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.

Sienna insists on the party despite my protests that celebrating the night before watching Chase marry someone else feels masochistic. "It's not celebration. It's spite. We're throwing an anti-wedding party. Champagne and rage. Acknowledging that tomorrow is disaster but tonight we drink about it."


She invites people from the film: crew members who've become friends, makeup artists who witnessed my breakdown after Marcus's stalking, the costume designer who helped me choose the dark blue dress I'm wearing tomorrow to potentially die in. Jackson wasn't invited but shows up anyway, looking uncomfortable but determined.


"Heard there was a party for the woman brave enough to attend a cursed wedding. Thought I'd crash." He holds up expensive champagne. "Brought bribery. Can I stay?"


Chapter 127 - Bachelorette Party