She said yes! Hurrah!

He proposed! She said yes!

Mr. Beast slips the engagement ring onto her finger.

How romantic!

Well, not exactly romantic. They’re not exactly in love. I kind of forced them into it. But it’s for their own good. Hopefully. And they will be in love. Eventually. Won’t they? This better work, this better work, this better work.

Just as I begin to doubt myself, Mr. Beast starts to sparkle.

Yes. Sparkle.

His brown fur shimmers and disappears. He starts to shrink, too. He gets smaller and smaller until he’s a normal height.

A normal height and suddenly very, very handsome.

Wow. Mr. Beast is gorgeous!

He has black hair, smooth olive skin, and a chiseled chin. He looks like a movie star.

Beauty’s jaw drops. “Who are you?”

Mr. Beast touches his bare cheeks. “It’s me!”

“Who’s me?” she asks. “What happened to Mr. Beast?” She glances at me. “Why is this guy so handsome?”

“It worked?” Mr. Beast asks, incredulous. “I’m handsome?”

“It worked!” I holler, jumping out of my chair. “You’re really, really handsome!”

I did it! I’m a genius!

Jonah jumps up, too, and we high-five.

“What’s going on?” Beauty asks. “Can someone tell me what’s happening? I’m kind of freaked out! Who is this guy? What happened to Mr. Beast?”

“I’m Mr. Beast!” he says. “Or maybe not technically anymore. I guess I can go back to being Mike.”

“You should be Mr. Handsome,” Beauty says.

Mr. Beast/Mike/Mr. Handsome runs to a mirror behind the dining room table. “I never thought I’d see my skin again!” he exclaims.

“Can someone please explain what’s going on?” Beauty asks. “I’m very confused!”

I turn to Beauty. “A fairy named Jax cursed Mr. Beast — I mean Mike — and told him that he would be a beast unless he proposed and had his proposal accepted! And he did! And you did! And now he’s back to normal! He’s a handsome prince!”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me that?” she asks.

“We couldn’t. That was part of the curse. You weren’t allowed to know. You had to agree to marry him even though he looked like a beast.”

She bites her lower lip and turns to Mike. “But does that mean you only asked me to marry you because you wanted to get rid of the curse?”

He looks reluctantly away from the reflection. “Well … mostly. But you do seem really nice. You even picked out a book you thought I’d like. And Abby thinks we were meant to be together. She said you liked me and wanted me to ask. You’re the only girl who has ever liked me even though I looked like a beast.”

I can’t help but squirm. That’s not exactly what happened. Their entire relationship is based on lies and arm-twisting.