The chandelier glittered above the grand foyer, casting golden light across the marble floors as Emma and Nate stepped into the mansion. The air smelled faintly of jasmine and expensive cologne, and the murmur of voices drifted from deeper within. Emma clutched Nate’s arm, her nails digging into his sleeve. “We can still leave,” she whispered, her wide eyes darting toward the door. Nate swallowed hard, adjusting his tie....

The cabin smelled of pine and stale beer, the kind of late-night haze that clung to everything after hours of laughing and arguing. Five friends sprawled around the flickering fireplace, their faces flushed from alcohol and the thrill of one-upping each other. It had started innocently enough—a debate about obscure world records, like the guy who balanced a lawnmower on his chin or the woman who ate 47 hot dogs in a minut...

The city skyline glittered beyond Marcus’s new apartment, a tenth-floor steal with a private rooftop terrace he hadn’t expected. He’d moved in a week ago, a quiet graphic designer fleeing a breakup, craving solitude. But solitude evaporated that first sleepless night when the humidity drove him outside, barefoot, onto the terrace. That’s when he saw them.The penthouse next door was all glass and steel, its massive windows...