The Distraction

When Mark James's world collapses overnight-his assets frozen, his wife vanished without explanation-Palm Beach becomes his only refuge and his greatest trap. In this glittering world of immaculate estates and sleek yachts, appearances are everything, and beneath the surface lies a web of family betrayals and ruthless power plays.

Returning to the James family empire means stepping back into a game he walked away from long ago. The family's wealth and influence demand loyalty at any cost, but Mark has built a different life for himself-one rooted not in prestige, but in the messy, beautiful truth of home and family. Now, with nowhere else to turn, he must navigate the treacherous waters of his past.

Palm Beach pulls at him in dangerous ways. Old friends resurface with hidden agendas. First loves stir forgotten feelings. The easy, gilded days of his youth whisper to him, tempting him to slip back into the comfort of what once was. It would be so effortless to give in, to forget the devastating cost that once drove him away.

At the family estate, he encounters Hannah, a mysterious house guest whose presence both comforts and unsettles him. She seems to understand him in ways that unnerve him, yet he finds himself inexplicably pulled into her orbit.

As family secrets surface-dark truths about the James legacy that could destroy everything-and Palm Beach tightens its grip, Mark must make the hardest choice: to stay in a world that no longer fits, or to walk away for good, knowing the cost of freedom is never cheap.

Set against the backdrop of Palm Beach's opulent estates and high-society galas, *The Distraction* is a sweeping, emotionally charged novel loosely based on true events. It explores the fragile balance between legacy and individuality, illusion and truth, the lure of the past, and what it really means to go home. But in a world built on deception, can Mark trust anyone-including himself-to know what's real?