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 smoke is thicker than I expected, black and choking, filling the corridor like something alive. Chase is ahead of me, moving toward the source with the kind of reckless determination that's going to get him killed. I follow because leaving him to face this alone feels impossible, even though every survival instinct screams at me to turn back.


"There are storage rooms down here. If someone's trapped—"


But he's already at the door where smoke pours from beneath, his hand on the handle. I grab his arm before he can open it.


"Don't. If there's fire on the other side, opening that door will create a backdraft."


He looks at me, surprised I know this. "Your first film. The one about the warehouse fire."


"Research pays off sometimes." I pull him back. "We need to find another way or wait for actual professionals."


Chapter 89 - The Lodge Fire