All Chapters of Sips of Seduction: The Billionaire Heiress: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Few months earlier.The lights in the conference hall were almost blinding, but Liam Reyes stood tall beneath them, his navy suit crisp, his sketches glowing on the screen behind him. His voice carried steady and confident as he gestured to the model on display.“This building isn’t just a structure,” he said, the cadence of his words deliberate. “It’s a bridge between history and progress. Designed with sustainable materials, natural airflow, and public spaces that invite the community to gather.”A ripple of applause followed. Reporters jotted notes, camera flashes lit the air. Colleagues from his firm beamed, some clapping him on the shoulder, others whispering about how he was the youngest lead architect the firm had ever entrusted with a multimillion-dollar project.For the first time, Liam let himself breathe. He had clawed his way up from nothing, sketching buildings on scrap paper, surviving sleepless years of exams and unpaid internships. Now he stood here, proof that hard wor

Weeks blurred into each other, each one more colorless than the last. Liam had stopped counting the rejection emails—automated replies that all said the same thing in different fonts: “We regret to inform you…” It didn’t matter whether he applied for senior architect roles or entry-level drafting jobs; once his name hit their system, the door slammed shut.The whispers hadn’t stopped, either. Online forums mocked him with new memes weekly. “#ReyesCollapse” trended longer than his last project, which had stood upright. Sometimes, he felt eyes on him in crowded places, judgment in every glance, even if no one said a word. He imagined strangers murmuring about him behind their hands. Maybe they were.At night, the silence of his apartment pressed down heavier than the concrete beams he used to design. Bills piled on his desk like gravestones marking the death of his career. He tried drinking to drown the noise in his head, but even whiskey burned too clean against the rot of his thoughts

Sleep didn’t come easily that night. Liam lay on his narrow bed, staring at the ceiling, the glow from the streetlamp outside cutting sharp lines across the cracked plaster. His mind replayed the cryptic text message in an endless loop. Help is possible. We’ll call soon.He hadn’t told Sofia. How could he? She needed strength, not more uncertainty. Instead, he’d smiled through his hospital visits, cracking jokes about the food and promising to sort out the bills. But the truth pressed against his ribs like a vice: the payments were due, the debt collectors weren’t patient, and his sister's breath seemed tethered to numbers he didn’t have.His phone sat on the nightstand, screen black, but Liam couldn’t take his eyes off it. Every vibration of the city outside—the distant honk of a jeepney, the bark of a stray dog—made him tense, waiting for the ring. When it finally came, just past midnight, his heart slammed so hard he thought it might crack his chest.Unknown number.He swallowed, t

Liam sat at the edge of his bed, staring at the plain envelope on the table as if it might bite him. The paper was bent where his fingers had crushed it last night, the corners smudged from his grip. He should have burned it. Shredded it. Flushed it down the toilet and pretended none of it had ever happened.But on the dresser, just beside his wallet, lay Sofia’s hospital bracelet—thin plastic, her name written in fading ink. That little band weighed more than iron shackles. It reminded him of every promise he’d made, every vow he couldn’t afford to break. He rubbed a hand over his face, then shoved the envelope into his bag.By midmorning, he was seated at a corner table in Navarro Coffee, laptop open as a shield. The glow of the café surrounded him: the hiss of the espresso machine, the sweet smell of caramel syrup, the low hum of customers chatting over muffins. It should have been comforting. Instead, it made his skin itch with guilt.He glanced toward the counter, pretending to st

The bell over the door chimed, and the morning rush seemed to suspend itself for a moment. Sunlight angled across the counter and set the foam flecks to sparkle. Someone had left a paper cup on the pick-up shelf with a name scrawled in big, awkward letters: Lain.Celine sighed, more amused than embarrassed. She dabbed at a spill with the practiced motions she’d been learning; the job taught her hands to move before her mind caught up. “Worst barista ever,” she muttered, tucked the cup into the back where it would wait for its owner.Orders rolled in like a steady tide: Americanos, oat lattes, a complicated frappe that required extra pumps of caramel. The frenzy was a kind of music. Marites called shots from the register with a voice equal to drill sergeant and cheerleader. Coworkers bumped hips, traded gossip, and covered each other when a pitcher foamed over. The chaos felt honest—no polished smiles for shareholders, no staged applause.During a lull, a kid at a corner table held up a