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blessedfatui · 3 years ago

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“Let’s get something straight,” Audrey cut off, lifting her hand and crossing her legs. “You were—are a mistake. A bad stain that I have to cover up now. That is all you are and will be. Now, why don’t you run along, but stay inside? It’s already a pain to deal with you and Claudine’s little fits and I'll be damned if I have to deal with these irritating reporters,” she sighed, dismissing Zoe with a wave of her hand.

EMPIRES FALL (AUDREY BOURGEOIS)

✐ AUTHOR’S NOTES: y’all will get a break from marinette salt for now; instead, have some audrey salt because i hate her and she goes redeemed too quickly

WORD COUNT: 2136

TW: child abuse, child neglect, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, infidelity, divorce, verbal abuse, sexual talk, audrey bourgeois bashing, mlb season 4 spoilers

Audrey’s empire was falling.

Word of her affair had reached the drama world; tabloids and news articles already had her name and face plastered on the front page. It was embarrassing, seeing a faceless man—a nobody that stepped forward to expose Audrey for her devious acts. She never expected her fling to come back and expose their little one-time affair; their one-night of passion.

She was stressed; hair falling out as she nursed her red wine, forehead pressed against the cold glass table. Andre was mad, and Claudia—Chloe wasn’t speaking to her. Those ungrateful little ingrates would dare ignore her, the most powerful woman in both Paris and the fashion world? They would pay sooner or later for their insolence; right now, she needed to deal with the news tabloid.

Pushing away the empty glass, Audrey got herself dressed and dolled up to deal with the rumors and the press. She could easily lie and weasel her way out of it; no one would believe a fool after she told her side of the story. After all, Audrey was perfection reincarnated. She had to maintain a flawless image and she would be damned if an old fling ruined her perfect empire.

Sitting in front of the mirror, Audrey caught a glimpse of her daughter looking at her. Chloe’s blue eyes were puffy and red, hands visibly shaking in anger with makeup running down her face as she stood in the doorway. Audrey sighed, turning to face her child, crossing her legs and smoothing out the wrinkles in her satin robe. “What are you doing, Charlotte?”

“My name is Chloe,” the teen snapped, squeezing her fists.

“That’s what I said,” Audrey scoffed.

“No, it’s not. You’ve never called me by my name correctly. Not once have you taken me seriously,” Chloe huffed, rubbing her eyes, not caring that she smudged her ruined eyeliner and eyeshadow.

Audrey massaged her temples, exhaling through her nostrils. “Oh, if you’re going to throw one of your temper tantrums, it can wait later. I have important things to take care of.”

Chloe laughed, letting the tears run freely down her face as she shook her head. Her voice sounded so sad and empty as she stared at her mother with hurt swimming her blue eyes. “Now, you have important business? NOW, you have pressing matters?” Chloe mocked, smacking her lips while her voice trembled. “I guess Daddy and I weren’t that important, right? Sucking another guy off was more important than your family, huh?”

Smack!

Red blossomed across Chloe’s cheek as Audrey stood across from her daughter. Her palm stung from the sharp blow delivered as her chest heaved. “How dare you open your mouth and say such a horrible thing,” Audrey hissed. “I have done nothing but support this family! I’m the only one who seems to have any self-respect around here! Your father is weak-willed and you are not better! Get out of my sight if you have nothing useful to say to me!”

The young girl tenderly touched her cheek, flinching at the pain but remained rooted to the spot. She looked up at her mother with those hateful eyes, blinking back her tears. “You have done nothing but tell me how bored you were,” Chloe stated, letting her hands fall to the side. “I was the chore—the job you didn’t want to do.”

Chloe inhaled, bottom lip trembling as she pressed her palm against her chest. Her face softened as tears spilled down the curve of her burning cheeks. “To me,” she trailed off, wetting her bottom lip. “To me, you meant everything, but I guess I wasn’t good enough for us. I guess having this luxurious life wasn’t good enough for the queen, was it? You hated us so much that you wanted another daughter,” she bitterly laughed before leaving Audrey, slamming the door behind her.

Whatever. Chloe would have to get over herself sooner or later if she wanted Audrey’s attention.

Zipping up her dress, Audrey slapped her signature hat on her head, glancing at herself in the mirror. A good amount of cleavage was out, leaving nothing to the imagination. This way, she could tease the report and distract everyone from the matter at hand. She smiled to herself, adoring herself in the mirror before sashaying out of the room.

The press was eating up her words. All Audrey had to do was flash a smile here, produce a fake tear there, and the act was sold. She couldn’t help but smile behind her handkerchief. These idiots—these absolute morons didn’t even bother to research (not that they would find anything that would condemn her, anyway) and it showed.

The fashion queen cleared her throat, dabbing the corners of her eyes. “Please, disregard these rumors. That is all they are and nothing more. A sad and silly little attempt to ruin my life and to destroy the empire I have carefully built,” she said, her voice calm while she straightened her shoulders. “This, Mr. Lee, is nothing more than a little leech who wants to insert himself into my life to get my money and ruin my family. I love them dearly and would never dream of hurting them.”

That seemed to do the trick.

As the reporters and camera crew left to type out the next newspaper, Audrey rolled her eyes and left without another word. Well, that part was a complete lie as she screamed at an employee who managed to bump into her. Ugh, honestly, who let these flea-bitten rats in here?

