It had been a month since Adrien had become the official owner but the paperwork took a bit longer to get finalized. Adrien was in his office looking at the paper, a paper that at one point was everything he wanted. He laughed at his memory of wanting to be the first model CEO. He sat at his desk, for a moment reminiscing. 

 Adrien stared at the papers in front of him. He owned the company. The company he no longer wanted. It stood for everything he now hated. One paper he had the official document of his ownership of the company and another paper showed an offer he had for his cousin Felix. 

As much as he wanted to just sell the company to his cousin, he needed to have everything else in place first, but a conversation with him couldn't hurt, right? He shot his cousin an email asking for a phone meeting. Felix agreed that that would be nice. So they booked it for early next week and Adrien headed home. 

As he walked in the door Mari meant him at the door, "My parents want us to come over for dinner tonight? Do you mind?" She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"See mom and dad? Never turn that one down. Can I wash up first?" 

"Only if I get to join you." She winked and raced him to the shower. 

20 minutes later they were headed out the door. "So why the change in nights? Not that I mind but family dinner is almost always Sunday night. And we've never had it on Thursday before." 

"Mom didn't say. She just asked us to come over." Mari shrugged as Adrien drove. 

The walked in the house and shared hugged and sat around the table quickly. "So mom, dad what's up?" Mari leaned in eager to know more. 

"Ya, don't keep us waiting!" Adrien was bursting with interest. 

"Always right to the point with you kids." Tom laughed. 

"Oh come on now dear just tell them the news." Sabine smiled. 

"Oh alright. Well, Sabine and I have decided to close down the bakery. And Within the year sell it and move into something smaller. Will will still over our full menu just on a per order system. Over the past year, we've gotten more wedding orders and big work events and less everyday treats. So it's just not worth the upkeep." 

"Oh wow that happened faster then I thought it would." Mari was happy for her parents but the sting of her childhood home being sold burned her a little.

"It's hard to image this street without your bakery on it." Adrien said sadly. But then he realized this was just what he needed to get the next step of his plan. He needed to talk to Tom ASAP. 

The rest of the night went well, they talked about Adrien's recent job change and how busy that made him. As they were getting ready to leave Sabine got an email, "Oh! Marinette it's from your grandmother in China. She has invited you and I to come to China for three weeks!" 

"Oh mom that would be lovely, but I can't just leave Adrien without a head designer for three weeks. Nor can you just leave dad while your closing down the company." Mari sighed.  She would have loved to see her cousins again. Her mom's brother couldn't travel easily with his five kids. Especially when two had gotten married. And had needed his help with all that went along with that.

"Sabine, I think you should go, I'm sure Adrien could help me close down the store. We already started the paperwork we could have it done before leave." 

"It's true, and she already bought the tickets and they are for... this weekend! Could we get the paper work done in time?" Sabine smiled.

"With my lawyers, you can!" Adrien smiled, "Mari you should go. This could be the last time you get to go before we start a family. It's the slow season for fashion right now, I'll be fine. Besides I've learned to handle myself. I think I could manage without my assistant for three weeks." He winked.

"Well if you're sure... Okay, mom lets go!" Sabine emailed her mother back. 

"Alright, Mari we need to ready to head to the airport Saturday morning. Can you do that?" 

"Mom please I packed Adrien and I for our honeymoon in three hours I got this." 

"Well I'd better get her home to pack, I'll bring my lawyers by tomorrow and we will finalize your bakeries closer." And with that, the couple left. 

As soon as they got home Mari went into packing mood. Seeing how many traditional outfits she had that still fit her, and what she could wear around her more traditional family. This worked for Adrien because he slipped into his home office and called the president of his board of directors. "We need to meet at 8 am sharp, make it happen." the man agreed. 

As morning dawned Adrian got up and got ready for his meeting. "Adrien where are going so early? You aren't meeting with my parents and the lawyers till ten?" Mari yawned. 

"I have a meeting with the board this morning. I'll be back around lunch. And We spend the rest of the afternoon together before you leave." he kissed his sleepy wife, "Go back to sleep, I'll bring home your favourite." He laughed as she rolled over falling asleep again. He loved that things got better after they saw the God and Goddess. Even though it had been a short spell since the visit made him more determined than ever to find complete freedom. 

He was the owner and acting CEO, The board would likely trust his movement. And even if they didn't,  he owned the company if he wanted to sell it to another family member,  he could. But he wanted to do right. So he walked into the board room. 

"Hello everyone." He nodded as he walked in. They all nodded. "Okay, let's get this out of the way. We all know this is not my passion. It's my Fathers. So I have written this proposal for my cousin Felix to move the base of the company to London and keep a branch open here. That I will supervise if he wants. But I have another business venture I want to pressure." 

The board looked to one another, "What would happen to us?" one asked. 

"I've asked him to keep you on as a divisional board. The only two who will lose their jobs are Marinette and I. If I can have it my way." 

