PART 2: THE FIRST MONTHS
During the first six months of marriage, Clara fulfilled each “order” of Don Baste.
He cleaned his feet every night.
I prepared his food.
He would accommodate his pillows.
I read the paper out loud.
And he...
He tried it.
Constantly.
“Sure, bring me dessert. Although I already had dinner.
“Clara, my feet are cold. Massage them.
“Sure, I don’t like this dress. Change it.
And Clara obeyed.
No complaint.
Without crying.
Without showing disgust.
But what Don Baste didn't expect...
It was what Clara did when she thought he was sleeping.
One night, he found him “snoring” in his wheelchair.
He approached carefully.
And he put the blanket on his legs.
He kissed his forehead gently.
And whispered:
"Poor thing. I know it hurts to carry all this. But you're not alone. I'm here.
Don Baste didn't sleep.
And those words...
Those words pierced his heart like an arrow.
Because no one, in thirty-five years of life, had spoken to him with that tenderness.
Not even his mother.
Not even his friends.
Not even his lovers.
Nobody.
PART 3: THE CHANGE
Eventually, something started to change in the mansion.
Don Baste stopped giving him cruel orders.
He started asking for things... with “please.”
“Sure, could you bring me water, please?”
“Clara, if you’re not in a hurry, would you sit with me for a while?
And Clara, surprised, sat down.
They were talking.
He told her about his childhood.
How his father had abandoned him.
How his first girlfriend had left him for “being too ugly.”
How he had built his empire so that no one could ever humiliate him again.
Clara listened to him.
Without judgment.
No pity.
Only with understanding.
One afternoon, while reading for him on the terrace, Don Baste said something that made her cry:
“Clara... you’re the first person to treat me like I’m human.
She looked at him.
With eyes full of tears.
“Don Baste, you are eshuman. And it deserves to be treated as such.
He looked away.
Because I didn't want her to see her eyes fill with tears, too.
PART 4: THE NIGHT BEFORE THE ANNIVERSARY
The first wedding anniversary was coming.
