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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.

On the day I get back together with Leo Laycond, he uploads a photo of us on his social media account. I stare at the post for three long minutes until I notice a silver lock icon on the bottom right corner. It turns out that Leo has blocked Lisa Laycand, his younger adopted sister. That sister of his is always the person he cares about the most. I tell Leo calmly, "If you yearn for Lisa even more, I can always cancel the mating ceremony." Leo panics immediately. He deletes the restriction in front of the entire pack so that they can witness our reunion. Half an hour later, Lisa rushes into the training grounds in nothing but a thin dress. Then, she "collapses" in front of Leo. I watch as Leo scoops Lisa into his arms. It's an action that's very familiar to him, as though he's done it hundreds of times. Suddenly, I realize that the engagement with Leo bores me to no end.

My heiress wife's childhood sweetheart has just announced his engagement to someone else today. For some reason, she seems heartbroken. As her husband, my mind turns into a mess when I hear the news. Everyone in our social circle knows that my wife's family is incredibly wealthy. When she buys luxury goods, she basically buys out the whole store. But today, she coops herself up at home and doesn't go out. Worse yet, she doesn't give me the money for this month's living expenses. I'm seriously losing sleep over this. "Honey, please accept reality and move on. Is there anyone who hasn't been a fool for love?" The second I hit send, my heiress wife bursts out of the bedroom, where she was holed up. "Tell me for whom you were a fool. For whom did you humble yourself?"

On Children's Day, the most popular social media post is about me. The caption is: "Mr. Shane Norton spends his birthday with his son David Norton and his first love, Ruth Feynman. Has he finally decided to divorce Ayla Sanderson?" I quietly press the "like" button. When my phone rings, I'm in the midst of taking down the balloons I put up for our wedding anniversary. "Honey." My husband sounds anxious as he tries to explain himself. "David suddenly insisted that we go to a theme park, so I—" In the background, I hear David laughing. "Dad, Ruthie says that I can sleep with her tonight!" I look at the mess in the house. The balloons are drooping, and the cream on the cake is congealed. "You don't have to explain," I hear myself say. "I understand." It's just that this time, I don't want you or David any longer, Shane.

When Idrish is accused of killing an elven royalty, the female hunter is forced to join the winter arena in the king's favor. But as a commoner of Springgan, a country with a bloody history of slavery and hierarchy, can she protect the ones she loves...when she can barely protect herself? *** What happens when an elf is in possession of a power that's beyond one's social standing? Idrish Aeric is living at the bottom of Springgan's strict hierarchy, barely able to scrape a living for her younger siblings through hunting and foraging. Her simple life flips when she receives a legacy from a royal elf and she has to run to protect her family. In order to escape death, she's forced to enter the elven royal family through marriage and join the winter arena in the king's favor. But in a world ruled by power and slavery, is Idrish ready to step up her game to change the system--or will she wind up dead before the song of the winter solstice plays?

The hermit Ryder Quin never thought that one day, her crush of three years now, the very handsome Aiden Caley, would suddenly want to be her friend. What's more, a stranger broke into her backyard one night, his face hidden underneath a hood, and ever since then he would show up at night and leave before midnight. The quiet and uninteresting life of hers unexpectedly was thrown into chaos. Having an introverted personality, Ryder struggles to keep up with the very energetic Aiden. However, because of the lack of her social skills, all of Aiden's flirty remarks and hints miss the mark, leading to Ryder accidentally friend-zoning her crush, all while trying to figure out who the stranger that meets her every night is. With the mystery of the stranger's identity and the awkward moments spent with Aiden pickling her mind and heart, Ryder realizes that she has been dragged into a whirl of feelings she has never experienced before.

I sat at the table, watching the food grow cold, much like my heart. Today was my birthday. It was also Leslie Buck's birthday—Katherine White's childhood sweetheart. I unlocked my phone and opened Leslie's social media page. As expected, a new post awaited me. "Grateful to have you by my side for every birthday. Let's keep our promise to celebrate every one of them together in the future!" The photo showed two hands forming a heart in front of a cake. One of them was Katherine's. I could tell from the bracelet she wore. It was the one I had given her. I gave the post a like, then set my phone aside. Without hesitation, I dumped the dishes Katherine liked into the trash and went out to a restaurant to order the food I liked, celebrating my birthday alone. From now on, I would make sure to enjoy every birthday of mine.

Winter, 2025. Seattle is shrouded in the cold mist of its endless rainy season. For the sake of a single recommendation letter to Stanford, Catherine Hale—a destitute but proud art student—knocks on the doors of the Highlands Manor to return a restored Song Dynasty porcelain. She intends to leave as quickly as she came, but instead stumbles into the world of William Sterling, the young, enigmatic patriarch of an old and powerful family. Cold, noble, and unfathomable, William draws her into a game of testing and maneuvering that plays out in the cracks between social class and self-esteem. From their first meeting on a rainy night to a silent rescue amidst the vanity fair of high society, Catherine fights to escape a glittering vortex she doesn't belong to, only to find herself falling step by step into William's gentle trap, lingering with the scent of cold cedar. In this rain-soaked city, a forbidden attraction blooms across the divide, unaware that fate has already secretly marked the price of its gifts.

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.

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."