Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own the Phantom of the Opera. It belongs to Gaston Leroux (original novel) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (musical rendition). Please buy the book or tickets to see the live performance (I know I will one day when I have enough money).
*Stay at home! :)
Ch. 5: He/she will never look at me like that…
The Phantom's soft singing of her name made Christine break out of her trance. She wrapped her arms around her body, shivering in fright.
She's so confused. Her feelings towards a man whom she once thought was a supernatural guardian were just so complicated.
Do I fear him? Pity him? Want him…?
Raoul had had enough of all these talks about the Phantom. Whoever this person is, human or ghost, they're dangerous.
And clearly, a great manipulator.
Raoul gazed at Christine. Suddenly, he felt a responsibility to protect her. A need to be her hero.
Her saviour.
"Enough, Christine." He lowered the hood of her cloak, revealing her beautiful yet terrified face to him.
"No more talks of darkness. No more talks of fear. I'm here. I'll always be here to protect you, guide you, and lead you."
Raoul didn't know why he was saying these things. Maybe in the midst of this chaos, all the bottled up feelings finally exploded. Now, if only Christine would return his affections—
The look of terror on the young soprano's face melted away at hearing Raoul's confession. And that's when Raoul knew that his feelings were reciprocated.
Christine smiled at her childhood friend—now new lover—affectionately.
"Just promise me, Raoul. One love, one lifetime. Anywhere you go, let me go too," she said. "That's all I ask of you."
From behind the statue, Olivier felt her head becoming light. Her heart was pounding so fast and loud, she was afraid the couple may hear it.
Her tears flowed endlessly from her eyes, freezing midway down her cheeks.
Under the moonlight, on the rooftop of the Opera Populaire, Christine and Raoul finally declared their love for each other.
Promising to always be there for one another, always be by each other's sides, until fate must separate them.
"Love me, that's all I ask of you."
The couple whispered in unison before closing the last remaining space between their faces, sealing their newfound love with a kiss.
"...you'd never hold a candle to that Daae girl…"
Olivier's father's words kept repeating inside his head. Getting louder with each repetition.
He covered his ears and buried his head between his knees, trying to tune out everything Raoul was saying to Christine.
He had to do something. He needed to stand up. Get out there in front of them. Stop this at once.
End the lovers' moment while it's still early.
Squeezing his fists, Olivier contemplated dashing out of his hiding spot.
"Wherever you go Christine, I promise I will always be there by your side. If not physically, then spiritually. Because as long as I live, I will never stop loving you. Never."
With those words, Olivier lost all will to stand up. Raoul was always sweet and honest. That was what got her attracted to him in the first place.
And Christine...she and her father were always so good to her. How could she even think of trying to break their happiest moment?
Olivier sunk back behind the statue, looking as lifeless as a doll, staring at the moonlit sky.
The couple continued to dance around and profess their feelings for one another, even starting to make plans for what to do after tonight's performance.
Tonight's performance!
Christine just remembered that she's now playing the role of the Countess.
"I must go. They'll wonder where I am! Raoul, wait for me."
"Christine, I love you," Raoul said one last time.
The couple laughed and held hands as they made their way down to the main stage. Excited at the adventures that will lie ahead of them, now that they're together. Everything will be so different starting tomorrow.
"We need to tell Olivier this wonderful news! Wait until she hears…" Raoul's voice disappeared as he and Christine left the rooftop.
Out of the shadows, stepped the Phantom. He was present all this time. And witnessed everything.
The love confession, the promises, the first kiss. Words cannot describe what he is feeling right now.
Treading through the snow, he stopped by the place where Raoul and Christine were just dancing a couple of seconds ago. A single rose had fallen from Christine's cloak. He picked it up.
It was a rose he sent to her after her incredible performance in Hannibal.
Now it was withered and dry. Just like his heart.
"I gave you my music...make your song take wing…" He said through laboured breaths.
It hurts so much. He never felt this much pain since the day his mother rejected him. After that, he vowed to never let himself be vulnerable or to love again.
And then Christine came along. A beautiful young chorus girl with high hopes and dreams.
And a voice like an angel's.
And he became her angel by improving her voice. And she became his by making him feel something he never thought he'd feel again.
Love.
But it was one-sided. And a lie. Christine loved her Angel of Music, not him.
Not him.
