Sweet Seduction

Chapter Eleven: Angel of Music, You Deceived Me

A/N: Mystupid computer will not let me respond to reviews, darn it! But I will say most of you were sort of correct in your guesses and some of you were very close. Hope this chap will answer all your questions!

Erik put on his hat and coat , preparing to leave for his meeting with Georges this afternoon. Maybe this would take his mind off Christine and all his worries, but he doubted anything could. Something had been wrong with her since last week, when she and her father had had that argument over God knows what. She wouldn't tell him what was wrong, but he knew something was. Of course, she and her father had made up since then and he'd apologized for...whatever he'd done to her, but something was still wrong. He could tell that, even though Christine pretended to be so happy and smiling all the time. Of course, he still had his lingering doubts towards Gustave, but he was the only one. Meg and Mme. Giry and Jacques and Georges were so happy Gustave hadn't really been dead, and were so pleased to see how happy he and Christine were together. They had been reunited at last. Erik had only confessed a few of his doubts to Marie, but even she told him to stop being so suspicious. He just couldn't shake off his instincts. And it didn't help that the man almost seemed like he despised Erik for living. Oh well. He'd learn to deal with it. At least this morning had been pleasant. Gustave had gone to one of the neighboring opera companies to see if there were any positions open for a symphony violinist, leaving Erik and Christine alone this morning, so Erik was grateful for that.

He called out to Christine he was leaving and Georges might be coming over for dinner again. She told him to have a nice time.

As soon as he was gone, Christine came out into the living room working on Erik's pillow again. Sleeping in that chair couldn't be comfortable, but he was still too stubborn and polite to share the bed with her. She knew he must have thought that she had forgotten about this, but in truth she wanted it to be a surprise. It might have been a nicer surprise it it resembled a circle instead of resembling a jagged pie tin, and if the stuffing was a bit more evenly spread, but she'd find a way to fix that.

She settled down to sew, but she couldn't keep her mind on the stitches. Instead, she kept replaying her father's words over and over in her mind from their argument last week. She chided herself for still thinking about it. He'd apologized and everything was fine between them now, but still, she couldn't forget his words.

She let her eyes wander over the apartment, trying to distract herself. She noticed Gustave's coat was in a rumpled mess near the closet. She supposed he must have dropped it early that morning before he went to look for a job. She chided herself again for being lazy. She was a lady, after all, and it was the woman's job to keep the house tidy. She went over and bent down to pick it up, but was surprised when she felt something solid underneath it that wasn't the smooth wooden floor. She shoved his coat to the side to see what it was. She smiled. It was just a leather-bound folder stuffed with papers. She went to put it on the desk, but she stopped. What would it hurt to sneak a quick look? It was probably just a lot of compositions. Maybe she could find the ones in here he kept forgetting.

She had no idea what was in that folder would hurt her worse than she could have ever imagined.

She settled back down on the floor, spreading out her indigo skirt comfortably over her stockinged legs. She opened up the folder, leaning over it to see better, but she was surprised. They were all sorts of letters. The ache in her stomach grew worse with each page. There were photographs of her in this folder, as a very young girl and more of her at her current age. There were pictures of her father, as she remembered him and little notes scribbled on the back: Size 6 suit, curly hair, lighter skin shade.

She kept going. There was the address to her apartment building and lists of her favorite things: favorite stories, favorite songs, favorite foods, the list went on and on. She felt sick Why would papa have all this is he couldn't even remember who he was?

She now went back to the letters and read through them. She almost threw up. Each of the letters was addressed to a man named Joseph Vernen, and even worse, they were from Raoul. Each letter included specific memories Raoul had written out from what he remembered about Christine and her father when he was a young boy; stories Christine's father had told them, specific details about Christine as a little girl, the letters went on and on. One letter was filled with gold francs "To ensure your silence of this job to anyone else, my good man" Raoul had written. Each letter detailed exactly what this Joseph man should do: Wait for some horrid weather and go directly to this apartment. Use your acting skills to make Christine and her ignorant husband take pity on you and let you stay the night. Act out the story as I've written for you and make Christine believe you're her long-lost father, do whatever you must,make her believe you and earn her trust. Once you have, convince her she is marrying the wrong man and convince her she doesn't love him. Do this and you will be greatly rewarded my good man with ten thousand gold francs paid directly upon completion of the job.

Christine panted, feeling even sicker then before. It finally made sense. This man wasn't her father after all! Her hopes had been dashed once again. Even worse, Raoul had paid an actor to impersonate Christine's father and persuade her not to marry Erik so Raoul could have her! It was sickening that Raoul had stooped this low to win Christine back. To think, she had trusted Raoul and this Joseph person! She had really let herself believe all this time that her dear Papa was truly alive. Well, this certainly explained all of Gus- Joseph's inconsistencies and why he couldn't play the violin as Christine wished. He was a fraud! A lier, a con man, just like Erik had warned her about. Christine couldn't decide who she loathed more at this moment; Raoul for putting together this whole disgusting charade, Joseph for going along with it and lying boldly to her just "doing his job", or Erik, for being right once again.

At that particular moment, Gust- Joseph came in the door, and saw Christine on the floor, struggling not to cry. All thoughts of tears vanished as soon as she laid eyes on him

"Christine, darling" he said comfortingly "What's wrong? Come, here, tell your Father all about it"

She stood up, revealing the folder buried under her skirt and watched is eyes go from comforting to panic. She rushed over to him, slammed the door shut behind him and turned, slapping him with all her might

"How dare you, you bastard! You pretended to be my father for money?"

