Post-apocalyptique

This Thanksgiving, Elmer Fuller finally agrees to go on a trip with me. But when I wake up in the hotel, I don't see him anywhere. I spend the entire day desperately searching for him, only to stumble across a social media post from his first love. It's a selfie of her and Elmer having a cozy family dinner with her parents. The caption reads, "Someone's finally meeting the parents on Thanksgiving night. Mom and Dad can stop pressuring me to get married now!" Around her neck is the scarf my mother knitted for me before she passed. I left a comment. "Stop using my things to flirt with my husband. Take the scarf off—you can have him." Not long after, she posts an update. The scarf is shredded into pieces and tossed into a dog bed, with the caption, "What trash—too filthy even for a dog!" Elmer likes the post.

Five years after migrating abroad, my husband, Shawn Johnson, brings his true love and her son home. "Jill and Neil are new here. They'll be staying with us for a few days." He and I get into a huge fight over this. On my birthday, Shawn hands me a divorce agreement. He says, "Hurry up and sign it. Jill needs this country's citizenship, so let's divorce for show first." I frown, wanting to ask for more details. However, he points at me and calls me heartless. Shortly after, I see Jill's social media update. "Shawnie divorced his wife for me and Neil! We finally have a roof over our heads." I like the post and sign the divorce agreement. Then, I submit an application to my company to be transferred home.

Today is the sixth time my girlfriend, Shirley Lake, is supposed to meet my parents. My parents and I wait at the restaurant for four whole hours. I call her over and over again, but she never picks up. Just as I'm about to try one last time, I see Shirley's childhood sweetheart, Joshua Solomon, post a picture on his Instagram, with the location tagged at a suburban hotel. The picture shows a woman's pale back, one shoulder bare, with a striking red spider lily tattoo visible on her skin. Underneath the picture was the caption, "We'll make it from 18 to 80." A mutual friend comments, "First-love couples are the sweetest!" I silently hit the like button, then comment, "Make sure to get buried together when you die. And don't come back to haunt anyone else."

It all began with a single post about canceling a food delivery order. Overnight, I became the internet's punching bag. Thousands of vicious messages flooded my inbox, filled with photoshopped memorials urging me to die. They doxxed my family, plastered my personal details across shady websites, and used AI to create obscene images of me, spreading them in vile chat groups. They spread lies about my income, claiming it came from illicit sources, and accused me of carrying diseases. I didn't call the police or block the messages. Instead, I read every hateful word before singling out the 100 worst offenders. Every day, I sent each one a luxurious meal: Boston lobster, Australian wagyu, the works. Each delivery came with a simple note: [Thank you for your hard work.]

In the third year of our marriage, my wife’s ex-boyfriend of eight years suddenly posted a picture on social media showing off a multi-million-dollar wedding house. His caption read: “Wow, got myself a huge villa, I’m the master of charming women!” I stared in shock at the picture, which showed my wife swiping her card at a sales office, and left a single comment: "?" A second later, my wife called to scold me. “I was just fulfilling a promise I made to him back when we were dating, buying him a house. Why are you getting mad at him?” “What? Are you really going to be so vicious as to force me to break my word?” That evening, her ex showed off another lavish post, this time flaunting a renovation bill worth hundreds of thousands. I knew it was a gift from my wife to please him. But by then, I no longer cared.

After four years of marriage, James Lawson, who had never posted anything on social media, unexpectedly updated his status: "What an adorable little foodie!" The attached photo showed a young woman wearing pink cat ears, eating at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Her cheeks were flushed red from the spicy food as she stuck out her tongue. It was Sophie Jones, a new content creator at his company. Within a minute, our mutual friend commented: "Dude, you forgot to switch accounts!" Just like that, James's new post disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, only to show up moments later on Sophie's feed. Then James's name lit up my phone screen. In the past, I would have already taken screenshots and called him first to confront him. It would have inevitably ended in a heated argument. But this time, I calmly watched his call go to voicemail without answering.

Yasha Reese Heuson, a Starlight Supermodel and a promising actress of her generation, is very passionate about everything she does. Enjoying the limelight of her career, sudden news strikes that instantly change her life - that is being linked to one of the youngest bachelors in town, Axis Ford Averion, whom at such a young age has already climbed the corporate ladder all the way to the top, making him one of the successful CEOs in the country. Their paths will cross because of the post tagged into Yasha's social media account, saying that she's engaged to Axis; which they soon realize that both of their social media accounts were hacked. Not wanting to ruin their public figures, they decide to pretend as a couple, hoping that after a month or two, the news will pass while they investigate the real motives of the hacker. Will their pretense relationship lead them to genuine affection? The question remains unanswered if the hacker has a dark agenda in sneaking into their accounts. In getting ahead of their uneventful lives, how will Yasha and Axis handle their playful fate?

When an Alpha of a pack has two sons on the same day, a duel will be held, and the winner of the fight becomes the next Alpha. Ash, a fiery Omega maid was at the arena, carrying out her duties when she perceived the most pleasant smell ever, "Mate!" Her wolf growled inside her. Not caring about the punishment she would suffer, she abandoned her duty post and followed the smell... She was astonished and stopped with fear when she saw her mate was one of the Quinn brothers. The infamous Viking Devil that drinks beer from the skulls of those he had killed... Their eyes locked and he whispered to her. "Mate!" They walked towards each other. But instead of claiming her like he should, he walked past her to embrace another she-wolf behind her. Her sworn enemy. "Mate!" Her heart thudded painfully when she heard them say to each. It was a conspiracy that began decades before they were both born. A conspiracy they were determined to unravel or die trying.

Do you want the physical copy of the series to read ahead? Search Dark Blood Series/Taylor Walker Dark Blood on Amazon. £2.00-£6.00. My name is Killian Saunders. I started off as a normal teenager living a normal life until now. I’ve been pushed from pillar to post, investigation after investigation to find the main problem with my mental health. I live in the psychiatric part of the hospital because I can be a possible threat to everyone around me. But the main problem is, nothing is helping me. No one is helping me. I have no relationship with my family anymore and I’m losing everyone I need and trust. But I feel its going to be too late until I get the help that I need. It won’t be long until I’m not me... it won’t be long until I turn into the monster I fear the most.

In our five years of marriage, my husband, Derrick Wickham, bails on me 99 times for his childhood sweetheart, Jessica Harson. This time, after he stands me up, I find two plane tickets to Frantines in his office. "I was planning to surprise you for our anniversary. Since you've already seen them, we'll just meet at the airport," he says icily. I eagerly pack and get myself ready, arriving early at the airport. I wait from the wee hours of dawn till the late hours of night, but Derrick fails to show up. Then, I see a post on Jessica's social media. "It's my birthday today. Though he doesn't have the time to go on a trip with me to Frantines, I forgive him because he brought me to the amusement park instead!" In the past, I'd have called him, crying and demanding answers. But this time, I'm truly done.