The Devil's Origin

 Victoria didn’t plan to go back to him.

But at 11 PM the next night, she found herself standing outside Sebastian’s villa again, wearing a simple hoodie and jeans, her eyes red from crying.

He opened the door before she even knocked.

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. There was no kissing, and no dirty words exchanged. It was just pure silence.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.

“But you are,” Sebastian replied softly. He stepped aside.

“Come in.”

They sat on the big couch in the living room. Unlike before, there was no wine and no music. Just the sound of the ocean crashing far below the cliffs..Victoria’s voice shook when she finally spoke.

“Tell me the truth. All of it. No more half-answers. No more warnings. I need to know who you really are.”

Sebastian leaned back, running a hand through his hair. For the first time since she met him, he looked tired. Almost… human.

“You really want to hear this?” he asked.

She nodded.

He stared at the dark ocean for a long time before he started talking.

“I was twenty-four and dead broke. I used to wash dishes in shitty Paris kitchens, sleep on friends’ couches, and eat leftover scraps. I had talent, but talent means nothing without power. Then, I met Lily Carter.”

Victoria’s stomach tightened.

“She was performing at a big charity event. I was part of the catering team and was lucky enough to be allowed to prepare some dishes because of how big the crowd was. She tasted one of my dishes and asked to meet the chef. When she saw me, she smiled like she had found something that she wanted to own.”

Sebastian’s voice grew quieter.

“She took me under her wing. At first, it felt like a dream. It was life of private jets, being in famous kitchens, and endless introductions to investors. She taught me how the real world works. She said power isn’t given, it’s taken. And she showed me how.”

He paused, then continued, as if he knew exactly what I wanted to ask next. 

“Marco Vale was the golden boy back then. Everyone loved him. He had a warm personality, great food, and a big smile. But he was in Lily’s way. He had turned down her offer to join her circle of elite chefs she controlled. So she decided he had to go.”

Victoria felt cold.

“She spent months planning it. I helped with some of it. I didn’t plant the evidence myself, but I knew what was happening and I stayed quiet because I knew I would benefit from it. When Marco fell, the doors swooped opened for me. Suddenly, I was the next big thing. Investors who wouldn’t look at me before were throwing money at me.”

Sebastian finally looked straight at Victoria. His eyes were dark and haunted.

“Lily and I were lovers for a while. She liked breaking talented men and rebuilding them in her image. I let her. Because I was hungry and because I was tired of being nothing.”

He reached out and gently took Victoria’s hand.

“Then one day, even Lily became too dangerous. She had too many enemies who were growing powerful too so she decided to disappear from the spotlight… but not before she made sure that I was strong enough to survive without her. That poster you saw? She gave it to me the night she left. A reminder of who made me.”

Silence filled the room.

Victoria’s voice was barely a whisper.

“So everything you have… the restaurants, the money, the power… it’s all built on someone else’s destruction?”

Sebastian didn’t flinch.

“That's one way to put it."

Tears fell down Victoria’s cheeks.

“And you don’t feel guilty?”

He looked at her for a long time without saying anything. 

“I felt guilty for about three weeks,” he said honestly.

“Then I realized that guilt is for people who can afford it. I chose survival, Victoria. I chose power. And I don’t regret what I did to get here.”

He pulled her closer until she was straddling his lap. Not sexually this time - just close, and intimate.

“But then I met you,” he said, resting his forehead against hers.

“And for the first time, I started wondering if I could have both. Power… and something real.”

Victoria closed her eyes, tears still falling.

She should probably hate him. She should probably run.

Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight, her heart breaking and healing at the same time.

“I don’t know who I am anymore,” she whispered.

Sebastian stroked her back gently.

“You’re mine,” he said softly.

“That’s who you are now.”

_

Later that night, as they lay in bed, Sebastian asleep beside her, Victoria stared at the ceiling.

She now knew the truth.

Sebastian Montez had destroyed a man to become who he was.

And yet, she was still here. Still in his bed and still completely in love with him.

Her phone vibrated silently on the nightstand. A new message from the unknown number.

Lily Carter: Tomorrow. 3 PM. The old lighthouse at the north point. Come alone. We need to talk about the man who owns you now.

Victoria deleted the message, but she knew she would go.

The devil had shown her his scars.

And she was still choosing to stay in hell with him, anyways.