But still. He revealed himself to her. Proved to her that he is the same man as her Angel of Music.
He tried to make her fall for him, the Phantom of the Opera. He showed her his music, honesty, and devotion, and his face…
So that's why she chose that abhorrent Viscount!
In the end, Christine rejected him for the same reasons his mother and the world rejected him for.
All his pain and heartbreak dissolved into rage. The Phantom took to the edge of the rooftop and lets out a great shout into the Parisian night.
"You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you!"
Below in the main hall of the opera house, the production of Il Muto resumed. But as soon as Christine stepped onstage, the entire ceiling began to shake.
Audience members looked up to see the grand chandelier flickering and trembling violently.
In the background, maniacal laughter could be heard. The chandelier swung harder and harder until it finally came crashing down onto the stage. Barely missing a terrified Christine.
On the rooftop, Olivier continued to stare aimlessly at the night sky. He could hear the shrieks and cries from below along with a crash from when the chandelier fell.
But all that was silenced when a shadow suddenly loomed on top of him, blocking the moonlight.
Standing before him, was the Phantom of the Opera.
Despite his woman's attire, Olivier knew that the Phantom knew it was him. The white porcelain mask made it impossible to read what kind of expression he had on.
But Olivier didn't need to see it. He already knew what was coming.
The moonlight glinted off of a shiny blade barely hidden in the Phantom's cloak.
Olivier clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as the Phantom slowly reached for the blade. Mentally preparing for the endless amount of pain that was about to come.
"Raoul...don't forget me...don't forget…" He said through soft choked sobs. "That's all I ask of you…"
A second passed by.
Then two.
Then three.
God damnit, why is he dragging this out so long? Just get it done and over with! Olivier thought, squeezing his eyes and fists so hard, his veins surfaced. But still, nothing happened.
Slowly and carefully, he opened one eye.
The Phantom stood there. His blade was no longer in sight. His hands were out in the open, weaponless.
Sensing the lack of a murderous aura, Olivier opened his other eye and stared at the Phantom curiously.
For a moment, the two only looked at each other.
And then the Phantom turned around and disappeared once again. Leaving Olivier sitting on the rooftop in confusion and bewilderment.
The Phantom descended the opera house into the underground. Also confused as to why he decided to let Olivier go when clearly, he failed to make Christine love him.
But there was something in that boy—girl's eyes that made him feel sympathetic towards her.
She was thinking of that insufferable Viscount de Chagny in her supposed last moments alive. Crying his name, asking him not to forget her...I think I understand.
The Phantom entered his lair and put all his tools away. Tools that he initially planned to use on poor Miss Koenig tonight and for many nights to come. As punishment for her failure.
Olivier Koenig. Because you share my pain. I will postpone your fate to a later date. Just remember that I don't forget either...
Christine was resting in her dressing room. It has been a couple of nights since the disastrous performance of Il Muto.
And she's still recovering from the chandelier fall. Had she been a couple of steps forward, she would've been hit!
"Have I angered him that much?" Christine asked herself.
She hasn't been talking to her Angel of Music—the Phantom of the Opera—since the night she was whisked down into the underground lair.
Because she now knows that the angel she imagined inside her head is no angel, but a man.
A mysterious man who's been watching her every move and would even kill people without a second thought!
But still, he was the one who taught her how to utilize her voice to its fullest potential. The one who gave her hope when she thought she was all alone in the world.
And if she dares think it...he was her first love.
Standing up from her bed, Christine walks over to her mirror. She squints at her reflection, trying desperately to look behind the glass.
But nothing was there. And no voice sang to her. It's like the Phantom up and left the opera house.
Christine felt a pang of sadness and guilt. Wait, why am I feeling that?
"The one I love and will continue to love is Raoul," Christine said to herself while walking away from the mirror.
"He promised to keep me safe, guarded, and to always be by my side. To always love me. He was there for me when I needed him…" Christine trailed off.
All she could think about is the night on the opera house roof. Where she and Raoul confessed their love for each other and kissed.
It warms her heart with joy every time she thinks about it. But now it's been a couple of nights later. It feels off.
She no longer felt the butterflies in her stomach every time she thought of their first kiss.
But she was too afraid to dive deeper into these feelings. And even more afraid to talk to Raoul about these feelings.
She's already made him the happiest man in the world, would she be so cruel to take that away?
