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 red carpet is exactly as tedious as I remember premieres being before everything became contaminated by curses and toxicity and constant awareness that public appearances are performance instead of reality. Flashbulbs. Reporters shouting questions. Industry people performing support for film they probably haven't screened yet.


I'm here because Sterling Industries partially funded Marcus's film before his binding, before the wedding disaster, before everything went catastrophically wrong. Obligated to attend as investor. Obligated to perform support despite not caring about Marcus's career or the film or anything except getting through this evening without incident.


Chapter 153 - The Premiere