A Phantom and His Family

Chapter 15: The Error of My Ways

Madeleine's POV

When Erik left me alone, I began to break down into sobs. I was touched that even after all that I did to him, by way of harm or neglect, he would still wish for me to be a part of his life and be part of his family.I had never been in a loving family before.

True, my parents spoiled me endlessly, but they didn't do it because they loved me. Since I was born a girl, my parents thought that I held no purpose other than making them rich by giving me away into marriage. Neither one of them wanted to be bothered with me, so instead they would buy me anything and everything I wanted in order for me to leave them alone. 

By the time I was married to Charles Destler,  I had become selfish, entitled, and overall a spoiled brat. Charles tried his best to give me anything and everything my heart desired, but nothing he did was enough for me. It took three years for me to finally care for his needs and conceive a child. He was so overjoyed.  

Every moment we had, Charles would dote over me and the unborn infant. He would always say that he wanted a boy, but if I did indeed give birth to a daughter, then he would still be happy. We were growing to love each other and the child was the source of all of it. We were to be a family with a beautiful daughter to dress up and fawn over or a strong, handsome boy for Charles to pass down his knowledge as a craftsman. 

Little did we know that he would not live to see the birth of his child. 

It was a rather quiet day when I had gotten the news. He had been killed in a freak building accident when some masonry that he was using to build a mansion near the edge of Rouen had fallen on his head, smashing his skull and killing him instantly. At the moment I heard the news, everything fell apart.

I began to drink. 

After the funeral, I began drinking as a way to mask the pain I felt, thinking that being drunk was much better than confronting the hurt and anger that I held against both the world and God Himself. The few friends that I had warned me that consuming all that alcohol might not be the best of ideas, but I didn't listen. Instead, I pushed them away and did even more damage to myself and the child. 

Then came the smoking. 

It happened when I visited Paris. I was to be given compensation money from the rich family that Charles was supposed to build the mansion for. As a result, I was given more than what I had bargained for with 500,000 francs, enough to pay for expenses and bills as well as some extra spending money for myself. 

Afer being dropped off by a carriage, I had been passing along the strings of shops on my last day there and that's when I saw it sitting behind one of the shop windows. It had a royal blue base with a golden stem at the top. had jade and clear-colored beaded tassels hanging from it and attached to it were two rods connected by a yellow tube. (A/N: the item is up top). Intrigued, I entered the store to find dozens more of what I saw in the window along with other goods such as pipes, cigars, and such. 

*FLASHBACK*

"Ah, another customer!" A male voice exclaimed in heavily-accented French. 

I turned around to see a tan-skinned man stepped out of the shadows and go behind the booth, his raven-black hair and beard all tangled and matted and the clothes he wore strange and colorful. Coming closer to me, I saw that he was a few inches taller than I was and he gave off a strange odor that was comprised of unknown herbs, spices, and everyday filth. 

"What can I do for you, Madame?" He asked as I made my way over to the strange object in the window. 

"I'm curious to know what on earth is that strange-looking device."  I answered as he made his way to where I stood.