7

His name is Mateo.

He was my first love and also my first boyfriend. His family was the Elnathan family, and they were already pretty well-known for being big businessmen. So, when he dated me, it really was a big deal.

The Rudapriya family is pretty high-class, but when I compare them to the Elnathan family, it's a whole other level. My family's nothing by their standards.

I've known Mateo since we were kids, and we've been going to every Nobles party since then. After our secondary gender test results came out, we became even closer.

Dad was so happy when he found out that I was the dominant omega.

Once again, the world is filled with Betas. They don't have any pheromones and can't smell pheromones. While Omega and Alpha have their own pheromones, The dominant Omegas that are born among the elites usually have it easy. The Omegas that come from commoners, on the other hand, have a harder time finding their place in society.

Every year, there are more and more reports of discrimination and bullying against Omega. A lot of people see Omega as a slave for Alpha and only as someone who'll produce kids for the Family. Sometimes, when the heats start, folks say Omega puts out a pheromone scent that leads to Alpha acting up. The law for ordinary Omegas in the rest of the world is so lacking. There are so many Omegas that can't work just because the HEAT time is relatively long and suppressants—the drugs for HEAT—sometimes don't help at all. That doesn't go for the Dominant Omega, though. They get a lot more respect because of their higher rank.

At the time, I didn't think too much about it, I was more focused on my relationship with Mateo.

He's a Dominant Alpha and I'm a Dominant Omega. We make a good pair, and I know we'll be together for the long haul.

Everything was turned upside-down when my mother passed away. Dad's mental state was a bit rocky, and it ended up affecting the company. I had my first heat on the same day my mother passed away when I was seventeen.

I didn't have a suppressant at the time, so I could only lock myself in the room for a week. It turns chaotic, like a fever dream.

A month later, Dad's company went bankrupt.

They took our house, and we had to move into a run-down apartment. When I was finishing high school, Mateo and I broke up.

"I'm done with you, Shiloh. I can't be with you anymore. I'm not happy with this. My dad wants us to end our relationship. I can't be with you right now, goodbye."

I'm really struggling with the loss of my first love.

One day, I coughed and bright red petals fell out of my mouth. My body was shaking, and my chest was hurting. I've got a lot of pain. My dad was the one who ended up taking me to the hospital.

"Shiloh has Hanahaki Disease. I've never actually seen this disease in person because not many people in the world actually have it."

Dad was pretty upset when he heard that.

"You're saying you're still in love with someone who betrayed you, and now you've got this disease? Stupid!" Dad let out a yelp and gave me a whack.

That was the first time he hit me, and I still remember how bad it hurt.

Unfortunately, Hanahaki is a chronic condition. I've come to realize that the reason for this whole situation is unrequited love. I mean, it's pretty obvious when I wake up and find a bunch of flower petals lying around. It's clear that Mateo doesn't love me anymore.

Unrequited love made me feel like I was carrying around a blood-red rose in my lungs. Every time I coughed, it made me spit out another petal. It really hurt, and it was a bit suffocating.

If I don't do something about it, this flower is going to keep getting bigger and bigger until it kills me.

So, dad locked me in a room, not letting me out because I was always coughing and spitting out petals. My dad, who didn't like it when I coughed, started mixing my meds with my food. I'd often fall asleep without realizing it.

I was twenty-one when my father took me to Madam's and sell me. Madam is really looking forward to getting a dominant Omega to become a sex worker.

Just like with Dad, she didn't let me go out. For a month, I was stuck in a room with no sun or air circulation, which made my coughing worse. I also lost a lot of my appetite, which meant I barely ate anything.

When I thought about taking my own life, I woke up in Gruvv's House.

"Shiloh, let's go over it again. Spit it all out before you take the medicine." Gruvv's voice snapped me back to some pretty painful memories, while both hands picked up all the petals that came out of my mouth.

I wiped my mouth, mixing my drool with the petals, but he didn't look disgusted or annoyed. With one of the housekeepers, he cleaned my bed from the flower petals and wiped around my mouth.

"Do you have a pain in your chest?" He asked.

I took a look at him. I could feel his anxiety from his pheromones.

"Mr. Shiloh, why don't you take a drink first?" The housekeeper handed me a glass of water and a pill that the doctor had prescribed. My dad used to give me the sleeping pills pretty carelessly, but it wasn't those. It was the special medicine for Hanahaki patients.

It stops the cough and keeps flowers from growing in the lungs. I drink it slowly, and my chest starts to hurt more and more. Gruvv laid me down on the bed with my eyes closed. I could feel the tears coming. I don't see Gruvv, but I can sure smell his pheromones.

His pheromone smell was full of worry and anxiety, but somehow it still calmed me down. Out of all the people, Gruvv was the only one who really cared about me.

But, I'm still wondering what he wants from me. It's likely that this attention will have its own costs.

Is he attracted to me because I'm a dominant Omega?