled. 

Adrien realized at that moment that in all of his planning he had never asked her what she really wanted he just assumed she wanted to be a major brand designer.  But of course, she wanted her own brand, she'd been building one for years. She hardly got to sew anymore, his father had this policy where his designers didn't do the sewing they created designers and passed them on. 

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The two students worked harder than ever. So hard that many plans fell to the weigh side, Adrien forgot all about his thoughts about Mari's dream. He used his father's demand for a plan for the future of the business for all his projects so that he was always hitting to build with one stone. Mari designed for both her own brand and Gabriel. Her own brand was much smaller lanches. Only ever selling 25 or so of the design. Just enough to keep her name out there. 

They continued to do well in school and meet with Adrien's father for dinner twice a month. Adrien and his father did not speak unless it was at dinner.  If Adrien was really honest he was so done with his father's company, the more he looked around the more he saw unhappy people. It was so mechanical. He almost wished his father would give it away. But he knew he wouldn't his threats where empty. 

As the summer rolled in Gabriel got worse. He no longer did press conferences, he set Adrien and Mari to them. He hardly went into the office, sending Nathalie in whenever something needed his approval. 

As the summer drew to the close Gabriel met with Adrien and Mari in a video call. "I'm sorry you two, I might not be able to keep my promise." He coughed, "I'm not sure if I can keep running the company from home." 

"We understand Father." Adrien had a hard time looking at the man harshly when he was shrinking away in front of him.

"I would like to be able to give you a month off after you graduate and then have you running as CEO Adrien, and Marinette have you be Head Designer and I'll be the company President until I'm too sick to do that."

"So you'll still sign off on everything we do?" Adrien shouldn't have been surprised. "Yes, for a couple of reasons. I thought if you wanted to get married after you were done school, not being fully in charge would be easier on you. Also, I promised you time off, so if we could get a bunch of stuff planned and set up many be you could run stuff from a vacation location. We could keep it low press for a while. Then go public with the marriage and the handing the company over to you." 

Mari looked at Adrien, the plan made to much sense, the couldn't really argue. "It sounds like you have everything planned out  Mr. Agreste. Let us work out the details and enjoy our summer without worrying about meeting a wedding deadline. Thank you for the detailed plan, we will take our own take on it." Gabriel nodded and hung up the chat. 

"Mare, what are we gonna do?" Adrien felt lost. His father was micromanaging his life again...

"We are going to focus on school, graduate crazy early. Elope that weekend with family, Nino and Ayla, have your father tell no one. Tell your Father instead of paying for a four-month getaway, we want him to help us by a new house that will suit us better as a married couple that we can grow into. Then have a big wedding when we are ready. Run the company the way your father wants until he dies or passes the company on." She placed her hands on his shoulders.

"How... How did you do that so fast?" Adrien couldn't fathom how she came up with a plan that fast! 

"Easy love, I'm your assistant, it's my job to think on feet. I've gotten good at it over the year." 

"Your not just my assistant. You're the love of my life." Adrien pulled her into a kiss. "I like your plan. You and Nathalie work out the details tomorrow. Then we will tell the people who need to know. But right now, I just wanna hold you and forget the rest of the world exists." He pulled her close and kissed her again.