Novels by Gladys Airende

The midday sun hung high in the sky, casting a radiant glow over the bustling schoolyard. Arthur was wearing a casual shirt and ripped jeans. He was sitting by a corner. His bag on his thighs. He was watching the students play basketball.His eyes were focused on the ball being thrown from one player to the other. Arthur's lips widened every time there was a win. He envied them greatly.Although he should have been one of them, but his marriage to Daphne has made students make a mockery of him in college. Arthur's eyes unconsciously became moist and started to blur, But then-The ball suddenly hits his face, and his eyes sparkle.He held the ball, and all he could see at that moment was the backboard.One of the players ran to Arthur, "Throw the ball, Arthur." But all Arthur thought at that moment was to make a basket. Just before they could reach him, Arthur jumped and threw the ball. Everyone's eyes followed the ball, and to their surprise-It was a goal!"Yes!" Arthur screa

Arthur returned with the pill he had just prepared. As he entered the room, a pungent odor filled the air, causing those present to wrinkle their noses in discomfort. "What the hell is that?" Mr Lee frowned upon seeing Arthur and yelled, "Take that thing out of here." "Grandfather!" Nicole was surprised at her grandfather reaction towards Arthur, "What's that Arthur? It stinks so much!" " It's the pill for Mr Lee, it will cure him." Arthur walked closer.The closer it got, it made the stench even worse. Arthur was confident in the healing properties of this traditional pill made from local herbs.Doctor Chan, who had been overseeing Mr. Lee's condition, raised an incredulous eyebrow. He had heard of alternative treatments, but this was unlike anything he had encountered before."Are you seriously suggesting that this... thing," he gestured towards the odorous pill, "can cure a man in Mr. Lee's condition?" "I believe it can, Doctor. Traditional medicine often holds great wisdom.

A familiar car pulled up to the gate. Nicole stepped out. The grind on her face widened as she approached Arthur quickly, her heels clicking on the pavement."Arthur!" Nicole called out, "I've been instructed to take you to a hotel. Come with me."Arthur, and nodded as he followed Nicole to her car. He loaded his luggage into the trunk, and they drove away from the Lin estate.The drive to the hotel was mostly quiet. Despite Nicole tried to engage Arthur in a conversation, he was spacing out in between. Nicole occasionally glanced at Arthur, her worry evident in her eyes. She could tell that something was bothering him, but she didn't press him for details.They arrived at the hotel, and Nicole helped Arthur check in. She assured him that her grandfather, Mr. Lee, would be joining them soon to discuss the business matters he had mentioned earlier.Just as they were settling into the hotel room, Nicole's phone buzzed with an urgent message. She glanced at the screen and her face paled

Arthur held the divorce papers that Daphne had handed him. The tension in the air was palpable as they stood facing each other.Daphne, her voice filled with irritation, broke the silence. "Well, Arthur, why aren't you signing? I'm done with you." Arthur's response was calm, and a faint smile played on his lips. "Oh, Daphne, you must have misunderstood."Daphne's eyes widened in surprise. She had expected a different reaction from Arthur, perhaps a plea for reconciliation. His composed response caught her off guard, and it seemed to irritate her even more.Mr. Yang, who had been staring at Daphne noticed Daphne's frustration. He then chimed in, "Daphne, you should be happy to let go of such a wretched man."Daphne nodded, her irritation evident. "You're right, Mr. Yang. I'm very delighted." Arthur couldn't help but smile at Mr. Yang's comment. He took a pen from the table, signed the divorce papers and handed them to Daphne. "There you go, Daphne. I wish you luck."With that, Arthur

As the evening drew to a close, Nicole turned to Arthur and offered, "Arthur, it's getting late, and I wouldn't want you to be out on the streets at this hour. Would you like a ride home?"Arthur hesitated for a moment, his mind racing. He didn't have a home of his own to return to, not after the threats he had received. Going back to his in-laws' place was out of the question, considering the danger he was in."I appreciate the offer, Nicole," Arthur replied, "but it's not necessary, I will take the bus."Nicole's brows furrowed with concern, and she didn't seem convinced by his response. "Are you sure, Arthur? It's late, and the street can be dangerous at this hour." Mr. Lee chimed in, his voice warm and persuasive, "Nicole is right, my boy. You've done so much for us, and I would feel much better knowing you're safe for the night. Please accept her offer."Arthur found himself in a tight spot. He didn't want to burden Nicole.He knew if they found out about his situation, they mig

