Chase Sterling always felt like furniture. The kind you don't notice, the kind that's easy to shove in a corner and forget. He was used to it: people looked right through him, brushed him off like lint. But it only takes one phone call to erase a lifetime of being overlooked. When his estranged family meets a tragic end, Chase suddenly finds himself in charge of the sprawling Sterling fortune. Turns out, riches aren't the only thing the family left him. There's a curse running through his blood, warping love into something hungry and dangerous, impossible to escape.

Vivian Ashford never set out to blow Chase's life to smithereens. Just one decision (a sharp, ruthless move at graduation) was all it took to set their worlds spinning out of control. While Vivian soaks up the Hollywood limelight and collects red-carpet headlines, Chase slips into his new role as Manhattan's most intimidating heir. But no matter how far they run, something keeps yanking them back together, like a stitch in an old wound that refuses to heal.

The headlines are everywhere when I wake up three days after learning Chase agreed to marry Elise. Every gossip site, every entertainment blog, every social media platform saturated with the same story: Chase Sterling and Elise Vanderwood, Hollywood's power couple, planning the wedding of the decade. October fifteenth at Sterling Cathedral, five hundred guests, estimated budget in the millions.


"Hollywood's Perfect Couple Finally Makes It Official" reads one headline over a photo of Chase and Elise looking elegant and appropriate, exactly what Dominic Sterling wants the world to see.


"Sterling Empire Merger: Love and Legacy Unite" proclaims another, treating their relationship like a corporate acquisition instead of a marriage.


Chapter 103 - Wedding Planning