Chapter 3

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 building a future together.

A loud knock interrupted my thoughts.

I froze.

For one foolish second, I wondered whether Levi had come back. Maybe he had realized what he'd done. Maybe the woman he had chosen over me had not been worth the cost.

Then I remembered his face in the elevator.

*I never asked you to sacrifice anything.*

I opened the door.

Claire stood outside, her hair tied into a messy bun and her eyes burning with anger. She took one look at the packed suitcase beside me and pushed past me into the apartment.

“You're actually leaving?” Claire demanded.

I closed the door. “Good morning to you, too.”

“Don't try to be funny, Trixie. I've been calling you since last night.” She turned toward me. “Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“I'm sorry.”

“Sorry?’ Claire repeated. “Levi humiliates you in front of an entire room, announces his engagement to another woman, and steals credit for everything you've done. And you're apologizing to me?”

I swallowed hard and stared at the door, suddenly finding it more exciting to look at.

Claire's anger softened for a moment, but only for a moment. “Where are you going?”

“I haven't decided yet.” I admitted honestly, I knew I wanted to leave, but I just didn't know where I was going.

“Then don't go.”

Claire said, stepping closer. “You're hurt. I understand that. But you've spent years building a life here. You have connections, experience, and a career. Don't throw all of that away because Levi turned out to be a selfish coward.”

“It's not as simple as it sounds.” 

“Then make it simple, I have all the time to listen.” She reached out and gave my arms a small squeeze.

I opened my mouth, but the words refused to come.

How could I explain that almost every part of my life had become tangled with Levi's? My professional contacts knew me as his girlfriend.

 The people I had met through business associated my achievements with his company. Even the future I had imagined for myself had his name written across it.

I had spent years helping him become someone his father would respect and somewhere along the way, I had stopped asking who I wanted to become.

“I don't know what my life looks like without him,” I admitted quietly.

Claire didn't say a thing as she listened carefully, her face softened with each word.

“My career is tied to his name. Most of the people I know are connected to him or his family. Everything I've worked toward has been part of a future I thought we were building together.” I swallowed the ache in my throat. “I don't even know where to begin again.”

“You begin with yourself.” She said simply, giving me one of those smiles I've gotten used to, the type that had the power to pull me out over my mystery.

“There is something else,” I said.

Claire's expression changed when she understood what I meant.

My mother.

I looked toward the window, where the first traces of dawn were beginning to brighten the sky.

“I can't take her with me. Her care home is here, and moving her could make things worse. I can't uproot her just because my own life has fallen apart.”

“You don't have to,” Claire said gently. “I'll visit her. I'll keep an eye on her condition, speak to the staff, and make sure she's being looked after properly. If anything changes, I'll call you immediately.”

My chest tightened with guilt. “You already have so much going on, Claire. I don't want to impose.”

“You're my best friend, Trixie. Let me do this.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears. For years, I had been the person who solved problems before anyone noticed they existed. 

I had convinced myself that if I worked hard enough, planned carefully enough, and sacrificed enough, I could keep everything from falling apart.

Yet here I was, unable to save my relationship, uncertain about my future, and leaving my mother behind.

“I hate that I can't fix everything,” I whispered.

Claire took my hands this time, her eyes fixed on me.

"Then stop trying to fix everything today. You don't have to rebuild your entire life before breakfast."

A broken laugh escaped me as she squeezed my fingers.

“Listen to me, Trixie. Levi's betrayal doesn't erase your intelligence. It doesn't erase your hard work, and it certainly doesn't erase the woman you were before you met him. He may have taken credit for your achievements, but he didn't create your abilities. Those belong to you.”

I wanted to believe her.

I wanted to believe that somewhere beneath the humiliation and the heartbreak, the woman Claire described was still there.

But all I could feel was the emptiness Levi had left behind.

A few hours later, Claire accompanied me to the entrance of the building. My suitcase stood beside me, and my ticket was tucked safely inside my bag.

Neither of us knew what to say.

"Call me when you arrive," she said.

"I will."

"And don't disappear on me."

"I won't."

Claire pulled me into a tight embrace. I held her for a moment longer than I intended, grateful for the one person who had stayed when the rest of my world had become unbearable.

Then I stepped away.

I didn't tell Levi I was leaving. I didn't leave a message or give him an opportunity to ask where I was going.

He had made his choice.

Now I was making mine.

At the airport, I sat near my departure gate and stared at my phone. There were messages I hadn't opened and calls I wasn't prepared to return.

I switched it off.

When the boarding announcement came, I stood, picked up my bag, and walked toward the gate without looking back.

I had no grand plan. No powerful connections waiting to welcome me. No certainty that leaving this city would solve anything.

I only knew I couldn't continue living as Levi Smith's discarded girlfriend.

The flight felt endless. I watched the clouds pass beneath the window and wondered whether I had made a terrible mistake. By the time the plane finally landed, I still had no answer.

The unfamiliar city greeted me with hurried footsteps, distant announcements, and strangers moving in every direction. 

I collected my luggage and followed the crowd toward the arrivals area, trying to ignore the nervousness building in my stomach.

Just then, my eyes landed on a man dressed in a well-tailored dark suit standing near the exit, holding a white card.

 Unlike the people around him, he wasn't scanning the crowd impatiently. He stood straight and composed, like he knew exactly who he was waiting for.

My steps slowed when I noticed the name printed on the big white card he was holding.

TRIXIE QUINN

I looked behind me, wondering whether someone else shared my name. The man noticed me and approached almost immediately.

“Miss Quinn?”

“Yes?”

He offered a polite nod. “My name is Leo. I'm a representative of Mr. Joe West.”

Joe West? West?

The name sounded very familiar but I wasn't sure where I had heard it. “I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else. I don't know who he is.”

“There's no mistake, Miss Quinn. You're the person we're looking for.” His voice stayed steady.

Confusion replaced all the nervousness I've been feeling.

Why would a man I had never met send someone to meet me at an airport in an unfamiliar city? And how had he known I was coming?

I tightened my grip on my suitcase handle.

“Why does Mr. West want to see me?”

Daniel's expression remained professional, but his answer made my heart skip.

“Mr. West has been expecting you, Miss Quinn. He's asked me to take you to him.”