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 church records are buried in archives most people don't know exist. Old birth certificates. Marriage licenses. Death records from families that valued secrecy over publicity.


I've been searching for three days. Ever since the charity gala. Ever since Vivian started obsessively checking Chase's Instagram. Ever since I realized research wasn't enough. I need answers. Direct answers. From the woman who caused all this.


The records show her maiden name. Graves. Helena Graves. Born 1972. Married Dominic Sterling 1996. Divorced 1999. One child. Chase Dominic Sterling.


But there's another record. One that shouldn't exist. A property deed. Filed under her maiden name. Not Sterling. Hidden. Deliberate.


An address. Small house. Outskirts of the city. Same house I visited before. The sanctuary where the curse can't fully reach.


Chapter 55 - Sienna Confronts Helena