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169|At The Heart Of It All
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Beautiful Disaster 170|Do No Harm
When Austin was done on the call with Sienna Roberts, he rounded up his stuff and set off for his meeting, colliding with Piper at the front door. "What are you doing here?" he asked, going from calm to furious when flashbacks of being pinned to the floor of his father's study like an animal surged to life again in his mind. "You weren't responding to my texts," she said, playing with the handbag strap on her shoulder. "Or taking my calls.""Do you blame me?" Austin sighed as he checked the time on his Cartier. He had exactly five minutes to spare if he didn't want to be late for the board meeting, and he told his doctor—well, former doctor—as much. "About yesterday," she began, but Austin gave her one quick glare, warning her softly, "don't… don't even think about going there, Piper." "I'm sorry," she went there anyway, pleading her case. "I didn't want to do it. But your father—"Before Austin knew what he'd done, Piper's back was pressed against the wall, her feet dangling in th
Beautiful Disaster 171|Hang Him Out To Dry
They managed to breeze through the moderate lunch-hour traffic, with Arno and Benji making mindless conversation. Neither man brought up the incident in Clarence Estate the previous afternoon. They were happy to pretend all that ugliness never happened, and Austin was more than grateful. Thinking about the fallout with his father hurt more than he cared to admit, and he wasn't ready to talk about it, not with his handlers, at least."Your father is here," said Benji as they drove into the parking lot of Hawthorne Towers almost forty minutes later and passed his father's luxury sedan parked in its usual spot."Blake's here too," noted Arno as he slid into the empty spot beside Blake's bright green Lamborghini. Since Iris' death, they were all supposed to use the Group's armoured cars, but once in a while, Blake liked showing off his luxury cars. Today was clearly one of those days, Austin thought sourly as he left his place in the backseat and headed to the entrance, where Elizabeth was
Beautiful Disaster 172|To The Wolves
"I will not vacate my post!" Lukas shouted when calls for him to step down rippled through the room. "I don't need to remind you that I'm the majority shareholder! Nobody can get rid of me! Nobody!" And the back and forth continued for another heated fifteen minutes before Grayson circled back to the culprit, the person behind the crisis they were all about to find themselves in if news of the embezzlement was somehow leaked."Who did this? Who had the balls to dare and steal from the Group?""It's the same man who bankrupted the Foundation," Austin announced, pointing straight at Blake. For a crushing moment, as he watched the light die in his brother's eyes, Austin could see the beginning of their end so clearly. He'd crossed a line by throwing Blake to the wolves, and there was no coming back from it now. They would have to go all the way, even if it meant destroying themselves and each other in the process."What is wrong with you, Hawthornes?" Rumbled Maxwell. "You're running th
Beautiful Disaster 173|Down A Perilous Path—Part 1
Halfway through the second half of the meeting, Stuart Gardner, one of the longest-serving board members and Lukas's biggest supporter, suggested they should follow the crisis management plan."Which is?" Austin asked pointedly. "We keep our mouths shut, of course!" replied Gardner, rolling his eyes all the way to the back of his head as if Austin was the slowest person on earth for asking something that was clearly obvious to him."Are you out of your mind?" Grayson and McIntyre were on their feet at once, pointing accusatory fingers at Gardner. Unlike everyone in Lukas' camp, they clearly hadn't forgotten whose interest they were supposed to protect, insisting the only way they could all paddle out of shit creek was through complete transparency with the shareholders.The debate continued for another fifteen minutes, with Gardner and Lukas crying sabotage. "That's your best plan?" yelled Gardner, stomping his feet like a preschooler. "Rat us out to the shareholders?"His confidence
Beautiful Disaster 174|Down A Perilous Path—Part 2
Caught out at last and with nowhere to hide, Blake could only hold his head in his hands, his whole demeanour screaming of defeat as he mumbled incoherently. "I can't hear you!" Austin rumbled at him as he closed the space between them and began shaking Blake like a rag doll. "Let go of me, you piece of shit!" Blake yelled, trying his damnedest to wriggle away. But with his arm still in a cast, he was no match for Austin. He dug his fingers deeper into the wound on Blake's shoulder and watched with gleeful fascination as a crimson map spread all over the white fabric of Blake's shirt. "Tell me again how paranoid I am, my dearest brother!" He spat out the words, his mouth curled in a sneer. "Tell me you weren't fucking my fiancée behind my back!" "My stitches—" Blake moaned, his face contorting in pain the longer Austin dug into his wound and showed no sign of easing the pressure on his shoulder. "They haven't healed!" "You know what else hasn't healed?" Austin asked as he finall
Beautiful Disaster 175|Ugly Things
Plagued by fatigue and nausea for a large part of the morning, it was safe to say Marybeth's day was on the shitty end of the scale. Her mood went from mildly irritable to downright annoyed when Carol Scheepers showed up just before she could leave work for the day, demanding a report on Adeline's progress. Marybeth couldn't help but be grateful that the school was already out for the day, and none of her kids, especially Adeline, were around to witness the spur-of-the-moment visit."So? Are you going to show me my kid's books or what?" demanded Carol, her hands on her hips, her eyebrows wiggled in a tight frown. Marybeth was so tempted to tell her to set up an appointment like other parents, but since she was already skating on thin ice with Smith, the last thing she needed was a complaint from Carol. So, with the biggest, fakest smile, Marybeth showed Carol to Adeline's desk and scratched inside her filing cabinet for her pupil's portfolio."Here you go," she said, spreading Adelin
Beautiful Disaster 176|Thorn In Her Side
Estelle, in all her regal glory, was already seated front and centre of Dark Roast, a quaint seaside coffee shop east of Pelican Surf, when Marybeth arrived. She'd asked Orlando if she wanted to join them, but her young charge had politely declined, choosing to stay in the car with Henry and Mirko.As Marybeth weaved through the tables and approached the thorn in her side, she wished she'd been as brave as Orlando and refused to pitch up for what was bound to be a showdown of note.She didn't even understand why they were meeting at a coffee shop when Estelle's place was a few blocks away. But still agitated over her confrontation with Carol, she wasn't in the mood to find out. In fact, she wasn't in the mood to talk, period, and the sooner the Hawthorne matriarch told her why she'd been blowing up her phone with text messages like a deranged stalker, the better. So after they exchanged curt greetings and placed their coffee orders, Marybeth cut to the chase."Why am I here?" she inqui
Beautiful Disaster 177|Cut Him Loose
The whole time they drove home, Marybeth kept going over her chat with Estelle. Sure, changing her phone number was a lot of unnecessary admin, but if it would save Elijah's life and keep the peace in the family, shouldn't she at least consider it?"Are you okay, кума?" asked Mirko from the driver's seat."I'm fine," Marybeth lied."That sigh didn't sound like you're fine," chirped Henry, surprising Marybeth with his comment. She didn't realise she'd expressed her inner turmoil out loud."I'm okay," she insisted as she wrapped a now-sleeping Orlando tighter in her arms and kissed her forehead. She now understood what the little girl had meant when she said she didn't like Estelle. After their meeting and having caught a tiny glimpse of what the older woman was capable of, Marybeth firmly shared Orlando's sentiment. It would be a deadly mistake on her part to underestimate Estelle simply because of her age. It was obvious she was a Hawthorne through and through, and Marybeth had no doub
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