All Chapters of Sips of Seduction: The Billionaire Heiress: Chapter 61 - Chapter 68

After the StormThe rain hadn’t stopped—just softened to a drizzle that streaked the café’s glass in thin, nervous lines. The scent of espresso clung to the air, thick with tension. The USB drive still blinked faintly on the counter like a pulse, receipts scattered, hearts still racing from what had just happened.Celine stood behind the counter, her hands trembling as she tried to piece together what she’d just seen. The café still looked the same—warm lights, the faint hum of the refrigerator—but something inside it had cracked. Something inside her had, too.Liam stood near the door, damp from the rain. “You sure you want to do this here?”“She’s not leaving until I get answers.” Her voice broke on the last word.At the center table, Marites sat with her apron folded neatly on her lap. The calm in her face wasn’t guilt—it was control. That same eerie steadiness she’d always worn when the world was burning around her.“Why, Marites?” Celine asked quietly. “You were the one who told m

Morning After the ConfessionThe morning broke gray and hollow, the kind of light that made the world feel tired before it even began. The storm had passed, but its residue clung to everything—to the streets, to the walls, and to the café that still smelled faintly of rain and burnt espresso.Celine unlocked the door in silence. Her hands shook slightly as she flipped the sign from Closed to Open. Behind her, Liam carried in a crate of supplies, setting them down without a word. Neither had slept much. The night’s chaos still echoed in the corners of the café—Marites’s voice, her confession, the look in her eyes when she realized there was no way back.The morning hum of the city carried on as if nothing had happened. But inside Navarro Coffee, something had shifted. The air was heavy, as though grief itself had seeped into the grain of the wooden tables.Celine moved with deliberate care, aligning mugs and checking stock, pretending that normalcy could be restored through ritual. Lia

Mateo’s MoveThe night draped itself over the city like velvet, smooth but suffocating. Inside the Navarro Tower, Mateo sat before a wall of monitors, each flickering with live data—branch reports, shipment logs, and security grids. Numbers rolled like tidewater, but what caught his eye was a single flagged location.Branch One.He leaned forward, fingers drumming lightly on the desk. The café had always been a minor footnote in the empire’s massive ledger, a quaint relic of the family’s past. But lately, it had pulsed with irregularities—altered reports, delayed transmissions, and staff rotations that were unapproved by corporate.“Something’s happening there,” he murmured.Henry Co’s voice crackled through the speaker. “You’re still chasing ghosts, Mateo. It’s just a coffee shop.”Mateo’s jaw tensed. “No. It’s Celine’s coffee shop.”A beat of silence followed. Henry’s amusement seeped through. “Still sentimental, I see.”“Call it what you want,” Mateo replied. “But she’s up to somet

The morning unfolded with a nervous stillness, as though the air itself understood the weight of the hours ahead. Rain clung to the windows like fingerprints, soft and persistent. Celine arrived early, unlocking the café with practiced motion, but her breath hitched when she turned on the lights.Everything had to be perfect.Counters wiped. Registers balanced. Receipts aligned.Not because she feared discovery—but because she refused to crumble under someone else’s pressure.Liam arrived a few minutes later, shaking his umbrella outside before stepping in. “Morning,” he greeted, casual but observant. “You look like you’re running a military base.”Celine gave a thin smile. “Audit day. Not exactly a slow one.”The Shift BeginsThe café opened to its usual flow—students, workers, early commuters. Coffee orders layered over one another, but beneath the normal cadence, a quiet pulse of anxiety thrummed.Ivy showed up promptly, clipboard already in hand. She straightened her blouse, squar