Requested by sethadler and @StutiSDoshi

I honestly wasn't expecting this series to continue after the second part, but here we are lol. I hope you enjoy the 3rd and final part to the "salty shenanigans" series!

* 🔞 + for language. Damn is used once *

Read at your own risk.

Adrien doesn't think much of Lila's potential 'trick up her sleeve' as a threat until she corners him in the park a few days after the party... and despite already being humiliated twice, Lila doesn't seem to want to back down. But when Lila picks at his wounds one by one, making the blonde feel alone, nervous, angry, and even afraid, Adrien feels himself about to explode... until his lady love, Ladybug, shows up to save the day... and puts an end to Lila's schemes once and for all.

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Adrien didn't see it coming.

Yet, he considered himself a very observant person—for the most part at least. He didn't include taking forever to figure out Ladybug's identity as a part of that list. But for everything else, he liked to believe he was pretty good at noticing things.

But he didn't notice her... and by the time he did, Adrien Agreste was nose-to-nose with Lila Rossi a week or so later after the whole incident at the party had occurred. He'd honestly forgotten all about it, but she clearly hadn't. There was no mistaking her true intentions for being there when she offered him a sinister smile—one that clearly proved she was up to no good.

He took a step back. "Lila?"

"Oh hey Adrien," she batted her eyelashes at him. He knew that was not a good sign. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Actually... I'm more surprised to see you here." Adrien raised an unsure brow. "You're not an outdoor person."

"Touché." Lila checked her nails. "But I was passing through, and appreciating nature along the way."

"Of course you were..." Adrien murmured underneath his breath, already severely uncomfortable just standing in front of Lila. Even despite being in a normally public place, he was unfortunate today. There was no one around.

Oddly too, it was almost as if Lila had anticipated that this would've been the case.

"Fine. I'll admit, that was a lie." Lila giggled, "But I just wanted to chat." Adrien tried to step around her, already completely disinterested in what she had to say, but Lila was quicker, and moved to block his path. He frowned when her smile only widened, "Why the rush to leave, Adrien? I thought we were friends."

"We're not friends." Adrien grumbled in distaste.

Lila flashed him a wicked smile, her pearly whites still out on full display. "Pity. I was hoping you hadn't taken Marinette's side. But it looks like she's convinced you I'm the enemy."

"She didn't have to convince me. It's pretty obvious."

"Oh, is it?" The rhetorical question caught him slightly off guard, but before he could retaliate, Lila giggled, "Y'know, back at the party, I noticed you got a little tense when Alya made that pathetic speech about 'escaping reality'. Although that has nothing to go with the fact that I lie, I think you seemed to relate to her 'inspirational' words."

The blonde frowned at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't pretend to be an idiot, Adrien," Lila clicked her tongue. "If you're going to play the oblivious card, at least make it look believable."

Adrien sighed, trying to keep his eyes off of her as much as possible. But that was hard to do when Lila's eyes bore into his, refusing to glance away, and her intense stare wasn't exactly a comforting feeling either.

"What do you want?" He asked her after a beat of silence.

Lila chuckled, the sound dark and ever so cold. "I told you this wasn't over. After you humiliated me in front of not only Alya, but Marinette too, there was no way I was about to let you walk away peacefully."

"So I'm assuming this is your attempt at the 'trick up your sleeve'?" Adrien raised an unperturbed brow. The sight of Lila's sinister smirk slowly falling into a frown helped relieve his anxiousness. "I gotta say, I'd complete forgotten all about that whole ordeal. Why don't we just call it a truce?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lila snarked, "Because that would be the easy way out. Well I have news for you, Adrien. No one humiliates me and gets away with it. Especially you."

Adrien rolled his eyes and moved to step around Lila again, but she easily moved to block him once more. "So... back to the topic at hand... why were you so tense?" Lila's smirk was wide, indicating she hadn't given up on whatever plan she had up her sleeve.

It aggravated him. "I wasn't tense."

"Don't lie." Lila chastised. She even laughed, the sound sweetly sickening. "You can't lie to someone who is the master at lying."

Well, he thought to himself, at least she could admit it.

"I have a guess," Her grin widened, sinister as ever. The sight made him shudder involuntarily. "I'm guessing daddy-dearest isn't as great as everyone thinks he is. Gabriel probably isn't even a father at all."

