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Chapter Fifty-Three

Author: Janine Lozano
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-17 14:24:58

Sofia had promised herself she would not look.

She told herself she would keep her head down, drown in edits, let the storm pass. She repeated Carrie’s words like scripture: Do not let the noise control you. She clung to it as if discipline alone could build a fortress around her sanity. Her eyes stayed glued to her screen, her headphones on even without music, anything to muffle the tension that hung in the air.

But by midday, the newsroom hum was unbearable. Every whisper carried her name. Every monitor flickered with Tristan’s blurred silhouette outside her apartment. Even the printers sounded like they were spitting out rumors instead of drafts. Her resolve wavered with every passing second.

Her fingers betrayed her, opening a tab.

The stories screamed back at her.

Tristan Jacinto spotted leaving Echelon editor’s apartment at sunrise.

From Alley Girl to Apartment Girl.

The mystery woman revealed.

Her stomach lurched. She felt heat crawl up her neck, then drop ice cold into her che
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  • Entangled   Epilogue

    Her 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

  • Entangled   Chapter Seventy-Four

    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

  • Entangled   Chapter Seventy-Three

    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

  • Entangled   Chapter Seventy-Two

    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

  • Entangled   Chapter Seventy-One

    Sofia’s stomach didn't just drop; it plummeted into a void. Tristan Jacinto stood framed in the doorway of her brother’s Singapore apartment. He was clearly bothered by the spectacle of the silent, staring crowd. But tonight, his usual fortress-like composure wasn't just strained, it was visibly worn down.He looked like a man who hadn't seen the inside of a proper bed in days. His face, typically clean-shaven to a severe perfection, was shadowed by a day's worth of dark stubble. His impeccably cut hair was a little too long, brushing his collar, and there was a noticeable loss of weight around his severe jawline. His eyes were dark, tired, and deeply troubled. He looked like the one who desperately needed sleep.The room froze, the collective paralysis absolute. Forks hovered mid-air like startled birds, wine glasses paused halfway to lips. The soft, rhythmic blink of the Christmas tree lights, red, green, red, green, mocked the sudden, profound silence that had fallen over the entir

  • Entangled   Chapter Seventy

    Elias and Lia’s apartment in Ang Mo Kio was the kind of space Sofia’s Tomson Road flat could never compete with. The living room was wide and welcoming, its walls painted in warm neutrals, a decorated Christmas tree standing proudly in the corner. The smell of adobo and lechon kawali drifted from the kitchen, mingling with the sweetness of bibingka baking in the oven.Her roommates settled in as if they had been coming here for years. Lani staked out a corner of the couch with a plate piled high with pancit, while Marco and Pia gravitated toward the stereo to queue up music. Sofia’s nieces darted in and out of the crowd, shrieking with delight every time one of their titas tossed them a candy from the dessert table.Elias had gone all out, inviting not only family but a small circle of Filipino friends and colleagues. Some were couples, others single, and the living room buzzed with the familiar cadence of Tagalog laughter, the kind that filled every corner until it felt like Manila h

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