Social Intelligence

I was head over heels for Jace Johnston for ten long years, but to him, I was just plain crackers: "Lacking flavor, but folks still nibble on them." Meanwhile, he was getting cozy with another girl behind my back. After a decade of playing childhood sweethearts, I realized it led nowhere. I was done being his side dish. So, I decided to marry someone else. Then, Jace knocked on my door in the middle of the night. "Rea..." "Mr. Johnston, can I help you?" I asked. Just then, a deep voice boomed from my bedroom, "Honey, where did you put my underwear?" Jace stumbled and practically coughed blood right there. Next thing I knew, he was venting on social media, posting: [Some people leave a hole that never fills. Love isn't promised forever, so hold her close and cherish every heartbeat while you can.]

On the 20th of May, Stella Jewell posted a new update of her status on social media: Single, Free to Mingle. PS: Priorities for physically healthy individuals. The accompanying image was a divorce certificate. This surge of actions from Stella was just like she was in the past when she had married into the Kane family without warning. This news caused carnage within her circle of friends. Right after her breakup, she implied that her ex-husband, Keegan Kane, was sterile. Did she have a death wish for doing so? Who is Keegan Kane? A ruthless person that could sue the media company, that had made rumors, until they were bankrupt. Would he tolerate his ex-wife, who left the marriage with nothing, to connote him in such a way? In the end, after twenty minutes, everyone had their jaws dropped again. Under Stella's new account, the newly registered account commented, "Let me out of the blacklist!"

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.

My physics teacher held up my test paper with an 18-point score in front of all the students and parents and said, “Students like this are hopeless. I don’t even know how someone like this passed the high school entrance exam. “I didn’t think there was a way to cheat on the high school entrance exam, but it turns out there is. It gives people like this a chance to cheat.” He did not just insult my intelligence but also questioned my character and family. “Well, it’s not surprising. Only a junk-collecting family could raise a kid like this.” I curled up in my seat, too scared to say anything. But my stepmom could not stand it anymore. She smacked the chalk box off his desk, pointed at him, and yelled, “Who do you think you’re talking about?! “I send my kid to school and pay all the tuition and book fees! How did it turn into us being a junk-collecting family?! “You can’t even teach properly, and I haven’t called you out for it! Have you no shame?! You don’t deserve to be called a teacher! You’re just a piece of trash!” For some reason, she suddenly seemed imposing and heroic to me.

Nalia Mensah came to London with one goal: finish university and build a better life for her younger sister. Love was never part of the plan. But everything changes the night she meets Adrian Volkov. Adrian is powerful, mysterious, and dangerously captivating. To the university, he is a wealthy benefactor funding new programs. To the criminal world, he is the ruthless heir to a powerful empire. When their paths cross on campus, the attraction between them is immediate and impossible to ignore. What begins as stolen conversations in quiet libraries and late-night walks through London quickly grows into a passionate connection neither of them expected. Adrian is drawn to Nalia’s intelligence and quiet strength, while Nalia finds herself falling for the one man everyone warns her to avoid. But Adrian is hiding a truth that could destroy everything between them. Years ago, Nalia’s father was tied to Adrian’s criminal family, leaving behind secrets that powerful enemies still want to uncover. As danger closes in, Nalia becomes a target in a war she never knew existed. Betrayal from friends, threats from rival crime bosses, and a hidden past force her to question everything she believed about love and loyalty. Now Adrian must decide what matters more: the empire he was born to rule or the woman who has become his greatest weakness.

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.

On the first day of classes, my roommate gives me a crystal bracelet as a welcome gift. Without thinking, I quickly adorn it around her mother's wrist. In my past life, my roommate wanted to be a social butterfly. She was determined to have a hundred boyfriends by the time she graduated. But no matter how reckless she was, she never ended up conceiving. On the other hand, I kept getting pregnant and having countless miscarriages. But unlike her, I had never been in a relationship. The entire university mocked me, labeling me promiscuous and shameless. During my 66th miscarriage, I died on the operating table from severe bleeding. It was only after death that I realized the crystal bracelet my roommate gave me had somehow linked our wombs together. As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized I had gone back to the first day of the semester.

Five years of marriage, and as the pack's Luna, I've never been to a single big celebration. Every Moonlight Festival, I spent it alone at home. It's simply because my mate told me the pack has a rule: wolves not raised within the pack cannot join pack gatherings. Even Lunas can't. To follow this rule, I endured my wolf spirit's unease and felt lonely for five solid years. Until the eve of another Elder Gathering, I stumbled upon a post from his first love on social media. Through another woman's account, I saw my mate. She posted pictures with my mate. For five years, at every Elder Gathering, they were side-by-side, never apart. That's when I realized, it wasn't that he couldn't make an exception. It was just that the one he'd make an exception for wasn't me.

I run into a group of rogues on my way home for my daughter's birthday. I call my wife for help, but she blocks my number. I'm dragged out of the car, stabbed a dozen times, and thrown into the bushes to die. My neck is broken, and my organs are spilling out of my body. The rogues think I'm going to die—they even mention each other's names before me. Then, they drive off in my car while whistling happily. I hold onto my head and organs as I crawl to the roadside, hoping against hope that someone will save me. Before I'm taken to the hospital, I see my wife's social media update—she and her secretary have taken a sweet photo together while celebrating our daughter's birthday. The first thing I do after being discharged is demand a divorce.

A few days before my postpartum period ended, I found two plane tickets to Mirelia tucked inside Daryl’s wallet. I was secretly delighted. I thought he had planned a surprise for me. But on the very day I was supposed to recover, he told me that his company had suddenly sent him on a business trip. I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep—only to see his first love post on social media. [Finally fulfilled our promise to kiss at Saint Vyron Cathedral. Thank you, God. After all this time, it’s still you.] The photo showed the two of them holding hands and kissing. I didn’t confront him right away. Instead, I turned to look at my sleeping daughter beside me, then picked up my phone. [Dad, I've made up my mind. I'll take over the family business.]