Adrien saw where she was going with that, and yet, he couldn't help but clench his teeth—giving her the exact reaction she was looking for. Lila's smile stretched even wider—as if it were even physically possible—and she giggled, flipping her hair off of her shoulder as she did so.

"I figured as much." Lila smirked triumphantly, "You tried to throw my parents under the bus for not being around, but the truth is, you're just like me. Your father doesn't give a damn about you."

"I'm nothing like you." Adrien stepped forward, knowing perfectly well that their proximity was breaking all the rules of personal space. "And my father does care about me. So much so that if I told him you were harassing me, he would make sure I had double the security guards to protect me from—"

"Ah I see," Lila chuckled, completely cutting him off. The blonde frowned in confusion, unsure of what she found so funny. But he didn't have to wait long for an answer. "So your father will send other people to protect you, but he won't protect you himself. How pathetic."

"My father is a very busy man—"

"Too busy for his own son?" Lila raised a brow, her smile having yet to fade away. He knew he was giving her every single reaction she'd hoped for, and yet, Adrien couldn't stop himself from sounding so pathetic.

"My father makes time for me." The blonde grunted out through gritted teeth, his hands clenching into fists at his sides as he tried to control his temper.

Lila scoffed, "I'd believe it if it didn't sound so... unrealistic. Gabriel Agreste making time for his son? That sounds like a wistful dream."

"You don't even know my father—"

"Your father would rather spend time with his money, his clients, or better yet, with his personal assistant, more than he would with you." Lila spat. Hurt flashed in his irises, and he knew she saw it. He even stumbled back when she jabbed a manicured finger into his chest. "And I bet your father put all of these things over his wife too.. well... before she died, that is."

Adrien furrowed his brows angrily. "Leave my mother out of this."

Lila, however, giggled, nowhere near threatened by his tone. "What's wrong, Adrien? You don't like to talk about your maman? Why wouldn't you? Unless she didn't die... and actually chose to leave you instead."

Despite desperately trying to keep his composure, Adrien's hands clenched into fists at his sides... and a lone tear slowly trickled down his cheek. The sight had Lila's smile widening, because that was exactly what she wanted. Even though he knew her intensions, she was still able to somehow get under his skin.

Adrien could admit that he had doubts about what happened to his mother. Her death was never confirmed, after all. It was merely a theory, something to bring closure to her disappearance. But it wasn't a real answer.

And somehow, Lila knew that.

How did she even know that? No one knew much about his mother, and the only person who did know anything was Marinette, whom he told everything to. So how could Lila have known?

Unless she merely made it up, just to see if it would get a reaction out of him.

And if so, he'd fallen right into her trap.

"What exactly is going on here?" He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The blonde quickly looked up, finding a red and black polka-dotted hand, which he registered as Ladybug in an instant. And when he met her eyes, he was met with the familiarity of blue-bell. She was smiling warmly down at him, a sign that she was here for him, and that she had his back.

He couldn't help but return her smile.

"Oh nothing... nothing at all." Lila giggled, her smile freakishly innocent looking. "We were just having a chat. You know, between friends."

"Oh really?" Ladybug raised an unconvinced brow. "I wasn't aware friends took joy in making their friends cry."

Almost instantly, Adrien's eyes widened at her words. He reached up to gently touch his cheek with his fingertips, finding dampness on his skin. Since when had he started crying?

"What?" But Lila feigned innocence like she always did. "I never purposely tried to make Adrien cry. What would ever make you assume that?"

"Because I heard everything you said. Bringing up someone's dead mother so carelessly is rather cold of you Lila."

Lila's smile didn't falter. "Oh come now, no one knows if she's actually dead. I was merely asking Adrien his thoughts on the matter."

"Right..." Ladybug laughed, her friendliness sounding just as feigned. "Then I guess you won't mind me asking about your parents then. They've been gone for quite a while on some cross-country trip, right? Are you sure they aren't dead?"

"How did you—" Lila's smile fell in a matter of seconds, only to be replaced by a menacing scowl. "My parents are not dead!"

"Well they've been gone for months, so maybe they abandoned you instead."

"I can guarantee they did not abandon me." Lila sneered. She placed a hand on her chest, over where her heart was, as if that would amplify her importance.

