He Gave My Heirloom To His First Love

“What happened, Tessa?” Rafael Holmes’s expression shifted the instant he saw Tessa Guzman’s injured hand.

He forgot all about the soothing cream meant for Alora Moore and rushed to Tessa’s side, cradling her hand as he checked the wound.

“Rafael, don’t blame Alora,” Tessa said, lifting her chin stubbornly. Her luminous face was etched with wounded pride. “It’s my fault. All my fault… Just like Alora said, I’m a dying girl—filthy and unwanted. I shouldn’t have borrowed her Victorian-style dress. She had every right to think I’d bring it bad luck.”

“Please, don’t blame her… It’s all my fault for being this way. For deserving this…”

On the surface, her words took the blame. But every syllable cast a darker shadow over Alora—painting her as the cruel one who’d hurt a dying girl and crushed her noble spirit.

Rafael’s expression darkened as he listened. His handsome face—usually like a sculptor’s masterpiece—turned glacial, as if a winter storm had descended behind his eyes.

“Alora, I lent Tessa that dress. She’s gravely ill, and you insulted her? Then you had the nerve to hurt her hand? Apologize to Tessa. Now.”

“I didn’t hurt Tessa. She’s lying,” Alora said, her voice steady. She’d secretly recorded a video right before her phone battery died. Now she just needed to prove it. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for a way to recharge her phone so she could confront Tessa.

“Alora, what happened to you?” Rafael’s voice was cold enough to chill the air. He snatched her phone and smashed it to the ground. “You keep hurting Tessa and refusing to admit it. That vile, unapologetic attitude of yours is infuriating!”

The words pierced Alora’s heart like a thousand arrows. She stood there, stunned, barely registering the shattered phone at her feet. She’d realized Rafael’s heart had drifted away. But after four years together—through every high and low—she never imagined he’d one day call her vile.

“I have evidence—Tessa is framing me,” Alora declared, holding back tears. “Rafael, you call me vile, but aren’t you just as bad?”

“No matter what Tessa says, you believe her. Even without evidence, you stand by her. If she told you the sky was green, would you agree?”

“Alora!” Rafael’s temper flared, his eyes stormy with anger. Her defiance and stubbornness unsettled him.

“Rafael, it hurts…” Tessa staggered weakly. A thin chain slipped from her neckline, revealing a gold-threaded pendant.

Alora’s stomach dropped. That pendant was her parents’ keepsake. There was no way Tessa would give it back now. So Alora would take it by force. She moved swiftly toward Tessa to snatch it back.

“What are you trying to do to Tessa now?” Rafael misread her intent and shielded Tessa behind him. Then, on instinct, he shoved Alora. She hit the floor hard.

Her injured forehead caught the corner of a nearby shelf. The wound split open, and blood streamed down her face.

“Alora…” The sight of her blood sent a sharp agony through him, like needles driving into his heart.

“Rafael, don’t worry about me. I’m filthy, and I deserve this pain. Even if it kills me… I deserve it…”

Tessa managed to say before spitting up a mouthful of blood.

“Tessa!”

With fresh blood trickling from Tessa’s lips, Rafael could no longer focus on Alora’s injury. He didn’t like seeing her hurt, but Alora wouldn’t die, nor would she leave him. Tessa, on the other hand, was near the end—every moment possibly her last.

She was his first love, the moonlight of his youth. Despite past disappointments, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, especially so young.

Without looking back, Rafael picked Tessa up and rushed her out of the suite, her blood leaving a trail behind.

Alora’s forehead throbbed painfully. Blood stained her long, dark lashes, blurring her vision, yet clarity surged through her mind. Rafael had chosen to protect Tessa over her—even when she had evidence proving her innocence.

Her mother once told her that loving someone brought sweetness and joy, offering the soul a refuge—much like her parents had found in each other. Meeting her father gave her mother a family, transforming lonely souls into fulfilled partners.

Alora had believed love was sweet. Yet loving Rafael was unbearably painful. The pain felt contagious, spreading from her forehead to her chest, as if a knife cruelly dug into her heart, making existence unbearable.

Gasping like a fish out of water, Alora spent nearly ten minutes on the floor before she managed to stand.

She realized now that love was sweet only because her mother had loved the right person. Her own suffering came from loving the wrong one.

No matter how difficult it was, she was determined to escape this misery.

Isla Lane, Rafael’s cousin, had been following the pair from a distance, believing Alora cruelly hurt Tessa. She encountered Patrick Dunn outside the hotel, immediately informing him and urging him to confront Alora.

Alora barely found time to recharge her phone before Patrick stormed into her suite with a menacing presence.

Shredded pieces of the Victorian-style dress, stained with blood, lay scattered across the floor.

At the sight of his precious Tessa’s blood, Patrick was ready to tear Alora apart.

“How dare you hurt Tessa again! How dare you!” Patrick seized Alora’s wrist with a brutal grip.

“Time and again, you hurt Tessa… Alora, you deserve to suffer! You’re coming to the hospital to apologize to Tessa now. If she doesn’t forgive you… you won’t need those filthy hands anymore!”

Patrick had tormented Alora more times than she could count since Tessa came back. She didn’t bother arguing. She just unlocked her phone to show him the video of Tessa hurting herself.

Thinking she meant to call for help, Patrick knocked the phone from her hand and grabbed her other wrist. His charming, unruly face twisted with disgust and contempt—his devotion to Tessa eclipsing everything else.

“If you hurt Tessa, you’ll answer for it!”

As he started dragging her out, Alora lunged up and headbutted him, desperate to break free.

Patrick staggered, stunned. He couldn’t believe she’d dared to hit him.

He was about to teach her a lesson she’d never forget—until her lips accidentally brushed his. He froze.

It was his first kiss.

Seizing his moment of shock, Alora broke free and quickly opened the video she’d recorded.