Chapter 30: A Second Chance

Claire lied against her piled up pillows, comfortably as the authorities took her statement,

"Mr De Changny and Dufour claims that shooting you was a mistake when they were actually intending to shoot at the notorious criminal known as the phantom of the opera. They have accused Mister Y of being the very same man" the detective told her,

"I have heard of this masked villian and I can tell you that the only person wearing a mask that night was myself so that I could have a bit of fun with Mr Dufour and De Changny... After all, they imprisoned and terrified my friends. It only seemed fair that I give them both a few scares of their own" Claire told them causing the detective to chuckle,

"I see. Well we will still have to meet with Mister Y just so we can confirm your story" he explained politely and Claire nodded,

"Of course... Erik!" she called and the detective watched as a pristine faced, Erik entered the room with a smile,

"How can I help you detective?" he asked politely and the detective smiled,

"Pleasure to meet you Mister Y. I simply wanted to confirm some obvious lies told to us by our suspects. They had the nerve to accuse you of being a disfigured criminal" he explained causing Erik to chuckle,

"I cannot help but feel sorry for them both... They're obviously not in their right minds" he reasoned; The detective nodded in agreement,

"Indeed. The vicomte hasn't been the same since his brother passed away... Tragic really. The brother was a drunk and took a fall from the rafters. Mr De Changny refused to accept the truth and continued to blame the phantom" he explained before putting away his notebook,

"Well... Thank you both for your time. I wish you a full and quick recovery, Miss Claire" the dectective bid before taking his leave.

Erik smiled at Claire and chuckled,

"How did Antoinette do with the putty based makeup?" he teased,

"Well enough" Claire replied with a giggle but Erik couldn't help but notice the uncertain look in her eyes,

"What's wrong?" Erik asked gently,

"You... You don't look like my Erik" Claire admitted timidly and Erik chuckled, gesturing to the make up,

"This is an improvement, believe me" he told her but Claire shook her head gently,

"Not to me" she told him before reaching over to the water basin and grabbed the damp cloth that Antoinette had been using to tend to her fever; She offered the cloth to Erik whom sighed but couldn't help but smile, accepting it and proceeded to wipe the makeup away and revealed the disfigurement hidden beneath. Claire smiled brightly,

"There's my Erik" she said before leaning forward and hugging him; Erik was only too happy to return the gesture.

Claire found it hard to smile when the De Changny family lawyer arrived to collect little Charles whom was hugging her side gently whilst they stood on the steps,

"Thank you for looking after the young vicomte until I was able to make my way here" the lawyer told her politely with a kind smile; Claire knew he was nothing like Raoul or Darius and so made the situation a little easier for her,

"Where will he go?" Claire asked gently,

"It is unfortunate but the young Vicomte has no next of kin considering the situation of his mother's sudden passing and his father's imprisonment. Due to these matters; Master Charles shall be sent to a high achieving boarding school back in Paris. He shall live there until he comes of age when he shall then inherit the De Changny fortune" the lawyer explained but Charles hid behind Claire whilst continuing to hug her side,

"I wanna stay here with Miss Claire" he pouted,

"I'm afraid the chances of an unmarried woman being granted approval of adoption is very low" the lawyer explained and Claire nodded gently, kneeling down to Charles and hugged him close,

"You be good, ok?... I'll send you letters everyday" she told him, pulling back gently to see him pout sadly,

"You promise?" he pressed,

"Cross my heart" she vowed with a sad smile and they shared another hug,

"What are the chances of adoption for a man and his fiance?" a voice asked causing all three to look up towards the concert hall entrance to find Erik whom was once again wearing his putty based make up; The Lawyer held a thoughtful expression as Erik moved to Claire's side before holding her left hand in her own, hiding the fact that she wasn't wearing an engagement ring,

"A very promising chance, Sir" he replied and Erik smiled at Claire,

"I guess we better get started on paperwork then" he murmured, watching as Claire slowly developed a bright smile and she reached up and kissed him passionately much to his surprise but he happily returned her kiss as Charles smiled brightly before hugging them both around the waist with a giggle... It was at that very same moment that the rose Claire had planted in memory of her late son began to bloom.

Who wants a sequel?! Review and let me know what your favorite of the part of the story was in order to unlock the sequel!

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996