Novels by Author Peace

Trixie's POV The host’s voice carried loudly across the ballroom."Please welcome the head of West Tech’s partnership project, Miss Trixie Quinn."For one painful second, the room seemed to forget how to breathe. Then more than two hundred faces turned toward me.I stepped through the open doors, keeping my pace measured and my shoulders straight. The ballroom glittered beneath its chandeliers, all marble, crystal glasses, and expensive wine. Three years ago, this same set of people had watched me walk out with my dignity in pieces while Levi Smith stood beside his new fiancée and accepted applause for a future he had built on my work.Tonight, I walked in with a title of my own. The whispers began before I reached the podium.“Isn’t that Levi Smith’s ex?”“She’s running the project?”“I thought she left the city.”I heard every word. I let them pass through me without leaving a mark.The heels of my shoes clicked heavily against the marble. I didn’t hurry, and I didn’t look down. T

Flynn's POV I had no intention of losing.As I stepped into the ballroom, I surveyed the gathering of executives, investors, and business leaders. Tonight's partnership event was more than another business function. It was a test, and my father had made the rules painfully clear.*The son who secures the West Tech partnership will prove he deserves to lead this family.*Williams Smith had delivered those words over dinner three days earlier, addressing all three of his sons as though he were announcing a competition rather than discussing the future of his company.I had expected nothing less.As the eldest son and designated heir, I had spent my life meeting expectations that were never formally acknowledged as achievements. Every successful acquisition became the minimum requirement for the next. Every mistake was remembered long after my victories had been forgotten.My father's approval was a moving target. Yet I continued chasing it.Smith Group's expansion depended heavily on

Trixie's POV *Three years later*Three years could change a person.Standing before the full-length mirror in my private office, I adjusted the back of my dress and frowned when the fastening refused to cooperate.“Could you help me with this, please?” I called out.My assistant, Naomi, set the folder in her hands on the nearby desk and stepped forward. Within seconds, the fastening was secured."Thank you."“You're welcome, Miss Quinn.” Naomi retrieved the folder. “The West Tech partnership documents are ready. The final proposals are arranged according to your instructions, and the meeting schedule has been confirmed.”“Good, you can leave them on my desk.”She obeyed, then hesitated a little. “Is there anything else you need before we leave?”“No. That will be all.”Naomi nodded and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.I turned back to the mirror.The woman staring at me wore an elegant dress, understated jewelry, and an expression that revealed very little. My shoulders

Trixie's POV The following morning, I began packing before sunrise.I hadn't slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Levi standing beneath the ballroom lights, announcing his engagement to another woman while claiming the success we'd built together as his own.By four in the morning, I had accepted one painful truth. I couldn't stay in this city.The apartment was quiet as I moved from room to room, gathering my belongings. I took my clothes, important documents, a few books, and the small jewelry box I had owned since college. I left the expensive gifts Levi had bought me and the things we had purchased together.They no longer felt like mine.My fingers paused over the silver ring on my bedside table. It had belonged to my father, the only thing I had left of him. I slipped it onto my finger and twisted it once, drawing comfort from its familiar weight.Everything else could be replaced, but my father couldn't.Neither could the years I had wasted believing Levi and I were buil

Trixie's POV The doors to the ballroom closed behind me with a soft click, muffling the applause that had crowned Levi king of a kingdom I had helped him build.I stood in the corridor, staring at the polish marble beneath my heels like there was something worth seeing there. The two men that had escorted me out waited nearly, their presence was a humiliating reminder that I was no longer welcome at the celebration.“I can find my own way out,” I told them silently, there was no need to pass my frustration on them, they did nothing wrong and were only following whoever instructed them.The two men stepped aside, allowing me through. Just then, my phone vibrated inside my clutch. Claire's name appeared on the screen, followed by a text message.CLAIRE: How did it go? Did he finally do it? Did he propose?I stared blankly at her words, until the screen shuffled. Claire had listened to me rehearse Levi's speech when she visited the past two weeks. She had endured every anxious convers

Trixie's POV I knew every word in the speech Levi Smith was about to give, I had written it and rehearsed it with him over a hundred times.Standing near the front of the large ballroom with a campaign glass I haven't slipped from due to nervousness.Over two hundred of the city's most powerful people filled the room beneath the glittering chandelier.Tonight, the Smith family was celebrating a huge milestone, a business victory and Levi would finally earn the recognition he had spent his entire life chasing.A light smile touched my lips, I helped him get here. I should feel relaxed, everything would go according to plan, yet I couldn't shake this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.My thumb brushed the silver ring on my finger nervously. It was the only thing I had left of my father who died when I was too young to remember his face.A few hours before joining the celebration, I visited my mother at the care home. Her dementia had worsened and she didn't even recognize her litt