"Mademoiselle, please understand, I got a family at home. My kids, they're practically starving. I had to get some money somehow and I couldn't refuse the Vicomte's offer!"

"So you lied to me and deceived me! You pretended to be a dead person to win my trust and then tell me not to marry someone, all for the Vicomte's filthy money!" she screamed, raising her hand to slap him again

He caught her wrist before she could sting his cheek and tightened it in his grasp, making her fall to her knees with pain

"I'll show you what else I would do for some money"

At that moment, Erik opened the door to see Christine's father practically breaking her wrist, forcing her onto the floor with pain and leaning over her threateningly

"What the hell is going on here?" he exclaimed, forcing the man to let go of her

"Erik!" she gasped rubbing her wrist "you were right. He isn't really my father! Raoul paid him to impersonate my father to try to stop me from marrying you! He's a fraud!" she screamed

Erik turned to see the man starting to run out of the apartment through the open door. He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him back in, forcing him against the wall

"All right, monsieur, I don't know who you think you are, but you had better start explaining. Right now" he said threateningly

The man cringed "Please, don't hurt me. I already told the little lady here, I got a family at home myself. I got a wife and five kids to feed. I'd do anything for money. Monsieur le Vicomte came into the tavern one night lookin' for an actor and I volunteered for the job. Said he'd pay well and I needed the money. Please, I didn't mean ta hurt ya" he snarled

Christine was trying not to either cry or kill the man. Erik looked like he would have the latter accomplished in a matter of minutes if she didn't do something, so Christine practically flew downstairs to the landlord and told him what happened and he notified the police, who came to Erik and Christie's apartment a few moments later.

"Joseph Vernen, you're under arrest for knowing impersonation of a deceased citizen, and fraud" the sergeant said while two burly policemen bound his hands together and led him out of the apartment

The sergeant turned to Erik and Christine after he finished flipping through Joseph's folder "Monsieur, mademoiselle, I am so sorry this happened, but this man will be in a prison a long, long while. He's rather infamous in the lower parts of town. Calls his acting skills a 'specialty'. It's no wonder he was sent on a job like this. Once again, I'm very sorry this happened, but at least he's finally been captured."

"Sir" Christine says "Does he really-"

"Mademoiselle, before you ask, no, Monsieur Vernen doesn't have a family or a wife and two, three, five, ten children or whatever else he may have said. He's also known for lying" the sergeant said, briefly smiling

He turned to leave "Well, I will leave you two to enjoy the rest of the day. Once again, my sincerest apologies"

"Thank you monsieur" Erik said

The sergeant turned to him for a brief moment, an odd look on his face

"Monsieur, do I know you from somewhere before?"

" Not that I'm aware of. I can't recall meeting you"

"Sorry, my mistake, just that mask" he said, gesturing to his own left cheek "It looks kind of familiar" he said softly before he left. Erik heaved an inward sigh before going to comfort Christine. That had been close.

He hugged her as she sat on the floor sobbing and offered her his handkerchief, which she gratefully accepted, drying her eyes. He held her while she continued weeping, her small body trembling with her sobs.

"I can't believe it. I just can't believe it."

"I know, Christine, I know. It's okay, honey, let it out"

"I thought Father really was alive. I thought maybe he'd come back. I never gave up hoping he might still be alive, but I should have known it was useless" she gasped. Erik stroked her hair gently. He could understand how much it must hurt, to think that a parent was alive again, only to learn it was all a lie. She had every right to be upset about this. He refrained from pointing out he told her it was a con man all along, but strangely, she brought it up

"Oh Erik you were right. It truly was too good to be true. He was just a lying thief, pretending for money" she cried. He patted her on the back lightly

"Christine, it's all right. I was really hoping I was wrong, because I didn't want to see you get hurt. You're so trusting, but darling, sometimes that can be a bad thing."

She sighed "I just cannot believe him!" she said almost angrily

Erik nodded "Some men will do anything for money. It's despicable"

"No, not Gust-Josep- Whatever his name is! I meant Raoul. Why would he sink so low as to do something like this? Why did he just want to hurt me?"

Erik couldn't provide an answer for that one. He just hugged her more tightly

"Christine, I know it's probably not the best time to tell you this, but this sort of thing isn't that unexpected coming from Raoul"

She looked up at him

"Why? What do you mean? I always thought he was so sweet and kind. Well, not anymore, but I didn't think he'd become this horrid"

"Christine, he's not in his right mind. They succeeded in putting him always in the insane asylum. He's locked up in there for good"

She took a minute to digest the shocking news. It looked like Raoul truly had gone insane. She couldn't believe her dearest childhood friend was actually in an asylum. He had always been so sweet and kind towards her, up until recently. She couldn't imagine what had possessed him to do this. He was always such a gentleman towards her, in all regards. She couldn't imagine why he wanted to hurt her so badly. Well she could. He was an insane man, now, and it seemed like he almost wanted to get revenge at her. She was so furious at him right now for making her so upset and confused and hurt all at once because it was all his doing.

Erik was feeling more angry than Christine was at his bitter rival right now. How dare that man knowingly make Christine so upset! How heartless was he? Erik had quite a number of names he was dying to call him, but that only made him angrier, because he couldn't say any of them in the presence of a lady.

Ahh, yet another reason to hate the fruity fop...

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