Gaano mo kayang tiisin ang sakit na unti-unting nakakaupos, at ang katahimikang dahan-dahan kang inuubos? Fire Officer Avery Montiero. A name anchored to a title. I earned it, yes, but it was never my dream. I grew up believing that serving the country was the only path my father would allow. Hindi iyon ang gusto ko... pero ika nga, alam ng magulang ang nakabubuti para sa anak? Ano ba naman ang suotin ang uniporme, sumunod sa utos, at kumbinsihin ang sarili na balang araw ay mapapamahal din ako sa pangarap na hindi sa'kin. Madali lang naman siguro iyon? Behind the badges, beneath the helmet, and beyond the flames I willingly faced, a different fire burned quietly inside me. Culinary. Doon umiikot ang puso ko. The kitchen was my only sanctuary--the sole place where the mask could slip. It was where I could create with my own hands and glimpse the woman I was truly meant to be. But strict prohibitions turned that dream into a distant what-if--a parallel life I could only imagine, but never live. Until Seian Jey Lirazan came to our station as the new Fire Captain. To everyone else, he was simply our new superior officer. But to me? He was my childhood best friend. The person who knew me before the uniform, the expectations, and the silence I used to hide from my father's disapproval. And the man I had loved for as long as I could remember. Sana masabi kong ang mahalin ang gaya niya ang pinakamadaling gawin sa buhay ko. Pero ang pagmamahal na iyon? It was never loud. It flickered. It ached. It burned. Kapareho ng pangarap ko. Kapareho ng mga salitang paulit-ulit kong nilulunok hanggang sa mabulunan ako. Kapareho ng mga piraso ng sarili ko na unti-unti kong isinakripisyo, maipagkasya lang sa hulma ng isang mabuting anak. Ang daya ng lahat, 'no?--ang pangarap ko, ang pamilya ko, ang taong mahal ko... Everything in between burned in silence. BURNED IN SILENCE Date Written: August 26, 2024 Book Cover by Artselily

𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 #𝟐: 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 Hanggang saan ang hangganan mo bago ka mabasag nang tuluyan? Ano pa bang kailangan mong patunayan para makita nilang tao ka rin, marunong masaktan? Junior Investigator Maria Coleen Natividad was painted the villain in every tale. To them, she was ruthless, selfish, and cruel--the storm that wrecked every calm. But what they never knew, what they never cared to ask, was the why behind it. They saw only the ruins, not the reasons. Walang nakikinig. Walang naniniwala. Pero lahat ay humuhusga. And then there was 1st Lieutenant Aidan Callejo. The one who saw her--ang tumingin sa kaniya ng hindi pareho sa kung paano siya tingnan ng iba--when the rest of the world chose their blindfolds. He understood the cracks, the shadows, the broken pieces. Still, even he was not spared by her breaking. Even he became one of the shattered pieces she would have to gather. One of the fragments that cut deeper the more she tried to make herself whole. And so to others' stories, she was the antagonist. But from her ground, only she knew--she's broken in ways no one sees. She's shattered in obscurity. 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 Date Written: August 26, 2026 Bookcover Made by Artselily