Ladybug merely shrugged, her smile pronounced. "I wouldn't be surprised if they abandoned you. If I had a daughter who lied all the time and tampered with my reputation, I'd tell her I'm off to go buy some milk and never return."

Adrien's eyes went wide almost instantly, and he whipped his head around to look up at her. Had she really just—

Oh she had. Ladybug winked at him, which was clearly enough proof that she had meant every word.

Adrien couldn't help but grin. His lady was amazing.

He could practically see Lila grinding her teeth in fury. There were no other words in a thesaurus to describe how angry she looked, and he idly wondered how long it would take her to blow her top. But she deserved every single word Ladybug threw at her.

If Lila wanted to be heartless, people would be heartless back.

He was surprised when Ladybug chuckled to break the silence, which caused Lila to snap her angered gaze back up to the superhero dressed in red. "I want us to be on the same page about something, Lila. There are many things I tolerate in this city, but the one thing I won't tolerate is you any longer."

To that, Lila smirked sinisterly, "Oh.. yeah? And what are you going to do? Banish me from the city of love? I'd ask if you plan on ending my life, but you're far too soft for that."

"Oh I don't plan to harm you." Ladybug said. She stepped forward until she was only inches away from Lila, blue-bell eyes clashing with dark brown. Adrien could've sworn Lila gulped with the close proximity, but Ladybug stood firm and confident, unwavering, calm, and nowhere near looking to back down. "I will ruin you. You thought the whole school finding out about your lies was bad enough? Imagine what would happen if everyone in Paris found out. As a superhero, I have access to lots of information. How do you think I found out about your parents little trip, hm?"

Lila said nothing, but the clench of her jaw was enough to prove she was beyond irritated.

"All I have to do is expose one of your lies through the media." Ladybug said with a smirk. "After all, I'm Ladybug. Anything I say, the people will believe. It'll be my word against yours... and after being exposed already once, I highly doubt anyone will take your side."

Adrien watched in utter bewilderment as Lila took a step back, clearly shocked and unsure of what to do next. He almost couldn't believe that Ladybug was resorting to blackmailing Lila, but at the same time, he expected nothing less from his lady. Lila was known to be just as sinister, so why not give her a taste of her own medicine?

Ladybug's smirk widened. Suddenly, Lila was no longer on top. The superhero in polka-dotted red and black latex towered over her, holding the ball over her head. Lila only had one choice if she wanted to keep her reputation of lies alive.

"What do you want?" Lila asked. Her tone held no emotion, only bitterness... because she had accepted her defeat. Adrien couldn't help the triumphant smile that tugged at his lips.

"I want you to leave Adrien and Marinette alone," Ladybug said, her smile wide. "And that applies to anyone else you feel the need to bully. And if I see you bullying anyone, I won't hesitate to expose you to everyone and literally drag your name through the dirt."

Lila seethed a breath through gritted teeth, her scowl so prominent he thought she might pop a vein in her forehead. But the brunette simply nodded instead and twisted on her heel, marching with attitude in every step she took. They both watched until she rounded the corner of one of the buildings, disappearing from their sight.

And as soon as she was gone, both Adrien and Marinette burst into laughter.

"Oh my god." Adrien wheezed, bending over to clutch his stomach. "I...I can't believe that just happened. And that blackmailing was badddd."

Ladybug smirked pridefully, "Well... I do have to give some of the credit to Alya. She was happy to help give Ladybug some helpful information about Lila's life after being being lied to by said liar."

Adrien shook his head, still unable to believe what his lady had just done. "Do you think she's going to listen? That she'll finally stop?"

"Oh I'm sure of it." Ladybug said, "She knew I wasn't bluffing."

Adrien lifted his head to meet his lady's eyes, his bangs falling into his gaze. His grin was wide as he said, "Thank you for coming to my rescue."

Ladybug mirrored his smile. "Of course, Chaton. Always."

Adrien surged forward to wrap his arms around Ladybug in a tight hug. He didn't care if anyone was looking, or how odd it might've looked with a civilian hugging a superhero. He was just happy to have someone like Marinette who would always swoop in to save the day.

Ladybug returned his embrace happily, only to further ensure that even she didn't care if people saw.

And if people talked, let them talk.

After all, people like that are just salty.

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You guys asked for this how long ago? Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I've got a long list of requests, and I'm just happy to be able to mark another one completed.

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