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 photo is everywhere by morning. My mother, Catherine Rhodes, stumbling out of a West Hollywood club at 3 AM, mascara streaked down her face, dress half-unzipped, clutching a bottle of champagne like it's the only thing keeping her upright. Some opportunistic paparazzi caught her mid-fall, the moment her heel broke and she hit the pavement, champagne exploding across expensive silk.


The headline reads: "Former Socialite Catherine Rhodes Hits Rock Bottom."


I stare at my phone screen, nausea rising in my throat. This is my mother. The woman who taught me proper table settings and which fork to use for oysters. The woman who attended charity galas in Chanel and judged other women for wearing last season's trends. Reduced to tabloid entertainment, a cautionary tale about what happens when you lose your husband and your dignity in the same year.


Chapter 83 - Sienna's Mother Drama