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 courthouse is chaos when I arrive Tuesday morning to file for the restraining order. Paparazzi everywhere, alerted somehow to the hearing, cameras flashing as I walk up the steps with Sienna and my lawyer Sharon. Questions shouted from every direction about Marcus Webb, about the break-in, about whether this is all publicity stunt for the film.


"Vivian, is it true Marcus Webb broke into your apartment?"


"Is this related to the Chase Sterling curse rumors?"


Sharon guides me through the crowd without stopping, practiced in navigating press gauntlets. Inside, the courthouse is quieter but still full of people drawn by celebrity scandal. This should be private, simple, just a woman seeking protection from her stalker. Instead, it's become spectacle.


Chapter 118 - Restraining Order