THE ANNIVERSARY NIGHT — AND THE SECRET BEHIND DON BASTE’S “UGLY” FACE
One year passed.
One entire year since Clara had entered the Montemayor mansion as a frightened young bride who believed she had sacrificed her future to save her father.
But something strange had happened during those twelve months.
She had stopped being afraid of Don Baste.
At first, she had thought he was cruel.
Then she realized he was simply… lonely.
He never shouted at the servants.
He never treated Clara badly when nobody was watching.
And despite all his strange demands, he always made sure Clara had everything she needed.
He even secretly paid for her younger brother’s tuition.
When Clara discovered it, she confronted him.
“Why did you do that?”
Baste looked away.
“Because you shouldn’t have to watch your family suffer because of their mistakes.”
That was the first time Clara saw something behind his cold expression.
Pain.
A few months later, she began noticing something even stranger.
Every night at exactly eleven, Baste locked himself inside a private room.
Nobody was allowed inside.
Not even Clara.
Whenever she asked what was in there, he gave the same answer.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
But on their first anniversary, Clara decided she was tired of secrets.
She prepared a small dinner herself.
Nothing expensive.
Just the dishes she knew he liked.
When Baste entered the dining room, he stopped.
“You did all this?”
Clara smiled.
“It’s our anniversary.”
For the first time, Baste smiled back.
It was small.
Almost shy.
“I didn’t think you’d remember.”
“How could I forget?”
They ate together.
They talked.
They laughed.
And for several hours, Clara forgot that she had ever been forced into this marriage.
Then, just before midnight, Baste suddenly became serious.
“Clara…”
“Yes?”
“There is something you need to see.”
He slowly pushed himself away from the table.
Clara watched as he wheeled himself toward the private room.
She followed.
Inside, there was a large mirror, several medical supplies, and something covered beneath a black cloth.
Baste locked the door behind them.
Clara’s heart began pounding.
“What is this?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached behind his neck.
Then he grabbed the edge of something Clara had never noticed before.
And pulled.
Clara screamed.
Because the face she had known for an entire year…
began to come off.
The heavy cheeks.
The scars.
The strange skin.
The entire appearance she had believed was real—
was being removed.
Clara stumbled backward in shock.
“DON BASTE!”
But the man standing in front of her was no longer the man everyone called the “Pig Billionaire.”
He was tall.
Broad-shouldered.
His face was completely different.
Handsome.
Striking.
And younger-looking than Clara had ever imagined.
She covered her mouth.
“I… I don’t understand.”
The man lowered his eyes.
“My name isn’t Baste.”
Clara couldn’t speak.
“My real name is Sebastian Montemayor.”
She stared at him.
“Why would you do this to yourself?”
His expression darkened.
“Because five years ago, someone tried to kill me.”
He explained that after surviving the attack, he discovered that several people close to him were secretly trying to take control of his company and fortune.
So he disappeared.
He created a completely different identity.
He made people believe he was severely obese, helpless, and incapable of running his own business.
The wheelchair was part of the disguise.
The scars were makeup.
Even his voice had been altered.
But Clara still didn’t understand one thing.
“Why did you marry me?”
Sebastian looked directly into her eyes.
“I didn’t choose you because of your father’s debt.”
Clara froze.
“Then why?”
He walked toward the desk and opened a drawer.
Inside was an old photograph.
Clara picked it up.
Her eyes widened.
It was a picture of her mother.
Beside her stood a much younger Sebastian.
“My mother knew your mother,” he said quietly.
“They were close friends.”
Clara stared at the photograph.
“My mother died when I was little.”
“I know.”
Sebastian’s voice softened.
“Before she died, she asked me to watch over you.”
Clara’s eyes filled with tears.
“So this whole marriage…”
“I needed to know whether you were like the people surrounding me.”
He looked ashamed.
“I tested you.”
“I wanted to know whether you would treat someone with nothing to offer you with kindness.”
Clara slowly lowered the photograph.
“And?”
Sebastian smiled sadly.
“You passed the test before the wedding was even over.”
Then Clara noticed something else.
A second photograph was lying beneath the first.
It showed her father.
Standing beside several men.
Her father’s gambling debts suddenly made sense.
Clara looked at Sebastian in confusion.
“What does my father have to do with all this?”
Sebastian’s expression changed.
“Everything.”
He placed the photograph on the table.
“Your father didn’t lose fifty million pesos gambling.”
Clara’s breath caught.
“He was framed.”
Sebastian leaned closer.
“The people who attacked me used your father to hide the money.”
Clara stared at him, unable to move.
“And the person who arranged the entire thing…”
Sebastian paused.
“…is someone you have known your entire life.”
Clara’s face went pale.
“Who?”
Sebastian reached for another document.
Before he could answer, the mansion’s alarm suddenly began screaming.
Someone had entered the property.
And then Sebastian looked toward the security monitor.
His expression turned completely cold.
Because the person standing outside the mansion…
was Clara’s father.
But he wasn’t alone.
He had brought the very people who had tried to kill Sebastian five years earlier.
And this time…
they weren’t coming to talk.
They were coming to finish what they had started.
**Comment “SEBASTIAN” if you want Part 3.**
#StoryTime #Part2 #FamilySecrets #BillionaireStory #PlotTwist #EmotionalStory #UnexpectedTruth