"Alright, we will support you, and defend you against your father if needed." They smiled at him, all of them proud of him for standing up for himself finally. Adrien smiled looking at a support system he didn't know he had. They talked over a few things, making sure the proposals would service both parties well.

The meeting came to a close, "Thank you. Who knows, with my new business venture I might need your help." the board saluted him and he ran off to the bakery to help his family. 

As he walked in with his lawyers, he hugged them both. "Mom, Dad meet my two best lawyers from my company. They have come to help us." 

"Us? Son, what does this have to do with you?" Tom asked. 

"Adrien, what are you up too? You have a spark in your eye, one I haven't seen since you and Mari planned that photo shoot when she was just learning to sew." 

"I want to buy the bakery from you and turn it into the MyLady Fashion Boutique. And I want to offer you Mari and I's old house. Father will never live there and he gave it to me and I want you to live there." 

"Oh, Son... This is too much. We can't just take it, you lawyer, is there a way that we could simply exchange properties?" 

The younger of the two lawyers nodded but didn't speak intimated by Tom's stature. The older one spoke, "Yes sir there is, simply take the difference between the two buildings and have Adrien pay you the difference, which would take care of any updates need for your home business." He smiled confidently. 

"I agree if Tom does." Adrien smiled.  

"Sabine?" She nodded, "Alright, deal." The two shook hands and papers where signed. The paperwork for the bakery closure was finalized. The lawyers left leaving Adrien and his parents to talk. "When do you start renovating?" Tom asked. 

"As soon as possible." Adrien smiled. 

"Well, it's early enough in the day that we can hold our closing day sale and hand out cards for the new business." Tom looked at his wife. "And I can handle packing while you're gone." 

"And if we tell Mari that someone bought your bakery her and I could help. But I want to surprise her with the boutique when she gets home." 

"Adrien, you have three weeks is that even possible?" Sabine was shocked. 

"Mom, I'm Adrien Agrest, I have connections everywhere. And people who owe me favours. Assuming I can sell the company to Felix, I can work fast when it comes to changing the layout. Especially since Mari and I have talked about her dreams before. And changes are easy to make." He smiled confidently. 

So with that plan made Adrien headed home to get Mari. "Hey Mare, I know we planned on spending time together this afternoon, but one of my lawyers knew of someone looking for a shop, and things moved fast and your parents are moving into our old house for the time being. So we are gonna go help them. you can help your dad downstairs and your mom and I will pack up as much as we can upstairs." 

Mari's face rose and fell.  "That's great for them, but so fast."

"I know babe, but that business." He hid his smile. "Wanna invite Alya and Nino for old time's sake?" 

Mari lit up, "For sure!" 

The four of them went to the bakery and quickly got to work. Mari and her Dad worked like the well-oiled machine they had been when her only job was the bakery. And Sabine had everyone upstairs parking. When Adrien and Mari had moved houses anything thing they hadn't taken with them, they sold, so the new house sat empty. 

Adrien called in a favour with a moving company. And soon they had extra hands. And when the bakery ran out of treats, Tom and Mari joined in the packing. Mari's room was empty but she and Adrien slipped up to her old room. 

Her desk and loft were still there. "I never realized how pink this room was until it was empty." Adrien laughed. 

"I know, but it was just so much work to repaint." She sighed. "I think if I could repaint it I would use white and a softer pink, or maybe even a pastel red because of my brand. But oh well, too late now." She leaned into him. 

"What do you miss about this space creatively? I know you hate your office at work." Adrien stocked her hair. 

"I loved being able to curl up on my bed and designed. I miss my balcony. I miss having my design space and my workspace in the same room. I miss feeling like the space was mine. Sorry, I shouldn't be complaining, the space your father gave me is more than enough."

Adrien pulled her in tighter, "Hey, I run the company now, I can get my head designer a better space if I want" He kissed her neck as she giggled. 

"We can deal with that when I get back." She kissed his cheek, "For now, we need to go back and help pack."  

The group and the professionals made a good dent in what was at the house. Most of the bigger items like furniture the company would come back and move tomorrow. Tonight Tom and Sabine would plan where those things would go.  The bakery downstairs was harder to pack. "Tom, I can help you tomorrow to move the bakery stuff. Maybe we can figure out where to put your bakery stuff in the new house. And my designer will help us use space well." Adrien smiled. 

"Tom are you sure you can handle all of this unpacking? It is a lot." Sabine walked over to him. 

"Please darling, I got this. And anything I don't know what to do with, I'll keep packed up till you get back." 

"So everything." she teased. Tom's laughed bellowed though the now much emptier halls. "Well everyone, that's all there is." 

Alya, Nino, Adrien and Mari headed back to their homes, washed up and met back at Nino and Alya's house for pizza and slushies. The night ended early because Mari needed to sleep for her early morning flight. 

As the sun rose the next morning Adrien waved goodbye to his wife and as he turned to leave the airport he smiled for the first time to the future.