I’ll Teach You, Marianne.

Chapter 441 – The Price Of Freedom

Watching Anne eat heartily made Alan felt full immediately, even though he had only eaten a few pieces of meat. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Anne eating voraciously.

"Slow down, Anne, there's still plenty of food. This is all for you," Alan said softly, reminding Anne not to eat in a hurry.

Damn it, I wouldn't be this hungry if you hadn't exhausted me since last night!

In her heart, Anne cursed Alan, who had made her suffer since last night, achieving extraordinary releases many times had drained all her energy and it made her very hungry. Even though she was eating, Anne didn't take her eyes off of Alan, who continued to stare at her without blinking as they started eating.

Alan wiped his lips with the small handkerchief that was on the tray. "Can you answer my question, Anne?"

Anne raised one eyebrow. "What kind of question is that?"

"Do you hate me that much, Anne?"

Anne, who had just had a drink, then looked at Alan sharply without blinking and asked back, 

Do you think it's appropriate for me to hate you?"

"Don't throw that question at me, Anne, I'm the one asking you," replied Alan quickly. He looked displeased when Anne turned the question back to herself.

"Of course I hate you. You've ruined all the plans that I have prepared so well. You've ruined my life, you've got me stuck with you in a marriage that I don't want at all. You've ruined the life of a girl, Alan, and now do you think it's wrong that I hate you?"

Alan was silent hearing the words that came from Anne's lips. All the words that she had just said made Alan so hurt. His chest felt tight at the moment. "Sorry, I'm sorry, Anne."

"Sorry? Is it that easy?"

"Then what should I do, Anne? I don't have the ability to go back in time to fix things, I can't change what happened. That's why I'm sorry, sorry that I fell in love with you at first sight, sorry for being selfish because I want to keep you by my side, Anne. It sounds ridiculous indeed, but I really, really like you, Anne, and I have never felt this feeling before with another woman," Alan answered excitedly. His eyes were filled with tears, showing his immense regret.

Anne looked deeply into Alan's eyes. "Then let me go back to London, then I will forgive you."

"No!! Remember, Anne, we are married and you can't just walk away like that, as a wife you have to obey me," Alan said quickly. "And learn to love me, as I love you very much."

"Love…"

"Yes, I do. I love you so much and I swear I will never let you go from my side forever. Only death can separate us." Alan quickly interrupted Anne's words.

"This is not love, Alan, this is coercion," said Anne quietly without realizing it.

Alan grabbed the glass of wine and drank it down immediately. "You should accept me, Anne, just like when you took every touch I gave you when we made love. Because I swear I will never let you go from my side. You are mine forever."

After saying that, Alan then got up from the table and put on all his clothes in front of Anne without hesitation. Before long, he went out of the tent leaving Anne alone, who was still wearing the blanket wrapped around her body.

"Selfish!!! You're really bad," Anne shouted loudly as soon as Alan left the tent.

Since the tent they were in was soundproofed and Alan couldn't hear what Anne had just shouted, Alan kept stepping on his feet to calm himself down. He was afraid of hurting Anne if he continued to argue with her. After her argument with Alan, all of Anne's appetite was gone. She decided to take a shower and clean her body of all traces that Alan left on her body since last night. Because she had made love several times with Alan, now Anne didn't feel any pain, only that her whole body felt limp. She felt so weak and powerless. She didn't want to linger in the bathroom as she had to quickly put on her clothes so that Alan wouldn't touch her again.

After 15 minutes passed, Anne decided to get out of the tent after she remembered about her meeting last night with Erick. Anne hoped to see Erick again even though the odds were low. However, Anne did not want to give up, she wanted to find information about Erick from the officers at the art building near the Camp North Tour complex.

"Hopefully the officers at that place still have a list of guests who attended last night's event," said Anne in a hopeful heart.

With high hopes, Anne stepped out of the tent. She decided to take the risk of finding out about Erick and Alice during Alan's absence. Anne was sure that Erick would help her, that was why she now had high spirits while walking through the cold snow fall that suddenly came. When Anne had just stepped into the path that became the connecting road between the tents, suddenly a large hand grabbed her from behind.

"Anne!!"

Anne, who had looked down in fear, immediately gasped when she heard a very familiar voice. She quickly turned around and almost screamed loudly when she saw Alice and Erick in front of her eyes. Instantly, Anne hugged Alice who had previously stopped her steps.

"Alice…thank you for coming back! Thank you!"

"Of course Erick and I will definitely come back, we can't leave you alone again like two years ago, Anne," said Alice in a hoarse voice.

Erick, who smiled when he saw his lover hugging Anne, then took a deep breath, then lifted his face to the sky with his eyes closed, thanking God for bringing them together again.

"Let's go in, don't stand outside like this. The air is getting colder," Erick said softly while touching Alice's shoulder.

Alice immediately let go of Anne's arms. "That's right, we'd better go inside. I don't want Anne to get sick."

"Go inside? Do you want to go into the tent? But what if Alan…"

"No, Anne, it's not your tent. We've rented a tent here too. I will explain everything later when we're in the tent. Now it's better that we go in," replied Alice quickly cut off Anne's words.

Anne, who still didn't understand everything, could only obey when she was invited by Alice to walk to a tent not far from the tent where she was staying with Alan. Meeting with Erick and Alice had made Anne forget that at the moment Alan was still outside and could come back any time. She forgot about Alan because she was too excited to meet the people who she hoped could help her escape from Alan Knight Clarke. She forgot Alan's request that asked her to learn to love and accept his presence in her life. What Anne wanted now was to be able to return to London, to live a normal life again without having to see Alan beside her when she opened her eyes.

***

"Yes, please find the best medicine to reduce the bruises," asked Alan to an officer at the Camp North Tour office. Alan who actually wanted to calm down after his argument with Anne, suddenly remembered the bruises on Anne's body. That was why he went to the Camp North Tour office to find medicine for the wounds on Anne's body.

To be continued