Realization suddenly dawned upon her.
Christine felt an even greater wave of guilt.
"I took his happiness away from him...the Phantom of the Opera...he gave me his music…and I repaid him with this—this...infidelity." She sat down and cried.
Raoul just left a restaurant where he was treating Olivier to lunch, just like he promised. There, he told him about his and Christine's new relationship.
Olivier was supportive of them, just like he thought he'd be.
But Raoul could swear, he saw a glimpse of hurt in Olivier's eyes when he told him the news.
"He probably thinks that Christine and I won't value him as much anymore now that we've become more than friends," Raoul talked to his carriage driver.
The carriage driver replied. "It's hard being the third wheel, trust me on this, Monsieur le Viscount. I've been there a couple of times myself. Friends confess to one another and then I'm suddenly the last person to be invited to sittings, parties, and even just a simple night out for drinks. Why don't you encourage him to find a lady-friend of his own? Hm? Or just add another friend into the mix?"
"That's not quite as simple as you'd think…" Raoul said as he thought of Olivier's true gender.
That's when he started to wonder how long Olivier must keep up this act. When they were children, no one really blinked an eye at Olivier. Her secret was easier to control and maintain.
But now they're adults.
Things were expected of them. Olivier can't play the role of a man forever. She needs to one day marry. And start a family. Raoul couldn't imagine what Olivier's future spouse would think of her secret.
And if Olivier's father is adamant on keeping her identity as a man. Then how would she hide the fact that she's both the children's mother and father? Raoul quickly snapped out of those thoughts.
He felt rude and intrusive, invading Olivier's private life.
I guess I've been worried about her ever since she moved. Especially now, after seeing her as a lovely young man—no, woman. She's always so good to me. Me and Christine.
Raoul's thoughts then jumped to Christine, and how he promised to always follow her, wherever she goes.
Ever since he was a child, he was attracted to Christine. How he wished for the day that he can make her his own.
But now it has happened.
And Raoul was over the moon on the first night. And the day after. And now...it feels odd. Why did he confess to her on the roof right after a man was murdered onstage? Was he really in his right mind when he told her he loved her?
Was she?
"Never mind all of that," Raoul mumbled as the carriage pulled up to the de Chagny manor.
Stepping out of the carriage and towards the grand gate, Raoul felt a sudden rush of heat go down his backside.
Turning around, he looked if anyone was behind him. But no one was there, except for the carriage and its driver.
"Must've been my imagination."
The carriage driver prepared to ride away to the stables when he saw something on the ground.
A single rose tied with a black silk ribbon was lying on the stone pavement, a couple of feet away.
Who could've put it there?
The next couple of days passed by without many events. The Opera Ghost hasn't been disturbing practices or rehearsals lately.
Which pleased Andre and Firmin very much. They can't afford to lose another chandelier.
However, Christine did miss her singing tutor. It reflected in her performances during practice. She was making more mistakes now than she was before.
Carlotta took advantage of this and tried to reclaim her position as prima donna once again, despite the croaking incident at Il Muto.
But this time, Christine defended herself.
"No. The last time we let you sing, disasters happened. Buquet was murdered, the chandelier was destroyed. And before you say I'm exaggerating or lying or anything! You were the one who said 'these things do happen. For three years these things were happening.'" Christine imitated Carlotta's dramatic diction. "Please take the hint from our resident 'Opera Ghost' and just stop. Or would you like to lose more than just your voice?"
Carlotta didn't try to demean Christine anymore after that incident. In fact, nobody at the opera house dared to do anything mean to Christine after that.
It's quite clear to everyone that the Opera Ghost is quite fond of her.
Even with his recent disappearance, they can still feel his presence. They're afraid that he's waiting there quietly. Just waiting for the perfect moment to return.
But Christine felt lonely and lost without him. This, in turn, caused her to go to Raoul more often. Every single time they meet, she'd feel her worries go away.
And her loneliness dissolves. But then whenever they'd part, she'd hear the voice of the Phantom in the back of her head.
Singing her name softly.
"I feel like I'm being watched by him, wherever I go, Olivier," Christine confessed to her friend.
They were taking a stroll down a park not too far away from the opera house. Christine had been wanting to talk to Olivier ever since the night of Il Muto but Olivier always seemed to be 'busy'.
