Novels by Arasy

“How could it go like this? You were here just three hours earlier than me…” She complains while pressing the bag of ice to his lips, “and now you have bruises here and there.”“He got it worse.”This is no comfort for her. Claire decided to come because she worried Evan would be alone at a time like this, but she did not imagine he would get into a fight with Rick as soon as they saw each other. That horrible, hideous bastard.She only had to see him for a couple of minutes, but it took all of her strength to remain calm in his presence. Unexpectedly, Evan could not do the same. How did Rick provoke him so?“You did not need to come, Claire.”“I know you wanted to protect me, but I didn't want you to be alone.”“I have to go back to the house tomorrow, after that I’ll pick you up and we can go back home.”He wants to spare her from having to face Rick again, and frankly, she is grateful for it. Since she chose to love Evan, it was inevitable that some encounters would happen even if

Mr. Brown died in a car crash. He was driving drunk, apparently. Evan still doesn’t know much besides the few words his stepmother told him on the phone, and a text message with the details of the funeral.In this kind of situation, Claire doesn't know what to do or what to say except help him pack,“Do you want me to go with you?”She has not been back to Green Valley for so long, and the prospect of doing it now fills her with dread. Evan must know that, too, because he shakes his head and mutters that it is not necessary.“It won't take long. I’ll just be away for a couple of days and you have classes.”Perhaps he just can’t handle that, too, at a moment like this. There is no doubt that going with him means encountering Rick face to face, and she isn't ready for that.“Okay. I’ll take you to the bus station, then.”“I can drive, we’re just a few hours from the town.” He cups her face and kisses her forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”He barely slept a couple of hours, but even

Life is like this. She doesn't have a perfect family, with two parents who have been negligent (to put it nicely), a stepmother who could have been her sister, and two young kids who are her actual siblings and have no idea of the messed up world of the adults. Contrary to her expectations, the week goes by without incidents. She suspects her father might have said something mean to Evan again, but he is tight-lipped about it and anyway it appears to have been resolved, so she doesn’t ask any further.Perhaps the only detail that made her feel uncomfortable is that, in such a big house, she still gets woken up by Jossie crying at 2 a.m. Rushed footsteps from Helen always follow and Claire thinks babies are indeed cute, but they suck all of their parents’ energy, there's no doubt about it. They are leaving after breakfast, and she doesn’t get much sleep afterwards. Her gaze falls on her boyfriend, who doesn’t seem to have the same problem.“How unfair…”In the silent hours before the

He remembers Claire’s mother was a beautiful woman, and yet she wore a permanent scowl on her face that made her look older than what she probably was. Now he meets Mr. Gardiner’s current wife, and can see the man definitely had a type (blond, slender, with milky skin and big eyes, she could easily pass as Claire’s older sister). It’s disturbing, actually, and he kind of understands how a person could become bitter and filled with hatred after such a betrayal. Evan would be more willing to sympathize with Claire’s mother if her treatment of her daughter had not been so awful. He keeps this judgment to himself, since this visit is already a challenge for Claire as it is. “Well, then I’ll let you both rest until dinner is ready.” “Thank you, Helen.” At the stairs, the little boy is staring at them with curious eyes, but he keeps his distance, and when Evan waves at him, he runs away. A timid kid, then. The baby, Jossie, is too young to remember Claire later, but her brother, Tom, is

Singing from the comfort of home, or sharing her covers through the distance of her channel are very different from being on stage. This is the first time since she was in high school, and how fitting it is that Claire attended this concert in this auditorium exactly a year ago… because that was also the start of her relationship with Evan.“Are you nervous?” He asks.How can she not be? She is drumming her fingers on a desk, thinking of what could go wrong. What if her voice just does not cooperate? If she freezes and humiliates herself in front of the public….You think you are good, but outside of this city you will be just a nobody with mediocre abilities at best.Erick would say something like that. He had said things like that, but she knows there is no value in any of those words trying to bring her down, and there are people outside of Green Valley that genuinely appreciate her.So this is something she must do.“A little bit.” She admits, his thumb stroking the back of her ha

