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 collateral damage continues mounting systematically over the following two weeks, each casualty carefully selected to maximize impact while maintaining plausible deniability about targeting people connected to Vivian's engagement, each destruction demonstrating that rampage isn't random fury but calculated warfare designed to force her hand through making continued engagement unbearably costly to everyone she cares about.


Ethan's journalism career was just the beginning. The first obvious casualty. The warning shot proving I'm willing to destroy professional reputations through legal threats and corporate pressure.


But destroying one journalist doesn't send message strongly enough. Doesn't create sufficient pressure to force Vivian's choice. Doesn't demonstrate full scope of what I'm capable of when devastation needs outlet and Sterling Industries resources provide unlimited ammunition for warfare.


Chapter 168 - Collateral Damage Mounts