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 bachelor party is excessive even by Sterling standards. Private suite at the Bellagio, champagne that costs more per bottle than most people's monthly rent, entertainment carefully curated by Dominic's people to prove that Chase Sterling knows how to celebrate impending matrimony appropriately. Everything is perfect, expensive, exactly what's expected.


Ethan is here, playing the supportive half-brother role despite our complicated history. Several Sterling Industries board members, maintaining political alliances through forced celebration. College friends I haven't spoken to in years, invited because Dominic's PR team thought it would look good in the inevitable press coverage. Everyone drinking, laughing, pretending this wedding is about love instead of strategic alliance and curse management.


"Speech!" someone shouts. Probably one of the board members trying to curry favor.


Chapter 123 - Bachelor Party