The next morning, news exploded about Don Baste’s “miraculous transformation.”
The world was stunned to see the impossibly handsome billionaire standing beside his simple wife.
Vanessa—and even Clara’s own family—tried to approach them for money, but security stopped them.
“The doors of this mansion are open only to those with genuine hearts,” Sebastian said in an interview.
Clara and Sebastian lived happily ever after—
A living proof that true beauty is not seen by the eyes, but felt by the heart.
Part 2: The Price of the Mask
The morning after the revelation, the sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains of the Montemayor mansion felt different—sharper, more honest. Clara woke up not to the sound of a heavy man struggling to breathe, but to the sight of Sebastian sitting by the window, a Greek god in a silk robe, scrolling through a tablet with a focused, piercing gaze.
The “Pig Billionaire” was dead. In his place was a man so strikingly handsome it felt like a new kind of cruelty.
“You’re staring,” Sebastian said, his voice smooth as velvet, without turning around.
“I don’t know who you are,” Clara whispered, sitting up and pulling the sheets to her chest. “The man I cared for was grumpy and smelled of medicinal ointment. You… you look like a stranger.”
Sebastian stood and walked toward the bed. Every movement was athletic, graceful, and deliberate. He knelt by her side, the same way he had the night before. “The soul hasn’t changed, Clara. Only the shell. I am still the man who threw his plate to see if you’d yell. I am still the man who listened to you whisper to my feet while I pretended to sleep.”
But for Clara, the adjustment wasn’t so simple. She had fallen in love with a man she thought was broken, only to find out he was the one holding all the pieces.
The Vultures Descend
The “miraculous transformation” wasn’t just a shock to Clara; it was a siren call to every vulture in the country. Within forty-eight hours, the mansion gates were besieged.
First came Clara’s father, Ricardo. He didn’t come with an apology for selling her; he came with a grin and an open palm.
“My son-in-law!” Ricardo shouted through the intercom. “I knew there was greatness in you! Now that the debt is settled and you’re… well, looking like a movie star, surely you can spare a few million for your father’s new business venture?”
Sebastian stood in the monitoring room, his jaw tight. He looked at Clara. “Do you want me to let him in?”
Clara looked at the screen—at the man who had traded her like a commodity. “No,” she said, her voice trembling but certain. “He didn’t sell me to a billionaire. He sold me to a ‘monster.’ He doesn’t deserve the man behind the mask.”
Then came Vanessa. She didn’t come for money; she came for the prize she thought she had lost. She appeared at a high-society gala a week later, wearing a dress that left nothing to the imagination, sliding toward Sebastian like a serpent.
“Sebastian, darling,” she purred, ignoring Clara entirely. “What a delicious trick. We all knew you were eccentric, but this? It’s genius. Now that the joke is over, we can stop pretending with this… little servant girl, can’t we? You need a woman who matches your new face.”
The room went silent. Sebastian didn’t pull away. He looked at Vanessa with a cold, terrifying smile.
“You’re right, Vanessa,” he said. “The joke is over. But you’ve misunderstood the punchline. I didn’t wear that suit to find a woman who matched my face. I wore it to find a woman who didn’t.”
He turned to Clara and kissed her hand in front of everyone. “My wife is the only person in this room who is beautiful on the inside. Most of you… you’re just wearing a different kind of silicone.”
The Cracks in the Mirror
But drama isn’t always found in enemies; sometimes, it’s found in the mirror.
As the weeks passed, Clara began to withdraw. She felt like an ornament. When Sebastian was “Baste,” she was his strength, his hands, his caretaker. Now that he was Sebastian, he was the sun, and she was just a moon reflecting his light.
One night, she found him in his private gym, lifting weights with a ferocity that bordered on pain.
“Why do you still work so hard at it?” she asked. “The suit is gone. You’ve already won.”
Sebastian dropped the weights with a thunderous clang. He turned to her, sweat slicking his chest, his eyes dark. “Because I can still feel it, Clara. I can still feel the weight. I can still hear the laughter of people like Vanessa. I spent three years being a ‘pig’ to see who would stay, but the truth is, I became that person. I’m afraid that if I stop, the mask will become my reality again.”
Clara realized then that Sebastian’s disguise hadn’t just been a test for others—it was a prison for him. He was obsessed with perfection because he was terrified of being rejected again.
“You’re still wearing a suit, Sebastian,” she said softly, walking to him and placing her hand over his pounding heart. “This muscle, this face… it’s just another disguise to keep people from hurting you. You don’t have to be a billionaire or a monster or a god for me. I liked the man who needed me.”