When August comes, Claire thinks she never had a summer as good as this one. They spent a week with the Fogels in July, and although Halley still has to do her check-ups every month, she is doing good, which also translates in Evan worrying a little bit less. Afterward they spent a good part of the summer looking for an apartment, before finally landing on this one.“Where do you want me to assemble the bookshelf?”“Hmm. What about this spot? And we can have your desk over there.”“I think this corner will do for your videos. What do you think?”“Uhmm, the light is better on this side.”It takes a while to unpack and decide where everything will go, fitting everything in the small one-bedroom apartment is not an easy task, but they manage to do it in one afternoon, and then throw themselves on their brand new mattress completely exhausted.“I like how this looks now.”The bedroom walls are mostly naked, but she can see it slowly becoming their home. It’s crazy she is doing this with

Today, the boy was accompanying his father to work. His mother was busy too, and it wasn’t good to stay with the teachers and the maids every day, she said. Being only five years old, he was excited anytime he’d get to see his parents working. After all, no other child in Cloud City was in

Ayla finished braiding her hair and stared at her reflection in the mirror.“There’s no reason for you to be nervous.”

“Miles, Lila. You two need to be at Master Rabi’s manor at noon, he requested people for a reckoning and healing assignment. But, when you come back, remember to report to me first.”“Yes, my lady.” The guardians said in unison before exiting the room.

As it should be, now that she had regained her spiritual powers, when Ayla stopped in front of Sussy's place. Ler, who stood silently next to her, was still taking in the surroundings.“I just want to check on her to know she is okay.”

“Oh, I missed this so much.”With things slowly going back to normal, Pinky Cloud opened again, and for the first time in months they were sitting at their usual spot in the shop.

Lyra left the tenth manor the next morning.“Someone has to clean up that place, no one will do it for me, and the flowers will die if I don’t take care of them.”

People tended to use the expression "happiest moment in their lives" too easily until another came to top that mark. When it came to the milestones in this relationship, Daniel first thought the happiest moment was realizing he was in love with Valeria, that he’d been in love with her long before he knew it, and she loved him too.Later the happiest moment changed to the second she said yes to his proposal. Again, he wasn’t aware of how much he actually wanted to have that kind of thing he’d seen his parents have until the idea of Valeria as his wife took root and would not leave his mind.She was just something that happened to him.Naturally, others would ask him after the ceremony was over and he’d been sure he would answer that their wedding day was the happiest moment in his life up to t

The day Valeria visited her mother to show off her engagement ring was perhaps one occasion she’d been waiting for a long time, because what Maria did seconds after congratulating her daughter was to go to the shelf of albums on the wall and pick one photo that wasn’t glued to the book.“Look, I just found this yesterday when I was going through the old pictures.”The photo was taken the summer Valeria and Daniel first met. Her grandfather had bought a bike for her, and don Ricardo had tasked the boy to teach her how to ride, taking that picture just before sending them off to go around the neighborhood.“He wasn’t very happy to be here, I remember.” It was written all over his face at that moment captured by the camera.“T

The fact that he didn’t know Long Wei was marrying until a week before the ceremony could be blamed on his friend not knowing that he’d moved abroad. Only when his mother remembered to tell him about the invitation that arrived to his house did Daniel learn about it.By that time, the only thing he could do was to send a gift and call his friend to complain, of course.“You didn’t even tell me that you proposed?”“Ah, that’s because she did.”Long Wei’s future wife was formidable.It was really despicable that he would be ignored this much, when he’d played a great role the days he took care of Aaron and even Danny sometimes, just so that Long Wei could stop agonizin

“A lot of things have changed recently here, haven’t they? I’m sorry for not talking to you sooner, and not seeing how you could be upset. I thought that since you’re already used to Daniel and we all get along well, it was going to be fine.”“I like uncle Daniel.” Manu was grabbing the edges of the blanket and ready to sleep, but his eyes were wide open as he looked at her. “But are you going to marry him?”“Maybe.” She hoped that one day they’d be there. “That is nothing you should worry about. If we marry, then isn’t it like just making him an official member of our family?”“Mom, I love you the most.”Valeria caressed his chubby cheeks, wishing he’d alway

“I was shopping with some friends, and I found him in front of a store. We went to your house, but you weren’t there, and the kid was crying, so I figured out it’d be better to bring him with me until he calmed down a bit.”It felt as if the dark clouds over her head cleared out, the moment Camila called to say she’d found Manu and that he was okay.What were the chances of that happening? And she’d never imagined Camila would call her first, if she knew that her cousin was in charge of Manu that day. Maybe she didn’t know. Either this had been a horrible act from Mateo’s side, which she doubted since the bastard called the police after all, or it was a miracle and she was lucky enough to get her son back in one piece.Valeria barely waited for Daniel to

