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 set of Marcus's new film is chaos when I arrive Monday morning, three days after Chase's engagement gala. Crew members rushing everywhere, equipment being positioned, the director shouting instructions that no one seems to be following. This is my first project since being released from Marcus's contract, technically a free agent now, but Marcus still managed to convince me to take this role through a combination of guilt and strategic career advice.


"It's Philippe Laurent's film," Marcus said when he called with the offer. "The one you were contracted for before I released you. You already committed publicly. Backing out now makes you look unprofessional."


So here I am, walking onto a set I never wanted to be on, about to work with a director who expects vulnerability I don't know how to access anymore, for a producer who still thinks he owns me despite the voided contract.


Chapter 104 - Vivian's New Role