Author's note: Here is another chapter. For those of you who are Raoul friendly, you might not want to read this chapter because I am going to make him look like a total jerk in this chapter. If you can't tell already, I'm not a big fan of Raoul. I think that Erik and Christine should be together but I can't always get what I want. Anyways, on with the story!

Chapter Fourteen: The confrontation

"I see that you've already disobeyed me Christine. I thought that I didn't want you to be singing anymore," Raoul said.

Christine looked at him, eyes wide. "I don't follow your orders anymore Raoul. I love to sing, and I will be singing in the opera house from now on weather you like it or not."

He laughed. "You may think that you will be singing in the opera house Christine, but you have another thing coming."

"And just what is that Raoul? I thought that I told you that I wasn't going to be living with you anymore. Just because we are still married by law does not mean that you have any control over what I do. I am my own person and I will do what I want and what I want to do is sing in the opera house."

Raoul walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, crossing his arms in front of him. "I agreed to this little arrangement to make you happy Christine. You know how much I don't approve of you singing and how much I hate 'him'."

"I would appreciate it greatly if you called him by his given name Raoul. He is a man and deserves some respect."

"What respect should I give to a man that kidnaps my wife?"

"He didn't kidnap me Raoul! He rescued me! If he hadn't have rescued me when he did then I don't know where I would be now. Probably still unhappy," she replied her voice rising. "Do you know how unhappy you made me? How many nights I cried myself to sleep? You don't know how many times I wished someone would come to take me away from the estate, to take me away from all the pain that you have caused me!"

He stood up quickly, knocking over the chair in the process. "You will not speak to me in that tone Christine!"

"I will speak to you in any way I choose!"

A crack sounded through the room and Christine fell to the floor, her hand against her cheek. Raoul had hit her, yet again.

"What is going on here?"

The sound of Erik's voice caught their attention and they both looked towards the door.

"How dare you strike Christine? She has done nothing but love and care for you!" Erik said, advancing towards Raoul.

Christine stood and backed away, moving behind Erik.

"I shall do whatever I want with my wife! Now stand aside, Phantom!"

"Stay away from me Raoul! I don't want you to come anywhere near me!" she cried out.

"And I don't want you anywhere near this monster!"

"Enough!" Erik cried out. "I thought that we had an agreement Vicomte!"

"We do. But I do what I want and what I want is to see Christine. I heard about her return to the opera from a friend of mine so I thought that I would come and see her return and pay my wife a visit."

Erik shook his head. "That will not happen. You will not see Christine unless it is the day that both you and I have chosen to see her. She does not want to see you and I will not have you upsetting her like this! It's not good for her health!"

Raoul took a step towards Erik. "What do you know what is good for her health Phantom? You keep her prisoner down in that cave of yours. That can't be healthy for her! She's going to be ill constantly!"

Erik paused for a moment then moved to the side so he could look at Christine. "If is alright with her, I will move her belongings up here to her dressing room, and she will live here. If she wishes, she may come down to my home and visit me anytime she wants. However, you may only visit her when I choose, and when she says that you can."

He turned to face Christine, making sure to keep Raoul within eyesight. "Is this alright with you my dear? You are more than welcome to visit me anytime you wish but he is right. It's not good for you to live down in the labyrinth with me. We will move all of your belongings up here and you shall live here, until you decide to live elsewhere."

She thought about it for a moment. Looking between Erik and Raoul, she stepped over to one side.

"Alright, I will live here in this dressing room. But, I do not want Raoul anywhere near me unless it is the day when he is supposed to come and visit me."

Christine turned towards Raoul and took a step towards him. "I do not want you to come anywhere near me. If I had my way you wouldn't even be visiting me once a month. However, we are still married, and I suppose that I do have to let you see me."

Erik turned to Raoul. "Is this alright with you Vicomte?"

Raoul nodded. "This arrangement is fine with me."

"If you don't mind Raoul, I would like to be left alone now."

"Very well. I shall return to the estate. I will be back in two weeks for our arranged meeting, if that is alright with you Christine."

She nodded. "That is fine with me Raoul. Please leave now."

He stepped towards her. "I will see you soon Christine." With that, he leaned forward and kissed her, full, on the lips.

Christine was shocked at first, but then she pushed him away. "What do you think you are doing?" she cried out.

"I am kissing my wife. Goodnight Christine. I will see you soon."

He turned and left.

"Thank you for your help Erik. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't have come along," Christine said, wrapping her arms around him.

"I opened your door, wanting to congratulate you on a wonderful performance and I saw him hit you. I knew that I had to intervene or something worse might have happened."

He kissed the top of her head.

"I have a surprise for you my dear."

She looked up into his eyes. "You do? What is it?" A huge smile broke out onto her face and she brushed her curls out of her eyes.

Erik turned towards the door. "You can come in now," he called out.

The door opened and a timid, shy blonde girl walked in.

"Anne!"

Christine threw her arms around the young girl. "It's good to see you Vicomtesse," Anne said.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I can explain that. When you decided to make your return to the opera, I wanted you to have everything that Carlotta had, including a maid. So instead of hiring a new maid that you didn't know, why not get someone that you knew and trusted already?" Erik said.

"He sent a letter to the estate and asked me to move into the opera house with you. While you were performing, we moved all of your belongings into your dressing room and I have a room just across the hall. If you need me for anything, that's where I will be," said Anne.

"Thank you so much Erik! I don't know what to say!"

He smiled. "You don't have to say anything. It was my pleasure."

Anne walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a nightgown. "It's time for you to get some sleep Vicomtesse. I'm sure that you two will be seeing each other in the morning."

Christine sighed. "I'm afraid she's right. I have rehearsal in the morning."

"Goodnight, my angel," he said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Goodnight Erik. I will see you in the morning."

He turned and went over to the mirror. Sliding it back, he glanced back at Christine. Then he disappeared into the darkness.

"I'm sorry to hear about the trouble between you and the Vicomte," Anne said, helping Christine remove her gown. "I thought that everything was going alright between you two."

"I'm afraid not. I wish that things were going better but Unfournately they are not. I think that Raoul has taken a turn for the worse."

Anne hung the dress up in the wardrobe and then started to loosen Christine's corset. "Vicomtesse? Can I ask you a question?"

"You may, only under one condition."

"What is that Vicomtesse?"

"Please, don't call me Vicomtesse. If you are going to be living with me here in the opera house, please call me Christine."

"Alright Vicom...I mean Christine."

She finished with the corset and handed Christine her nightgown. Christine moved behind the screen and slipped on the thin gown while Anne turned down the sheets on the bed. A few minutes later, Christine emerged and crawled into bed.

"What did you want to ask me Anne?" she asked, settling under the covers.

"Who is that masked man? I've never seen him before."

Christine closed her eyes and sighed. "That is Erik. He is the reason that Raoul didn't want me to sing."

"That is the Phantom that the Vicomte talks about so often?"

Christine nodded. "He is the reason that I came to the opera house. When Raoul beat me until I was unconscious, Erik rescued me."

"Ah I see. Well, good night Christine. I will be along to wake you up in the morning. Sweet dreams," Anne said. She pulled the covers up around Christine and then left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Christine looked around the room and then looked at the mirror. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw Erik behind the mirror. But then the image disappeared. Her eyes grew heavy and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

Well, I think that this is the longest chapter I have written so far. I really hoped that you liked it. If you didn't, then please voice your opinion to me as to how I can make it better. I am still working out the kinks in this storyline that I have worked out. Please read and review. I hope that everyone who reads this story likes what they have read so far, but if not then please let me know and I will do my best to improve. Thank you so much to all who have reviewed so far!

Sarah