“What? When? An hour ago? Why didn’t you tell me immediately?” Valeria hated herself for not picking the phone at the first ring, although one minute wouldn’t change or solve the problem at hand. She knew there was a reason for her to feel uncomfortable with letting Manu go with that man. “You are an idiot. And where are all your ‘men’ protecting my son when he’s with you?!” She hopped into the car, and Daniel put a hand on her shoulder to remind “Ask him where they were when Manu disappeared.” Her eyes were red and her lips were trembling after she ended the call, in part because of her anger, but mostly because of fear. “In the Plaza Mall. But they have looked there

Raeden looked like a land of fairytales (although, to be fair, all stories of fantasy and magic had come to be true after she met Ivar). It was summer here, but a thin layer of snow covered the ground all the way to Jade City. She could see it all from above, the magnificent views that changed first when they crossed Eir until they landed at their destination, and for the first time she thought about how frustrating it could be for him to ride on a carriage when he could always do this instead. People looked in awe when they landed, but few of them seemed to be afraid. Elena couldn’t help but ask why. “Some people tell stories around here. Their parents must have seen it during the war.” Here, it didn’t matter if he wasn’t really the brother of the Emperor and the Gr

Her father had lost his mind. What did he think would be the result of this? He kept repeating that they couldn’t win, that he wouldn’t let them win, but the commotion was enough to have Danna come into the room, and she grabbed Enmanuel from the behind, pulling him away from Elena and sending him flying towards the room's desk.“Your Grace! Are you okay?”“I'm fine, Danna, don't worry.” Elena swallowed with difficulty, feeling her throat sore. Free to think and use her magic properly, she grew vines that imprisoned her father. She tolerated him for too long. “Call the others and take him to the cell for criminals. He can stay the night there.”“You can't treat me like a mere commoner.”She strode towards him an

Pregnant…“Congratulations, my lady!” Mariela clapped her hands in excitement. “Congratulations, Your Grace!”They kept staring at each other in silence, just waiting until they were left alone in the room.Something like that should be impossible for them, and yet, it wasn’t. Elena wasn’t really human, but the vessel of the Emerald Heart, and someone who could already use the Gift of Life in extraordinary ways in spite of lacking experience and control over her magic.Viviana Lagrave was convinced her son was only born because Elena pitied her and felt sad for the kind of treatment she received as a wife who couldn’t bear a male heir. It seemed far-fetched considering that Elena was only a child and unaware of her powers

Two doctors arrived in the morning, quickly installing themselves in the house that Elena had been staying at those days, and with help of the Black Knights, the place became ready to attend to people in no time. Neither Laila nor Mariela seemed to be really surprised seeing that their mistress and the duke had reconciled and came back with linked arms to tell them of their intention to fix the county.“We’ll open an academy here soon, Miros will work on it so that in the future we can send doctors and sorcerers to the small villages too.”“But for the moment, this is already a great relief to the people who couldn’t get medical assistance after doctor Marin left.”They were at the entrance of the house, ready to leave, when the men from the manor came to see what all the fuss was

There was only one doctor in town, the same who attended the Valverde family, so it was a risky move as her father would learn about it and probably hand her to Ivar. But Mariela (who insisted on Elena staying in the house, her eyes would give her away immediately) came back from the Doctor Marin’s house with the news he’d left town weeks ago.“I went to the apothecary to get something for Laila’s fever, and it seems it’s a very contagious flu. Everyone is getting sick, but there’s no one to treat them. Doctor Marin left because the Earl hadn't been paying him for months, and there were many other lords in the region asking for doctors too.”Her father was a stingy pig.“He can’t be so deep into debt that he can’t pay the only doctor available in town

“Lady Elena, do you really think the Duke would try to hurt you?”Laila voiced this question when they were peeling apples for the afternoon snack, sitting near to the attic windows of the abandoned house they decided to turn into their temporary hiding place. It was quite convenient that Elena was able to grow most things they ate or used to cook, because it wasn’t as if they could go out of town freely these days. The black nights were still looking for them in the streets, knowing that they couldn’t make it very far in just a few hours.Eventually, however, they would give up and look elsewhere.“We’ve only known each other for a few months, Laila. Exactly the same time I’ve known Ivar. Maybe I’m not the one who knows him the best, I couldn’t, in such a