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.

I wake with a hangover that feels like punishment for last night's phone call, wine bottle empty on my kitchen floor, phone showing a three-hour call to Chase that ended at 3:17 AM. The memory of our conversation floods back: confessions, crying, admitting we still love each other despite everything.


I want to pretend it didn't happen. Want to blame the wine and insomnia and temporary insanity. Want to delete the call from my phone history like that will delete it from reality.


Instead, I drag myself to the bathroom, shower until the water runs cold, try to wash away the vulnerability I showed last night. It doesn't work. Vulnerability sticks, reminds you that you're human even when you'd prefer to be impervious.


I'm making coffee when I notice her. Helena Sterling, sitting in my living room like she belongs there, like she didn't break into my apartment while I was sleeping, like this is normal behavior for a woman I've only met a handful of times.


Chapter 113 - Helena Appears to Vivian