Rigel Wilde is a boy who has been in love with Nica since the day they met. In The Tearsmith, Simone Baldasseroni plays Rigel.
At Sunnycreek Home, Nica meets Rigel, a talented piano player who is considered perfect by everyone except Nica.
Many people who visited the orphanage wanted to adopt Rigel, who is the pride and joy of the orphanage, but Rigel refused every single one of them.
However, when Anna and Norman asked to adopt him, Rigel did not refuse for the first time and went home with them, along with Nica.
Rigel’s love for Nica
For as long as Rigel can remember, he has been in love with Nica. He has kept safe Nica’s mother’s necklace, which Margaret took from her.
Whenever Margaret punished Nica, Rigel sat beside her and held her hand to help her get through the night, providing comfort when she needed it most.
However, Rigel never tried to befriend Nica or confess his feelings to her because he knew that Margaret would punish Nica if she saw them together.
Rigel would even go as far as to hurt himself to save Nica from punishment. He was the only child who was never punished by Margaret and was loved by her as a son.
What no one realized was that Rigel was also suffering, helplessly forced to watch his friends get abused.
Additionally, Margaret manipulated Rigel into believing that he was a monster, and Rigel believed her.
The villain who was a hero
Rigel only agrees to be adopted by Anna and Norman because Nica is also being adopted by them; he goes with them to be with her.
However, he never confesses his feelings to her or tells her about the things he used to do for her. Instead, he constantly provokes her.
He lets Nica believe the worst of him and she starts thinking of him as the Tearsmith, a fictional figure that can make people feel anguish and cry.
Additionally, he does not tell her that he has neuromas in his brain, which cause unbearable headaches and fevers, and he never received treatment for it.
While living with Anna and Norman, Nica comes to realize that Rigel is not the bad person she believed him to be.
Nica reciprocates his feelings and wants to be with him, but Rigel, believing that Nica deserves a normal family and boyfriend, pushes her away.
To prevent her from getting hurt, he rejects the adoption and leaves Nica’s mother’s necklace behind for her.
Soon after, he saves Nica at the school dance, and she helps him see that he is not the villain he was led to believe he was. Rigel then stops pushing Nica away.
Their newfound happiness is threatened when they are attacked by Lionel. Rigel ends up in a coma after breaking Nica’s fall with his body when they fall from a high bridge.
Although the neuromas further complicate his health condition, Rigel eventually survives and wakes up to Nica confessing her love for him.
Nica still refers to him as her Tearsmith, as he is the one person who can make her cry or bring her joy just by looking at her.