Some doors should never be opened. But she did more than open it-she let him in.

Suburbia wore a perfect mask.

Groomed lawns. Quiet streets. Husbands who forgot anniversaries. Wives who dressed up just to feel seen by anyone except the man they married. The neighborhood looked calm on the outside, but inside those homes were little secrets, pressed under pillows and locked behind sighs.

Talia's home was the largest on the block. Four bedrooms. Marble kitchen. A husband who worked late and kissed her cheek like she was his sister. She had everything-except the only thing that mattered.

And that was when Leo moved in across the street.

He didn't wave. He didn't smile. He just watched. And Talia, bored and lonely and burning underneath her silk blouses, started watching back.

This is how it begins.

Not with a scream.

Not with a kiss.

But with a door opening slowly... and a man who made her forget to close it.