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.

Morning light through the windows is blinding, snow reflecting sun until everything glows white. I wake on a couch in the lounge, someone's jacket draped over me like a blanket. Chase sits in a chair across from me, already awake, staring at his phone with an expression that suggests the outside world has opinions about last night.


"How bad?" My voice is rough from sleep and whiskey.


"Catastrophic." He turns the phone so I can see. Every gossip site, every entertainment blog, every social media platform has the same image: Chase kissing me in front of everyone, my hands fisted in his shirt, both of us looking like we're trying to consume each other.


The headlines are predictable. "Sterling Scandal Continues." "Vivian Ashford Caught Between Two Men." "Curse or Chemistry? Chase and Vivian Can't Stay Apart."


Chapter 88 - Three Days in Hell