Not today, though.
"Christine, I know how you feel, more than you know," Olivier said. "I can't tell you how or why. But just know this. If you're truly afraid of that man, this 'Phantom of the Opera', then why don't you try and make a statement to the police?"
Christine paused. "I...I don't want him arrested. No, it's not that. I don't want him to suffer any more than he already is."
"So you care for him?" Olivier raised an eyebrow.
"No! I…" Christine sighed. "I wish I knew how to solve this conflict peacefully and with no one getting hurt in the end."
That made Olivier smile. Even though she knew there's no way a happy ending is in store for them.
They reached the end of the park and entered the streets of the city again. Olivier turned around to face Christine.
"You're so kind, Christine. You have such a gentle heart. You and your father both. No wonder Raoul loves you so much."
They parted and Christine's eyes were welled with tears. She wiped them away and whispered to Olivier.
"My father is dead."
Olivier quickly wrapped her arms around Christine and the two cried.
Night came around and Olivier entered her building complex. She walked Christine back to the opera house dorms after leaving the park.
The two women felt slightly better after sharing their feelings with each other today.
Olivier, however, still couldn't believe that Gustave Daae was dead.
Walking up the stairs to her apartment, she felt tears threatening to spill. Gustave was the father she always wished she had.
He accepted her identity as a girl, taught her violin, and showered her with love.
How Olivier wished that she had been born as Gustave's daughter. Then she and Christine would be sisters.
They'd be able to do everything together. And still meet Raoul during their youth at the bayside neighbourhood.
Finally, she reached her apartment. Olivier unlocked the door, turned on the oil lamps and stepped inside. And instantly regretted it.
Sitting on a chair at the dining table with his hands resting peacefully on top of it, was Karl Koenig.
"F—father." Olivier stuttered.
"You look well, my son," Karl said as he stood up from the table. "For someone who's been unemployed for the past month or so."
Before Olivier could defend herself, Karl was already on a rampage.
"You lied to me. Lied about having a job at a law firm here. Do you think you could hide this from me? What were you thinking, Olivier? Why did you come up to Paris?"
Suddenly, Olivier felt a surge of energy rush through her. She will not let her father talk down to her like this. Not tonight.
She looked at him straight in the eyes and said.
"To get away from you."
Karl didn't say anything.
He just walked up to Olivier and pushed her to the ground, with enough force to make the entire apartment shake. Then he made his way to her bedroom.
Olivier struggled to get back up due to the pain but still managed to limp into her room. To her anger, she sees her father rummaging through her closet and throwing out all of her mother's old clothing.
He then picked them up and started tearing them apart. One by one.
"No! Stop it! Stop!"
She shouted as she tried to rip away a long skirt from her father's hands. Karl fought hard to push back his son, but she was no longer a child. Olivier had grown and she became stronger than she was before.
Seething curses through her teeth, Olivier punched her father in the side of his face. Karl cried out in pain and she quickly took the skirt away from him.
Then she quickly attempted to put everything back into her closet.
"You little demon!" Karl shouted.
Then from the corner of his eye. He saw something wooden and brown resting against the wall. It was Olivier's violin case.
The same violin Gustave Daae gifted to her all those years ago.
Olivier was so focused on protecting her mother's clothing from her father's wrath that she didn't realize what was about to happen until it was too late.
Karl opened the wooden case and took out the violin from inside.
"You still play with this toy?" He growled while squeezing the violin by its neck.
Time slowed down for Olivier as she dashed towards her precious instrument. But not before Karl smashed it to the ground.
The violin became a broken shell of what it once was.
"Nooooooo!"
Olivier hardly recognized her own scream. It sounded so painful, so agonizing. Like a wounded animal slowly dying. Because that's pretty much how she felt at that moment.
Kneeling in front of her broken violin, Olivier felt her world being swallowed up. She never felt so hopeless and low all her life. She didn't care what happened next to her.
Someone please...just kill me…just end this already!
Karl looked in disgust at his son, crying and trying to put the broken pieces back together. Why did she come to Paris?
Suddenly, he remembered hearing about the de Chagny family patronizing the Opera Populaire which was located not too far from here.
He became absolutely livid at the thought that Olivier might be here to see Raoul.
"If you won't obey me. Then you're not my child. Son, or daughter!" Karl lifted his hand high to hit Olivier.
