Tattooed in Moonlight

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I woke up to chaos.

Not my usual chaos—managers blowing up my phone about contracts, fan edits on TikTok, paparazzi staking out Starbucks. No, this was chaos of biblical proportions.

Because apparently, when you get disowned by the President of the Philippines on live television and your billionaire... whatever-he-is declares you're going to marry him, the world takes notice.

My phone buzzed like it was possessed. Twitter—sorry, X, whatever Elon wants to call it—was on fire. Instagram was drowning in memes. Headlines screamed in every language.

"From Princess to Pariah: Kaira Chaves Disowned at Palace Dinner"

"'She Will Be Javierres Soon': Billionaire Declares Intention to Marry President's Daughter LIVE"

"Power Couple or Political Scandal? The Travis-Kaira Saga"

And then the hashtags. God, the hashtags.

#KairaChoseTruth

#NotChaves

#Opposed

#KairaxTravis (oh, kill me now)

And my personal favorite, currently sitting at number one:

#WhenIsTheWedding

I buried my face in the pillow, groaning. "This is hell."

From somewhere near the window, Travis's voice floated over. Calm, unbothered. "It's attention."

I sat up, hair a mess, eyes wild. "Attention? Travis, people are planning our wedding on Twitter. Strangers are designing gowns for me. A fan account just made a playlist for our first dance. I don't even know what song is on it and I'm already traumatized."

He looked up from his laptop, perfectly composed in his usual black shirt, as though he hadn't just detonated my life last night. "Good."

"Good?" I nearly screeched. "Do you know how insane this is? Half the country thinks I'm their revolutionary heroine, the other half thinks I've betrayed them, and everyone thinks I'm your fiancée."

He didn't blink. "You are."

I choked on my own breath. "I—what? No! You don't get to just—"

He closed the laptop slowly, deliberately. "I already said it."

My mouth opened, closed, opened again like a dying fish. "On live TV. To my father. In Malacañang."

"Yes."

"Oh my God." I grabbed my phone, scrolling through the trending topics until my eyes hurt. "Do you realize people are betting on the date? There are literal betting pools, Travis! Someone said October 10 because ten-ten is 'aesthetic.' Another said we'll elope in Macau. Someone else said we already had a secret wedding in Geneva. Geneva!"

He tilted his head slightly. "We didn't."

"Thank you for clarifying," I snapped, flopping back on the bed dramatically. "I was really starting to wonder if I blacked out a wedding while bingeing Korean dramas."

His silence stretched. Steady. I peeked at him through my fingers.

He was watching me with that unreadable gaze, the one that made me feel like a puzzle he'd already solved.

"You'll see," he said softly.

I hadn't even finished groaning into the pillow when the estate doors practically exploded open.

"DARLING!"

I shot upright, hair still a disaster, clutching the blanket like it was a weapon. "Marcella?"