PART 2 — On Their Anniversary, Don Baste Finally Removed the “Skin” Everyone Thought Was His Real Face
One year passed.
Clara had never once complained.
She had learned Don Baste’s routines, his medicines, his favorite meals, and even the little things that made him uncomfortable.
But she had also noticed something strange.
He never allowed anyone to touch his face.
Not the doctors.
Not the servants.
Not even Clara.
Whenever she asked about the scars, he changed the subject.
Then came their first wedding anniversary.
The mansion was decorated with flowers.
A private dinner had been prepared.
Clara wore a simple blue dress.
When she entered the dining room, she found Don Baste waiting in his wheelchair.
“Happy anniversary,” she said softly.
He stared at her.
“You’re not afraid of me anymore?”
Clara smiled.
“I was never afraid of you.”
“You were forced to marry me.”
“Yes.”
“And you still stayed.”
“You treated me better than anyone expected.”
He looked away.
“Tonight, I want to show you something.”
Clara frowned.
“What?”
Don Baste slowly locked the dining room doors.
Then he dismissed every servant.
The room became completely silent.
He reached behind his neck.
Clara watched in confusion.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer.
His fingers moved beneath the edge of the skin around his jaw.
Then something unbelievable happened.
He began pulling.
Clara stepped backward.
“Don Baste?”
The artificial skin slowly lifted away from his face.
Clara screamed.
Not because she was frightened by something horrible.
Because the man beneath the disguise looked nothing like the “Pig Billionaire” everyone knew.
The heavy facial scars were gone.
The swollen cheeks were gone.
The distorted features were gone.
Standing before her was a completely different man.
Tall.
Athletic.
Strong.
With sharp features, dark hair, and striking eyes.
Clara couldn’t speak.
The man looked at her nervously.
“My name isn’t Baste.”
She stared at him.
“Then who are you?”
“My real name is Sebastian Montemayor.”
“But… you’re Don Baste.”
He shook his head.
“That man was created to make people stay away from me.”
Clara couldn’t understand.
He explained that years earlier, his family had been targeted by people who wanted control of their business empire.
Several assassination attempts had been made against him.
So Sebastian created an identity nobody would envy.
He used a highly realistic prosthetic body and facial coverings.
He gained weight deliberately.
He appeared weak.
He used the wheelchair.
He allowed people to mock him.
And it worked.
Nobody considered the “Pig Billionaire” a threat.
Nobody wanted to get close enough to discover who he really was.
Except Clara.
She had treated him like a human being.
Even when she believed he was exactly what everyone described.
Sebastian looked at her.
“I wanted to know whether someone could love me without knowing my money.”
Clara’s expression hardened.
“So you lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were helpless.”
“Yes.”
“You ordered me to clean your feet.”
He lowered his head.
“I was testing you.”
Clara walked toward him.
“You were testing my kindness?”
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That you would eventually see me the way everyone else did.”
Clara stared at him.
“You could have simply told me the truth.”
“I know.”
For the first time, she saw something she had never seen in him before.
Regret.
He reached into his jacket and placed a document on the table.
“What is that?”
“Your father’s debt.”
Clara froze.
“I paid it.”
“You paid it?”
“Every peso.”
“Then why did you marry me?”
Sebastian looked into her eyes.
“At first, because I wanted to protect you.”
“And later?”
He hesitated.
“Later, because I fell in love with you.”
Clara’s eyes filled with tears.
“You should have told me.”
“I was afraid I’d lose you.”
She looked at the man standing before her.
For a year, she had thought she was married to the most unattractive and difficult man in the country.
Yet beneath the disguise was someone completely different.
But Clara wasn’t ready to forgive him.
“You deceived me for an entire year.”
“I know.”
“You made me believe I had to sacrifice my life for my family.”
“I know.”
She turned away.
Then Sebastian said something that stopped her.
“You’re free.”
Clara looked back.
“I’ve prepared annulment papers. Your father’s debt is gone. Your family is safe. You don’t owe me anything.”
He placed the papers in front of her.
“You can leave tonight.”
Clara stared at the documents.
She had dreamed about freedom for an entire year.
But now that it was finally in front of her…
she couldn’t move.
Because somewhere along the way, she had stopped seeing the monster everyone else saw.
She had started seeing the lonely man underneath.
Clara slowly picked up the papers.
Then she tore them in half.
Sebastian’s eyes widened.
“What are you doing?”
She smiled through her tears.
“I’m not staying because you’re handsome.”
She stepped closer.
“And I’m not staying because you’re rich.”
She placed her hand over his.
“I’m staying because the man I learned to care about was already there before you removed the disguise.”
Sebastian couldn’t speak.
For the first time in years, the billionaire who had terrified an entire country began to cry.
But their story wasn’t over.
Because the next morning, Clara discovered something inside the hidden room beneath the mansion.
A locked box.
Inside was a photograph of Sebastian’s family.
And beside it was a newspaper clipping from fifteen years earlier.
The headline made Clara’s blood run cold:
“Montemayor Family Murder: One Survivor Still Missing.”
She looked at Sebastian.
“Who was the missing survivor?”
His face suddenly changed.
He whispered:
“My older brother.”
Then he added something that made Clara realize the disguise had never been his biggest secret.
“He’s alive.”
And someone had just found him.
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