The girl with a birthmark on her face, called a monster by everyone, married a blind man. On their wedding night, he did something that made everyone cry…

Chapter 1: The Contract of the Incomplete
The upper class in Newport, Rhode Island, is a world built on perfection, lavish parties, and sugar-coated lies. And in that world, Clara Hayes is an unspeakable stain.

Clara is twenty-four years old. She possesses an elegant figure and a gentle soul, but no one seems to care. Their attention is always fixed on the left side of her face – covered by a huge, dark port-wine stain that stretches from her forehead to her cheekbone.

They call her “The Ghost of Newport,” “The Bloody-Faced Devil.”

Since her father’s death, her cruel stepmother Vivian and her two half-sisters have turned Clara’s life into hell. They locked her in dark rooms, forbade her from attending parties, and whispered the most venomous words into her ear every day.

But the Hayes family was on the verge of bankruptcy. To save their fortune, Vivian made the cruelest deal of her life: forcing Clara to marry Elias Sterling.

Elias was the sole heir to the Sterling shipping empire. He possessed billions of dollars, but three years earlier, a horrific car accident had robbed him of his sight. Elias became blind, living in seclusion in his enormous mansion. The Sterling family needed a legitimate wife for Elias to officially take over the chairmanship, and Vivian offered Clara to them at a huge price.

“A monster married to a blind man,” Vivian sneered to Clara in the dressing room on their wedding day. “You should be grateful, Clara. He’s blind, that’s why he didn’t vomit when he saw your hideous face.”

Clara swallowed her tears. She accepted this marriage, resigned like a lamb to a sacrifice.

But what happened during the short month of engagement was completely different. Elias wasn’t as grumpy or despairing as rumored. He was tender, his voice warm and soothing like a cello. He often gently touched her face with his long, slender fingers, tracing the rough birthmark that everyone found repulsive, then smiled and whispered, “You’re so warm, Clara.”

That was the first time in her life Clara felt treated like a human being.

Chapter 2: A Turbulent Wedding Night
The wedding was held at Sterling Manor on a night in October. After the church ceremony concluded, a lavish wedding reception took place in the family’s enormous ballroom.

Clara wore a white silk wedding dress, but Vivian had deliberately torn a section of her veil before the ceremony, fully exposing her crimson birthmark under the dazzling crystal chandeliers. The scrutinizing gazes and contemptuous whispers of hundreds of elite guests pierced her chest like needles.

As the dance music paused for the toast, Vivian, holding a glass of Champagne, staggered to the center of the stage. She had drunk too much, and her venomous nature was beginning to spiral out of control.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Vivian’s husky voice boomed through the microphone. “Today is truly a magical day. Look at our great son-in-law, Elias Sterling. It’s a pity he can’t see. But perhaps it’s a fortunate arrangement from God!”

The ballroom buzzed with excitement. Clara lowered her head, trembling all over. Elias stood beside her, his face hidden behind dark sunglasses, still as a statue.

“That’s right!” Clara’s younger sister chimed in from the audience, her laughter ringing out. “Brother-in-law, you’re the luckiest man in the world! If you could see, you’d surely run away on your wedding night upon seeing the monster you just put the ring on! Her birthmark looks like a devil’s vomit!”

Laughter erupted from the bride’s side, followed by awkward, malicious giggles from some of the guests. They publicly humiliated Clara at her own wedding, convinced that Elias was a weak, blind man incapable of protecting her, and that he didn’t even know what his wife truly looked like.

Clara felt suffocated. Tears streamed down her face, smudging her makeup. She wanted to run away. She wanted to dig a hole and bury herself. She gently pulled her hand away from Elias’s, preparing to flee the wedding hall.

But Elias’s hand suddenly tightened its grip on hers. A strong, firm, and undeniable hold.

Chapter 3: The Twist That Tore Through the Night
Elias slowly released Clara’s hand. He didn’t grope his way, didn’t use a cane, and didn’t need the butler to guide him.

Before the wide-eyed astonishment of hundreds of guests, Elias Sterling strode decisively and precisely to the center of the stage. He snatched the microphone from Vivian’s hand.

And then, he raised his hand and slowly took off his jet-black sunglasses.

The entire ballroom seemed to lose its breath.

Beneath his thick eyelashes, Elias’s eyes were neither dull nor lifeless. His deep blue eyes shone brightly, intensely.

His gaze was sharp and piercing, like that of a hawk. He swept his icy stare across the room, sending shivers down the spines of those who had just been laughing, causing them to hastily avert their eyes.

Elias stared directly at Vivian, who stood frozen beside him.

“That crimson silk dress you’re wearing, paired with that cheap pearl necklace, is a real fashion disaster, Vivian,” Elias said in a low, cold voice, a sneer on his lips. “And the lipstick stain on your teeth is more hideous than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Vivian’s champagne glass clattered to the marble floor. She recoiled, stammering incoherently, “You… you… your eyes…”

“Blind?” Elias scoffed, his voice echoing through the sound system, reverberating through everyone’s minds. “An accident robbed me of my sight three years ago. But you don’t know that two years ago, a corneal transplant surgery in Switzerland completely restored my sight. I kept this secret, playing the role of a cripple in the shadows, just to observe whether those around me were devils or angels.”