Thud!
Olivier looked up from her broken violin. Her father was sprawled on the floor, unconscious. And standing before his body was a man Olivier never thought she'd see again.
The Phantom of the Opera.
When did he get in? How did he get in? Olivier thought. But before she had the chance to ask, the Phantom spoke first.
"Come. Come with me." He demanded. "Or do you wish to be here when he wakes up?"
Olivier was still distressed over her violin's recent destruction and couldn't hear the Phantom's voice very clearly. So he attempted to force her up to go with him. But Olivier resisted.
She couldn't say anything coherent but the Phantom understood what was making her stay.
Quickly but gently, he picked up the pieces of the broken violin and put them inside her case.
Then he handed it to her and repeated his initial demand.
"Come with me," his voice was more stressed than before.
A knock was heard at the front door followed by a 'we heard a thud and some shouting. Is everything alright there?'
The Phantom stared at Olivier intensely.
"NOW."
And so, Olivier got up and followed the Phantom out of her apartment. He helped her out through a window and got down onto the dimly lit streets below.
The Phantom led Olivier all the way to the Opera Populaire and down into his underground lair. This time, they took a hidden route around the back of the building.
The path down to the lair was more dark and complicated than the path Olivier took to exit from her first visit. If it wasn't for the Phantom, she'd be lost.
Olivier followed closely behind the Phantom, who guided her through the dark tunnels. She decided to take this time to talk to him.
"...How did you get into my apartment?" She asked the Phantom cautiously.
"I have my ways. After all, I get to my home in the most intricate of manners." He explained.
"But why were you there?" Olivier demanded.
The Phantom stopped and turned around. The lamp illuminating his face dimly. Shadows danced across the contours of his mask. It made him look absolutely intimidating.
"I was waiting for the right moment to come out and kill you."
The tension heightened. Olivier felt like she stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire. But the Phantom grabbed her by the arm and forced her to keep coming down with him.
They finally got to his cavern. But the tension didn't disappear. Olivier stood in a corner of the lair with her violin, watching as the Phantom removed his hat and cape. Then he turned around to face her.
"There's some first aid equipment over there," the Phantom nodded towards a large cabinet on the other side of the cave. "Treat your wounds if you have any."
Though she was still scared, Olivier decided to listen and walked over to the first aid equipment. First, she put down her violin case against the cave wall.
Then, she treated her bruises on her lower back and shoulders from her father's pushing her to the ground.
After a couple of minutes of treating herself, Olivier looks up to see the Phantom come over. He saw that Olivier was still very afraid of him. Because of what he said earlier to her.
So he slowed down and stopped before he got too close. He has no intention of harming her right now.
Not after what transpired between her and her father back there. But Olivier didn't know that.
"Why let me heal myself if you're just going to kill me after?" Olivier asked.
"Why did you stop fighting back when your father broke your violin?" The Phantom asked without answering her question.
Immediately, Olivier felt tears well up in her eyes again. She stopped treating her bruises and put away the equipment.
The pain from her back and shoulders couldn't compare to the pain inside.
The Phantom inched his way forward, seeing if Olivier would let him approach her. She didn't flinch. So he took out a chair and sat down in front of her.
The unmasked side of his face was expressionless.
"My patience is wearing thin, Miss Koenig. I could've killed you that night on the roof, but I didn't. I planned on killing you tonight, but I didn't."
"Then why don't you!" Olivier seethed.
The Phantom stood up from his chair and towered over her.
"Because for the first time in my life, I finally met someone whom I sympathize with!"
All of the fear Olivier initially felt towards this man started to melt away. Replaced by confusion. Before she could say something, the Phantom cut her off.
"Now, tell me what that violin meant to you."
Olivier looked down. "It's a long story."
"I don't feel like getting my hands bloody tonight. Tell me everything. I'll listen." The Phantom said.
The cavern became warmer as Olivier stood up from her chair. Then she walked past the Phantom and towards the place where she put her broken violin down.
She picked it up and walked back over.
"This violin was a gift to me from Gustave Daae," Olivier explained.
The Phantom recognized the name. "Gustave Daae...Christine's father?"