The situation would be swept under the rug and no one would bug her about the affair or the supposed love child she has. Even if Audrey did, she hasn’t seen them in years now had they attempted to get in touch with her, therefore the child doesn’t exist. It was as simple as that.

“Someone better have the car pulled up or I’m deducting your pay. Again,” Audrey snapped, slipping on her white glasses and sashaying out of the conference room. Ugh, she needed a strawberry martini and a good, long soak. That and two painkillers to ease her headache.

Time discovers the truth sooner or later, and oh did Audrey pay in spades.

Her daughter, Zoe, stood before her, arms gripping her sides while she chewed on her bottom lip. Audrey had to lower her glasses to get a look at this child. She looked about the same age as Chloe, maybe a bit younger if memory serves her well. Zoe clearly had her father’s soft face and gentle features while she had those Bourgeois blue eyes and signature blonde hair.

So, this was the product of her affair. Interesting.

Audrey turned up her nose, returning to her alcoholic beverage.

“Aren’t you going to say something? Anything at all?” Zoe asked quietly.

Audrey scoffed, turning back to Zoe. “Now, why would I do a silly thing like that?” she sneered, sitting her drink to the side. “I have nothing to say to you, Zariah— Zoe,” she corrected.

Zoe’s mouth gaped open like a fish before she closed it again. “But—but I’m your daughter. I haven’t seen you in years, Mama. Aren’t you happy to see me?” Zoe asked with a slight whimper.

“But Mama—”

“That’s too many words for a gnat, Zara,” Audrey hissed, narrowing her eyes. “Get. Out.”

Zoe doesn’t hesitate to leave, struggling to swallow back her tears.

If Audrey paid more attention to her daughters. If she had noticed, she would have heard the faint giggling behind the door once she returned to her drink, or even noticed the bulge in Zoe’s pocket that was recording their conversation the entire time.

Her empire was destroyed.

Zoe and Chloe had single-handedly destroyed her entire career. Tabloids and talk shows were buzzing about the leaked audio, critiquing Audrey’s horrible parenting and how selfish she was. They talked and talked about how the Bourgeois must have been suffering and how Chloe—the daughter that was constantly in Audrey’s care (well, in her care whenever Audrey would return to Paris)—exhibited signs of a neglected and abused child and how they were too blind to see it.

Sponsorships were canceled and she lost several partnerships due to the sudden backlash. Everything was crumbling around her; Audrey was losing control, and her kingdom was slipping through her fingers.

The biggest slap to the face was the document sliding across the table. The bold red letters stared her in the face as she looked up at Andre with wide, horrified eyes while her mouth gaped open. “Divorce? You want a fucking divorce?” Audrey spat, snatching up the papers and waving them in Andre’s face.

“Yes, that’s what I want, Audrey,” Andre said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “After Zoe arrived, I was going to forgive you. I was going to forgive you for cheating on me because I know I’m not the husband you wanted. I’m no Gabriel Agreste after all.”

“Clearly,” Audrey snorted.

Andre continued, sitting down at the table. “But then, I realized that I have been a horrible father. I’ve let you walk all over me and in turn, that allowed Chloe to walk all over me because she learned the behavior from you and I did nothing to correct it. I allowed her to be spoiled and I am to blame for not being a good parent.” He paused, taking a slow breath. “I was scared of you, Audrey. I’m your husband and you frighten me when you get into one of your fits so I never said anything. I put up with the abuse and that was so normalized that our daughter—our little girl is exhibiting the same behavior and I don’t want that for her.”

Audrey rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest and kicking up her legs. She popped her lips, “Poor Andre. You just want me to feel sorry for you because you can’t stand up for yourself. You cower and hide and run away like the scared fuck you are.”

Standing up from her seat, Audrey snatched a pen from the cap of assorted pens and pencils. With sloppy writing, she signed the documents with a triumphant laugh and just laughed like she won the fucking lottery. “I’ll be free from you! I’ll no longer be married to a fat, pathetic loser who can barely stand up for himself! The only thing you were good for was boosting my career and my fashion line! Not even the sex was that good!” she cackled, holding a hand to her chest.

Andre did nothing but smile, taking the pen and signing his name. “I’ll be taking full custody of Chloe. You may have visitation rights every other weekend. Chloe is not obligated to spend any time with you if she chooses not to. I’ll be in contact with Mr. Lee so we can discuss how the girls can bond more,” he explained.

Audrey didn’t even care. All she heard was freedom, endless sex, and a life without kids. She didn’t even hear Andre wish her farewell or the door shutting behind him.

Once the divorce was finalized, Audrey moved back to New York while Andre arranged a living space for Mr. Lee, and even paid for his plane ticket to France. The girls were much happier without Audrey constantly berating them and abusing them. Andre was a lot happier and could properly parent his daughter and make up for all the lost time.

As for Audrey, her sales never recovered. No one wanted to work with an abuser—sure, few did but people didn’t want to be caught with her or else, their sales would do poorly. It was infuriating for Audrey, unable to find good partners or even good help these days. She wanted to tear out her hair and scream half the time. Nothing was working and nothing numbed the cruel sting of failure.

Most days, she was drunk, nursing a hard liquor in her office while barking out orders. Audrey was a fucking wreck and a complete slob now, plummeting to the bottom of the charts. Gabriel had taken her title as Queen of Fashion—King of Fashion is what he was called and it pissed her off.

Her empire was gone.

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