🤍
---
Chapter 19: If You Submit, You're Seen
The email arrived at 2:14 a.m.
Kiara was still awake.
She had learned, lately, that sleep came only after decisions were made—and tonight, none of them felt finished.
Subject: K-RAP National Business & Innovation Entry
Deadline: 72 hours
Submission Type: Public — Online Voting Enabled
Her heart thudded.
Public.
Online.
Permanent.
She clicked.
The brief loaded slowly, taunting her with polished fonts and confident language.
Participants are encouraged to submit innovative business concepts rooted in real-world application. Projects will be published on the K-RAP digital platform. Peer engagement, commentary, and public metrics will contribute to final scoring.
In other words:
If you submit, you are seen.
If you are seen, you are judged.
Her phone buzzed almost immediately.
Eleanor:
We need to talk. Tomorrow. No delays.
Kiara closed her laptop and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
This was the fork in the road Shane's mother had warned her about.
School or shop.
Visibility or safety.
She thought of Torres Brew—its chipped counter, its stubborn machine, the way it smelled like survival.
Then she thought of the campus. The expectations. The watching eyes.
And Shane.
The way he had stopped himself.
The way almost still burned.
The next morning, K-RAP met in a glass-walled conference room that felt designed to expose weakness.
Eleanor stood at the board, already in control.
"We submit," she said. "We dominate. Or we disappear."
Lucas leaned back. "You skipped the part where we don't kill each other."
Lisa smiled faintly. "Online voting is brutal."
Kiara listened, quiet.
Eleanor turned sharply. "You haven't said anything."
"I'm thinking," Kiara replied.
"About?"
"What it costs."
Eleanor scoffed. "This is what ambition costs."
"No," Kiara said. "This is what visibility costs."
The room stilled.
Kiara stepped forward. "If we submit a concept, it shouldn't be theoretical. It should be real. Running. Vulnerable."
Eleanor narrowed her eyes. "You're talking about your café."
"Yes."
Lucas blinked. "That's risky."
"That's the point," Kiara said. "We build the entry around a real small business navigating survival in an unequal market. Transparent finances. Real pressure."
Eleanor laughed once. "You want to air your weaknesses online?"
Kiara met her gaze. "I want to tell the truth."
Silence stretched.
Finally, Eleanor exhaled. "Fine. But if this fails—"
"It won't," Kiara said. "Because it already exists."
That afternoon, Kiara sat alone in the café, camera propped on a stack of books.
The online submission portal glowed on her screen.
She filmed the counter. The machine. The ledger.
Her voice shook once, then steadied.
"This is Torres Brew," she said. "It's not perfect. It survives because it has to."
She uploaded everything.
Raw.
Unpolished.
Honest.
When she hit SUBMIT, her hands were cold.
By evening, the platform was live.
Comments began trickling in.
Then pouring.
This is risky.
Why would you expose this?
This feels real.
Is this sponsored?
Her phone wouldn't stop buzzing.
Then Shane called.
"I saw it," he said.
Her stomach flipped. "Already?"
"It's everywhere," he replied quietly. "You didn't tell me."
"I didn't want permission."
A pause.
Then: "Good."
She smiled despite herself.
"People are dissecting your numbers," he continued. "Some of them are brutal."
"I know."
"But they're paying attention."
"I know."
Another pause.
Softer this time.
"You're brave," Shane said.
She swallowed. "You're biased."
"Yes," he admitted. "And scared."
"Of?"
"Of how much this matters."
Later that night, Kiara refreshed the page again.
The view count climbed.
Then she saw it.
A featured comment.
Eleanor Wright (Verified):
This project exists because Kiara Torres refused to simplify reality. Work like this deserves to be seen.
Kiara stared.
Was it support?
Strategy?
Both?
Her phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number:
You think telling the truth protects you?
Her pulse spiked.
She locked the screen.
Outside, the café lights reflected against the glass like watchful eyes.
She felt exposed.
Powerful.
Terrified.
Across the city, Shane watched the same page load again and again.
He knew one thing with absolute certainty now.
Kiara had stepped into a space that would not let her stay small.
And if the world decided to push back—
He wasn't stepping away.
Not this time.
Not when she was finally being seen.
---
🧡