Olivier nodded. "I told you Christine and I were childhood friends. She and her father introduced me to the world of music. It was my only solace. In a world where I don't belong anywhere. No matter how hard I try. How hard I try to please my father. Who wants me to be the son he always dreamed of. How hard I try to get a certain boy to look at me the way he looks at…"
She paused there. Not wanting to go any further. Olivier pursed her lips before speaking again.
"Doesn't matter. I'm unidentifiable. Incomplete. Neither man nor woman. No matter how hard I try."
The Phantom took some time to understand everything she just told him. He stood up and paced around the lair.
Olivier Koenig had been going through a similar hell to his. He never thought a day like this would come.
A day where he pitied another human being.
With a quick flip of his waistcoat, the Phantom walked back to Olivier.
"Miss Koenig. Do you think you're the only one who's rejected by the world? Grew up never knowing what it's like to be loved? Well, you're not alone. I too, found peace and a chance at redemption, through music and Christine Daae."
Olivier slowly stood up from her seat to look at the Phantom in the eyes. "So you won't kill me?"
The Phantom shook his head.
"I've decided to give you a second chance. Christine is my angel, as I was hers. I will not give up without a fight. And this time, you will help me. Properly. We understand each other like no one else. Help me win Christine's heart, Olivier."
When Olivier didn't answer immediately. The Phantom stepped closer to her and lifted her chin to face him.
"Then the Viscount will surely notice you."
Olivier gasped. So the Phantom knew. He knew what her feelings towards Raoul were.
Did he witness everything on the opera house roof that night? Including me peaking at Christine and Raoul from behind the statue?
After a couple of seconds of silence, Olivier accepted the Phantom's offer for a second chance.
He held out a leather-gloved hand to her, and she tentatively shook. Sealing their agreement. It felt much more official this time around.
"Ok, Olivier Koenig. From now, we're in this together. You will work for me and I will not let anyone harm you. Including your father." The Phantom explained.
Olivier was amused. "So you'll get rid of my father?"
"For now." The Phantom smirked a tiny bit. "And you'll help me win Christine's heart. Until then, you may come here and leave as much as you wish. Just make sure no one knows except for you. Is everything clear?"
Sweat built up on Olivier's backside. She mentally prepared herself for the question she was about to ask.
"You know my name. May I ask for yours?"
The Phantom looked at a mirror not too far away from where they were standing. He stared intently at its reflection. Debating whether or not he should ask this. He decided to go ahead in the end.
"It's Erik." He said in a low voice.
"May I call you that from now on?" Olivier asked with caution.
The Phantom—Erik, nodded slowly. He gestured for Olivier to follow him and she did.
The two walked across the lair to a room on the other end. The space was warm and cozy, and a little chaise was seated against the stone wall.
"Here, I don't have a guest room. So you may use this as your sleeping quarters for now. You don't need to go back to your apartment tonight. Let me deal with your father."
Olivier stepped into the room and towards the chaise. She gingerly sat down on it, shocked to find how soft the material is. Looking up, she sees Erik about to leave her be.
But then he stopped.
"And remember this, Olivier." Erik turned around to face her. "Your punishment for failure is not yet erased. I'm just giving you another try. But this time, I'm willing to be more cooperative and lenient towards you. I know I haven't given you a lot of reasons to trust me, but please. I ask that you trust me. And I will put my trust in you."
Olivier smiled. It was a small smile, but it was genuine.
"It's like you said, Phantom—uh, Erik. We understand each other in a way no one else can. I put my faith in you. And I promise, to help you and guide you, until Christine realizes that the Angel of Music she fell in love with. Is truly within you."
Response to guest review
Guest (from Mar. 26): Thank you. And you stay healthy too!
Guest (from Mar. 31): Sorry if I wrote Erik going a bit too far with Olivier. I imagined him to act like that around strangers who end up in his home (man or woman). Because he never had a good impression of society. He'll improve his social skills with time.
Lucy CP: Don't worry, he will. Erik just doesn't like random people finding out where he lives (or worse his face under the mask). But his relations with Olivier will grow better.
A/N. Thank you all for reading! I'm having a lot of fun writing this story and if you guys are having fun reading it, then it makes me very happy!
Again, I hope you lovely readers enjoyed this chapter. And if you did, please read it as much as you want! And the overall story too (once it's finished).
I write because I love to write.
But favourites, follows, and reviews are always motivating! :)
Until the next time we meet,
MiraLake
*Next chapter may come a little later