Smug Alert Novels & Stories

During a typhoon alert, Joyce Lane calls me and tells me to pick her up from her company. On the way there, I receive a text from her. "You don't have to pick me up anymore. I'm going to stay over at Fin's place for a few days." I opt not to start anything with her. Instead, I calmly text back, "Okay." In the middle of the night, Finley Jones, Joyce's junior at work, uploads a social media post that's meant for my eyes only. Joyce can be seen huddling against Finley while feeding him some snacks in the photo. The window outside depicts a storm. The caption writes, "It's only befitting for me to tide out the worst weather with the woman I love the most." I leave a like on the photo calmly. Suddenly, Joyce calls me and demands what that like means. I reply coolly, "It means we're breaking up."

My wife has suffered from hereditary migraines for years. After three years of marriage, I finally developed a specialized medication just for her. Carrying a lunchbox, I headed to her company, intending to deliver the medicine to her in person. But her secretary mistook me for a kept man. He dumped the contents of the lunchbox over my head, stripped off my clothes in front of everyone, and even made me swallow the only dose of that specialized medicine. "A mere food delivery guy, and you dare dress so indecently? Today, I'll show you exactly what happens to a homewrecker." Then, with a smug grin, he turned to claim credit with my wife. "Ms. Milstein, I took care of that food delivery guy who was trying to seduce you. How are you going to reward me?"

My husband, Jared Smith, let me take his spot for a highland vacation. After I departed, I found out that I won a random lottery that I had bought before for $50 million. In order to not delay the redemption of the lottery ticket, I took a red-eye flight back home and wanted to share the news with Jared. Before I went into the house, I heard his smug laugh. “That jacket belongs to Sammy, I’m sure! That dumb witch has been eaten by a bear! I’m so glad that Penny and I sent her on that trip.” It just so happened that the tour group chat sent a video of a member being eaten by a brown bear. My jacket was bloody. However, I was not the one who had been wearing that jacket. It had been his lover, Penny Lee.

Book 1 in the Under the Moon Series: Kayden has just finished celebrating his eighteenth birthday with his friends in one of the most popular clubs in town. During his journey home, he runs into a strange man named Rakesh who seems to know Kayden's father. His parents had gone missing when Kayden was a child. Though handsome enough, something about Rakesh really irks Kayden. Perhaps it's all the nonsense he and his grandparents keep going on about, or maybe it is just Rakesh's smug smirk that ticks him off? But whatever the reasons, Gods, Spirits... Vampires? Who believes in those old myths? Not Kayden! Book 1: Under the Pale Moon Book 2: Under the Blue Moon Book 3: Under the Crimson Moon: A Dragon's Pride

Two months after I died, it finally occurred to my parents that they'd forgotten to bring me back from their trip. My father scowled in frustration. "She was supposed to walk back herself. Does she really need to make such a big deal out of it?" My brother, ever smug, opened our chat and sent an emoji, along with a message. [You'd better die out there. That way, Scarlett and I will split Grandma's inheritance.] He received no reply. With a frosty expression, my mother said, "Tell her if she shows up for her grandmother's birthday on time, I'll let the whole pushing-Scarlett-into-the-water thing go." They never believed I hadn't made it out of those woods. After digging six feet into the ground, they finally found my bones deep in the forest.

The day Bryson—the Harding heir—chose Talia Connell, the Connells' real daughter, I found out I was pregnant. For seven months, he went all out planning her dream wedding. Meanwhile, I fought through a brutal delivery and almost bled out bringing Kyle into the world. Then a breaking alert hit— [Harding Heir in Late-Night Street Racing Crash: Wife Critically Injured, Bryson Harding Permanently Loses Fertility] Scared he'd take Kyle from me, I stayed hidden for five years. Then came Bryson's mom's birthday banquet. I got pulled in as a server. Kyle was waiting in the lounge—until he bolted out and slammed straight into her. The whole room went dead quiet. Kyle looked just like Bryson as a kid. No question. Bryson shoved through the crowd, voice rough. "Kid... who are your parents?" Kyle froze, then broke down. "Mommy... I can't find Mommy. Her name is Joanna."

When my father succumbed to a brutal illness, my world shattered. The day before his funeral, my fiancé abandoned me to marry his first love, which added to my grief. When I confronted him, his irritation was palpable. "Megan's dad is dying of cancer," he snapped. "His last wish is to see her get married. I did something good. Can't you see it?" That night, I called him, desperate for answers, only to hear that woman's smug voice. "Blake is in the shower. Can I help you?" I hung up without a word, my heart sinking. Later, he called back, exhausted and dismissive. "I'm swamped with wedding plans. Don't bother me with irrelevant things, okay?" Silence was my only response. I tossed the engagement ring into the trash and canceled our wedding plans, severing the ties that bound us.

On the day I tried on my wedding dress, a stranger burst into the VIP fitting room and slashed me with a knife. She tore my dress to shreds, her face twisted with rage. "A gold-digger like you doesn't deserve a dress this expensive!" The blade, soaked in sulfuric acid, pierced my abdomen, and I collapsed in agony. She grabbed my hair and slapped me, snarling, "Clarence promised to marry me! You're nothing but a homewrecker!" Blood stained my gown as the truth hit me. My boyfriend of seven years had been cheating on me. "Keep staring, huh? My man runs this city. I could kill you, and no one would touch me!" she taunted, smug as hell. With bloodied hands, I pulled out my phone and dialed my brother. "Chris, come get me from the bridal shop. And tell the Thompsons the engagement is off."

I married a man I couldn't touch then slept with a man I couldn't trust. After walking in on my husband in bed with my cousin and getting her pregnant. I didn’t just sign the divorce papers. I lit them on fire. Frigid, they called me. Uptight. Ice queen. So I moved out. Looked for a roommate. Someone quiet. Preferably female. Her name was Kylie. Except... Kylie turned out to be Kyle—a smug, tattooed stranger with a dirty-mouth and secrets carved into his smirk. He’s cocky, cruel, and way too hot for a man who eats peanut butter from the jar and calls it dinner. One drunken night, I let him in. All the way in. And I swore it meant nothing. Until I found my uncle lying in a pool of blood— And Kyle was holding the gun.

Liam Salcedo was betrothed to the President's illegitimate daughter, but he discovered that his fiancée was feigning innocence and purity. He called off the engagement, but years later, his family arranged for him to marry another woman, this time, the notorious daughter of Felix Montes. He, like his older brothers Ethan and Lance, desired to break free from the norm of arranged marriage. He didn't want to disappoint his parents, however. He couldn't refuse his parents' desires, but he was confident he could persuade Selena Montes not to marry him, or he would find a cause not to proceed with the wedding, whichever comes first. He requested a favor from his brother, Lance, to temporarily take over the firm in order to carry out his plan about Selena Montes. He was on the alert for Selena's movements, and when she attempted to flee, he was there immediately to return her, and Felix was thrilled to offer him a position as Selena's bodyguard. It was a fight between the intellect and the senses under the same house, but they quickly fell in love.