The First Time I Felt Loved
Selesyra Elyndra De Leon is one of the daughters of one of the most powerful families in the country-a name that carries wealth, influence, and quiet authority wherever it is spoken. To the outside world, she is the definition of perfection: graceful, composed, and untouchable in a way that makes people look twice.
But perfection is only what she's been taught to show.
Behind the tall gates of the De Leon mansion, Selesyra lives a life no one would ever suspect. She has learned to notice everything-the shift of footsteps, the change in tone, the weight of silence before something happens. She speaks carefully, moves carefully, and exists like someone who understands that being noticed too much can be dangerous.
Still, she survives.
Not loudly. Not rebelliously. Just quietly, day by day, piece by piece.
What makes Selesyra different is not how strong she appears, but how much she has managed to hold onto herself despite everything. Somewhere beneath the silence and restraint, there is still a part of her that remembers softness-what it feels like to be safe, to be seen, to be loved without fear attached.
And then, during a beach trip in Palawan meant to feel like escape, she meets him.
Jeremiah Ezykiel Cañete.
He is nothing like the world she comes from-humble, grounded, family-oriented, and a man of God who carries a quiet kind of peace in everything he does. He doesn't try to stand out, but somehow he does, not through wealth or power, but through presence.
Their meeting is not loud. Not dramatic. Just a moment-simple, quiet, almost unnoticed by the world around them.
But something about it lingers.
Because Selesyra is used to being untouchable... and Jeremiah looks at her like she isn't.
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Jeremiah Ezykiel Cañete - Jeremiah Emmanuel Ong