Vivian’s jaw trembled. The entire hall fell into a deathly silence. The twist exploded like a thunderclap, shattering all the arrogance and wickedness of the Hayes family. This powerful billionaire wasn’t blind. He saw everything. He knew everything.

Elisas turned his fiery gaze towards his younger sister who had just uttered those mocking words.

“And you think I don’t know what Clara looks like?” Elias snarled. “I’ve stood in the shadows long enough to see through the rottenness inside your designer-clad souls. You call her a monster? You’re disgusted by her birthmark?”

Elias stepped down from the platform, walking towards Clara, who stood stunned, her hands covering her mouth in utter astonishment. Tears streamed down her face as she looked into her husband’s bright eyes.

“Elias… you saw me?” Clara sobbed.

“I saw you from the moment you first stepped into this mansion, Clara,” Elias whispered, his gaze so tender it melted her heart.

He took her hand, leading her to the center of the ballroom. Then Elias raised his hand, signaling to the head butler.

Chapter 4: The Picture of Selflessness
“Pull the curtains,” Elias commanded.

Swoosh!

The enormous velvet curtains surrounding the walls of the ballroom fell simultaneously.

Hundreds of guests gasped. A series of gasps rang out. Several women covered their mouths, bursting into sobs.

Beneath the velvet curtains were not empty walls. These were dozens of large-scale oil paintings, magnificent and breathtakingly vivid.

Elias, before the accident, was a genius painter. And these were the works he had painstakingly painted over the past month behind locked doors.

All the paintings… depicted Clara.

But Elias didn’t hide or obscure the wine-colored birthmark on her face. On the contrary, he made it the centerpiece of every masterpiece.

In one painting, her birthmark was a shimmering galaxy of brilliant crimson stars, embracing the face of a cosmic goddess. In another, the birthmark transformed into a velvet rose blooming amidst the ashes, powerful and proud. In the largest painting positioned directly behind the central platform, Clara’s face was depicted with a birthmark painted in vibrant gold leaf in the Japanese Kintsugi style – an art form that uses gold to mend cracks, celebrating imperfections and transforming them into something unique and precious.

“People call it a deformity,” Elias said, holding the microphone and turning to face the crowd, his voice filled with pride and emotion. “But I call it the greatest masterpiece God has given to this world.”

He turned to look at Vivian and the others, frozen in shame.

“I was in darkness for three years. When the light returned, this world in my eyes was full of lies, filth, and decay. But Clara… her honesty, her resilience, and her pure soul are the brightest, most beautiful light I have ever seen. This birthmark is not the mark of a monster. It is a crown that only those with great hearts can bear.”

Throughout the auditorium, tears began to fall. Not tears of pity, but tears of profound emotion at such an extraordinary love. Servants, butlers, and even guests from the elite class wiped away their tears with handkerchiefs. They witnessed a miracle of art and humanity completely overturning all the vile prejudices of society.

Clara stood amidst her own paintings, sobbing uncontrollably. For twenty-four years of her life, she had been forced to look in the mirror in disgust, trampled upon, and cursed. But today, the most powerful man in this room used his piercing gaze, his paintbrush, to shatter that cage of prejudice, elevating her to the position of a queen.

“And as for the Hayes family,” Elias turned sharply, throwing a glance.

The documents landed at Vivian’s feet. “The deal is done. Sterling Corporation will buy back all your debts and sue you for psychological abuse and financial fraud. Security! Get these scoundrels out of my mansion immediately!”

Vivian and her two daughters screamed, cried, and begged, but the burly bodyguards showed no mercy, roughly dragging them out the door in utter humiliation. They had lost everything forever because of their pride and the blindness in their own hearts.

A Perfect Ending in the Light
When the cruel men had been cleared out, the ballroom was filled with the gentle, quiet notes of piano music.

Elisa threw the microphone aside and stepped forward to embrace Clara. He gently used his thumb to wipe away the tears rolling down her wine-colored birthmark.

“Don’t cry anymore, my goddess,” Elias whispered, placing a deep, tender, and loving kiss on the very birthmark that everyone had once despised. “From now on, no darkness will ever touch you again.”

Clara wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head in his strong chest. Applause erupted throughout the hall, thundering like a clap of thunder, blessing a new beginning.

The high society of Newport had never witnessed such a shocking and tearful wedding night. They entered with disdain for a girl with a “monstrous” face and a “blind” billionaire, but when the door closed, the only thing revealed was their own blindness. And Clara and Elias, they had found each other amidst countless prejudices, proving to the world that true love never loves with the eyes, but sees through and embraces scars, transforming them into the most brilliant galaxies.