The room was filled with a warm, grateful atmosphere as Mr. Lee continued to recover. Arthur sat in the corner, as he stared at his hands. He couldn't believe he was able to heal a person. Arthur was unable to guess the extent of his powers and it didn't exactly make him excited, he was terrified for some reasons.He felt the need to know more about his powers and the man who had appeared to him as his ancestors."Arthur." Nicole's voice erupted him from reverie. Arthur quickly set his gaze on and smiled, "Hey Nicole." "Arthur," she said, approaching him with genuine gratitude in her eyes, "I can't thank you enough for what you've done. You saved my grandfather's life."The sense of relief was palpable, and it brought a smile to Nicole's face.Arthur, still recovering from his earlier exhaustion, managed a weak but sincere smile. "I'm just glad I could help, Nicole. Your kindness when you found me meant everything to me. I owed it to you."Nicole's eyes glimmered as she listened t

Davide and Mr Lee decided to check on the designers. The car ride had been silent, upon the discovery they just made considering Avery and even Mr Lee himself, one would believe they would be talking non stop about it but surprisingly, they weren't.They were both silent. Keeping their thoughts in, wondering if the other would like to talk. "How do you feel?" Mr Lee broke the silence, "you've been quiet, it makes me anxious".Davide chuckled, "I'm just thinking about what happened"."You have a suspect in mind" it wasn't a question, it was more of a declaration because it was the truth. These past few days, Mr Lee could say that he knew Davide to a extent and he knew that Davide had been thinking about this since Avery had said itFor Davide to have been told that he knew who the person was, his thoughts had not been able to settle, the erraticness of his heart was what shut his mouth up. He could not voice how he was feeling, where was hurting or would he come up with what to do abo

Cassie and Avery were no doubt excited about this. Seeing that Avery knew a lot about fashion and knew a lot of designers, Cassie decided that in this secret mission of theirs, Avery was going to be her assistant."I think it'll help tremendously if we were to leave the country". Avery said.Cassie, Davide and Mr Lee looked at her in confusion. They couldn't understand how this would help, they couldn't see it from her point of view.Avery recognized the confusion in them and only smiled before further explaining: "I know Cassie would be the last person they would think to search, but she will still be on the list, they know you guys are together and that Cassie is obviously on your side. So the best way to ensure that they don't find out about this, is to do this in another country".Davide nodded his head, "you're right," he said. "Leaving the country is a good pla

Mr Lee sounded so broken as he talked about his father. When he had told Davide about his family, he never really went into details about anything, only sliding over the surface as he spoke about the things his parents had put him through. He didn't talk about the punches, about how he had to defend himself against them, about how he had felt to see the man he called his father, the man he was supposed to love, the man that was supposed to be his hero turn into his greatest adversary. He never spoke about how those punches destroyed him, he only talked about how his mother's words broke him acting like the effect of his father's actions had not in any way affected him when in actuality it had made him less of a person. He had lived with the trauma, he had received abuses, punches from people just because it felt natural. But he was an adult now and he knew nothing about fighting back. He could not fight back because he was broken, he had been made less by the most important person to

Davide's heart was beating against his chest violently like drums at a carnival as he waited impatiently for Avery to say what she wanted to say. He was anxious, he wondered if Avery was confident in her own answer, if she really believed that she knew the person.He figured that if she really does know who it was that had come for the gold, then he would know that person as well. Sure, Avery did know a lot of people that he didn't know but the list of suspects was reduced to the people that Avery knew who also knew Davide. This attack, this hate was only against him. It was too strong to be said that It was targeted at the people that were around Avery. This person was coming for Davide directly and so he must know them.A fear gripped his heart, he had known for a while now that the person who was plotting against him in such a way was an acquaintance or even a friend, but being met with facts that proved his deductions had been corr

It did not cross Avery's mind that that was a question she should be asking a perpetrator who was clothed in black clothes. She was, however, anxious and also very scared. The physique of the person was tiny, they looked short and for some reason very curvy.Avery kept scrutinizing the person as the two of them stayed in the same position, eyes focused on the other. Avery wss unrelenting, she was not going to back down, she had been trying her hardest to atone for her sins and now that it seemed she really didn't need atonement the least she could do was give back what she had taken. But this person was going to rob her of that chance.It was highly impossible that Avery was going to let them.The person's eyes darted around the room, possibly looking for an opportunity to escape, but it was unlike it seeing that the room was messy and the only way that they would be able to escape was to jump over heaps of clothes or maybe fly, and it was very impossible that the person could fly.Av

The car ride was silent. But it was mainly because they both just got in. Avery wanted to say a lot of things to him but they mostly just circled around the words: "Thank you".She didn't know where to begin, his eyes were on the road as he drove, she wondered if she was the only one feeling this way. It wasn't so hard to guess that he was just being nice, he just pitied her. Though she felt that maybe it was more than that, maybe there was something else but she couldn't really say. She didn't know how to start the conversation. She didn't know how to start telling him thank you.Mr Lee however was more nervous than she was. He was sweating in places he didn't think existed. His heart was beating very fast and he was surely in need of a conversation.He wanted to talk to her about what happened, however, he was worried that maybe she would get the wrong idea, it was mainly that he wanted to talk about when the depression started, when she started to feel like there was nothing holdin