William Newton was surprisingly quick.

After lunch, Hope Newton’s alias account “Sawyer” received a friend request—from William himself.

Hope didn’t rush to accept it. Just then, Iris arrived.

“Hey, Iris, what are you doing here?” Hope asked, slightly surprised. The holidays were approaching, and Iris wouldn’t show up uninvited unless it was urgent.

Iris sat down. “Don’t you check your phone at home?”

Hope blinked. “Of course I do… Wait, why didn’t you just call me?”

Oh—she’d forgotten her messenger was still logged in on her alias. She quickly switched back and saw that an hour ago, Iris had asked her to check out some gossip on Twitter.

“I was...