Se connecterSofia Reyes lived her life by the book... careful, meticulous, invisible. But when a single photograph drags her into the orbit of Tristan Jacinto, Manila's most elusive billionaire, everything she thought she knew about safety and control unravels overnight. What begins as scandal becomes a dangerous dance of power and proximity. Tristan is calculating, magnetic, and built from a world where reputation is armor and affection is currency. To him, everything is a transaction. To her, everything is survival. But the closer she gets, the harder it becomes to tell if she's protecting her name - or her heart. When the smoke clears, will Sofia escape with her life intact, or will she find herself too entangled to ever let go?
Voir plusHer file landed on my desk with all the weight of a nuisance.Sofia Reyes. Lifestyle writer. The kind of name that drifted through company directories without leaving ripples. Forgettable photo clipped to the corner, hair straight, smile forced, eyes that looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. The sort of eyes that belonged to someone who’d learned to endure fluorescent office lighting and polite small talk. The image lacked personality, lacked presence. It was the kind of picture people take when they are told they must, not when they wish to be seen.Ordinary. Forgettable. Unlikely. That was my first impression. A quick assessment, easy to make. The world handed me hundreds of faces a year and most of them blurred together. I expected hers to do the same.But Andrew Lorenzo had called, and when a Lorenzo called, even I listened. They were not people you ignored or dismissed. Their influence stretched across industries, politics, land, histories. Too many doors in Manila had hing
When the balcony door finally opened, the room fell quiet again. All eyes turned toward Sofia and Tristan. They didn’t hold hands, didn’t exchange looks, but their calm faces were enough. Whatever storm had raged between them was over.Elias studied them with the sharp eye of an older brother, then gave a single, approving nod. “Well. The roasted pig is waiting,” he said simply, breaking the tension. Laughter rippled through the guests, though everyone kept sneaking glances at Tristan as if he might disappear if they blinked too hard.Tristan cleared his throat and turned to Elias. “Mr. Reyes… may I bring in the Christmas tokens I prepared?”Elias arched a brow, wary but polite. “Christmas token?”“They’re downstairs,” Tristan replied, almost sheepishly. “I’m… not good at this. My family never really made much of it. But I didn’t want to come empty-handed.”Minutes later, his driver reappeared, arms stacked with identical yellow-ochre boxes stamped with the unmistakable gold Louis Vui
Sofia gripped the railing, her chest heaving, her mind spinning. The sheer, terrifying scale of the crisis in the news clip, the looming $1.5 billion liability, made her past accusations about his priorities feel unbearably small.“I’m so stupid,” she whispered, shame clawing at her. “I’m supposed to be a critical thinker, and I let that spectacle convince me I was nothing. I believed all of it.”Tristan stepped closer, his eyes pleading, his voice low but unwavering. “You are not a mistake. You were never collateral. Never a detour. You’re the only thing in my life that hasn’t felt like a transaction.”He moved until he was right in front of her, his words pressing into the fragile space between them. “I said those things because that’s all I knew. Business. Deals. Strategy. But you…” His voice caught, then steadied, softer than she had ever heard it. “You made me forget strategy. You made me reckless. You made me care. And for the first time in my life, I wanted something simply bec
The living room was suffocating with silence. Tristan Jacinto stood inside Elias’s apartment like a storm that had broken through the door, and no one could look away.“Balcony,” Elias said, his tone brooking no argument. His hand gestured firmly toward the glass door. “You two. Talk.”“Kuya—” Sofia’s voice was sharp, panicked.“Now,” Elias cut her off.The command was final. Reluctantly, she rose from her chair, fury boiling under her skin. Tristan followed, his shadow stretching long across the floor.Behind them, the crowd of family and guests pretended to busy themselves with food and drinks, though every eye tracked their steps. Elias noticed immediately. With a sharp tug, he drew the curtains shut. “Respect my sister,” he announced. “She doesn’t need an audience.” His voice carried weight, enough to snuff out the whispers.Outside, the December air hit Sofia like a blade. The balcony lights cast a faint glow over the city skyline, Christmas lights blinking far below. She gripped












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