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43|Biggest Regrets—Part 2
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Beautiful Disaster 44|Pandora's Box
The file was still on the bed, exactly where Marybeth had left it when she returned to the bedroom after her shower. She glanced at it as she towelled off, reassuring herself nothing good would ever come out of opening Pandora's box.She pulled out a fresh set of pyjamas from one of her suitcases, still lying at the foot of the bed where Austin had left them last night. He'd made space for her stuff in the walk-in closet, but after their scathing confrontation, she was mentally and physically exhausted. She couldn't bring herself to unpack, and if she didn't have to help Orlando with her homework, she would have skipped supper and gone straight to bed to lick her wounds.Just a mere thought of the little girl spurred Marybeth to action. They still had supper to prepare and a ton of other stuff to do before bedtime. So she quickly threw on her sleep clothes and ratty bedroom slippers, ready to get her night going. But Amos' file was too big a temptation. She reached for it, fresh horro
Beautiful Disaster 45|Between Right And Wrong
"Let's take a photo of the pizza and send it to Daddy just to make him jealous," Orlando suggested before they could dig in."Okay, let's do that!" Marybeth laughed as she snapped several photos of their meal from every angle and sent them off. Austin read the text and sent a string of heart emojis. She showed them to Orlando. "I don't think your daddy's jealous.""He is!" Orlando insisted.Sure enough, Marybeth's phone pinged again with another message from Austin. 'Žena, the pizza looks divine. Did you make it from scratch? Wish I was there to enjoy it with you guys. I'm working late, don't wait up for me.''I wasn't planning to,' Marybeth typed back, wondering what other illegal shit her husband was up to tonight. But since she had no control over any of it, she pushed all thoughts of Austin out of her mind and focused her energy on Orlando.By the time they were done with their meal, she knew all about the cliques at Liberty Prep, who had a crush on who, and who was given afternoo
Beautiful Disaster 46|Pulled Rank
True to her word, Liliana was at Austin's front door in under an hour. When Marybeth checked the surveillance TV screen on the wall beside the security keypad and saw Zukiswa beside her, she breathed a huge sigh of relief, glad that the other half of the 'we' Liliana had mentioned in her text wasn't Hadley. After the hot mess of a day she'd had, there was no way she could have handled the other woman's snooty attitude."We brought wine and chocolates," Liliana announced as soon as Marybeth let them in."And clothes," added Zukiswa, waving several elegant-looking garment bags in her hands. "I get the wine and chocolates. Not sure about the clothes, though. Are you guys staying the night or what? Have you cleared it with Austin first?" Marybeth asked as she closed the door and followed them into the kitchen, where Liliana was already pulling out wine glasses from the cupboards. "Seriously, ladies, what's with the bags?" she asked again, joining Zukiswa at the breakfast island. "For
Beautiful Disaster 47|Human Mind
"Why don't the De Jagers have a relationship with Orlando?" she asked again. "They resent her," Zukiswa blurted out, blowing Marybeth's mind with her utterances. Why anyone would resent a child, let alone one as loving and pure as Orlando, was unfathomable to her.Zukiswa must have noticed her shock; she quickly clarified her comment, "I mean, not resent per se. She just reminds them of everything they've lost." "She's a child," Marybeth whispered. "She's their grandchild and a huge part of Iris.""But she's also a part of Austin. It's not a secret that the De Jagers hate him. If it wasn't for old man Hawthorne's bullheaded persistence that the two tie the knot, the De Jagers firmly believe their daughter would still be alive today," Liliana said.Zukiswa picked up the threads of their conversation, painting a rather disturbing picture for Marybeth the longer she spoke. "They never got over losing Iris, and four years on, they still blame Austin for her death. They even told the Haw
Beautiful Disaster 48|Human Heart
Marybeth had told Austin she wasn't planning to wait up for him, but sometime after midnight, when the front door beeped open, she was still wide awake, tossing and turning, thinking about everything she'd learned from Liliana and Zukiswa.She heard Austin's footsteps as he trod up the stairs, stopping in Orlando's room before he circled back down the hall.A minute passed, maybe two, and still no sign of the man. So she kicked off the covers and padded out of the room.She found him rummaging through the linen cupboard, the dim light in the hallway casting his shadow on the walls."What's going on?" she asked, leaning on the door frame.Austin turned and smiled, "what are you doing up?"She ignored him, pointing at the pillow and blanket in his hands, "what's with that?""Oh, this?" he shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I thought I should spend the night in one of the guest rooms, you know, to give you space—""Why?" Marybeth frowned at him, wondering what bullshit games he was playing.
Beautiful Disaster 49|No Good Deed
People always say things will look better in the morning.It wasn't true.Not in Marybeth's case, at least.Despite falling asleep in each other's arms, the tension between her and Austin the following morning was almost palpable as they tried to get on with their routine. Suddenly, his massive kitchen wasn't big enough for the both of them. Everywhere she turned, he was practically on top of her, taking up space.So after whipping up a bowl of oats for Orlando and making sure she was comfortable at the breakfast island, Marybeth escaped to the balcony with a steaming cup of black coffee. The biting morning breeze chilled her to the bone, and she brought her cardigan closer as she gazed at the darkening sky. If the heavy clouds weren't a bad omen for her first state of the city address, she didn't know what was.She was still sipping her coffee, lost in thought, as she stared at the gloomy clouds when Austin came to find her."Beth?"She turned, arching her brow at him. "What is it, A
Beautiful Disaster 50|Spiralling
Austin spent half his day in a meeting with the legal team. By the time they adjourned just after 1:00 PM, they were very close to finalising the nightclub acquisition deal, but his mood was still hovering on the foul side.When he returned to his office, and the first thing Elizabeth did was bombard him with a ton of messages from his father, all summoning him to Clarence Estate for an urgent discussion regarding Rawlings and the cop, the mild irritation Austin had felt since his tiff with Beth earlier that morning quickly morphed into full-blown rage."Tell him I'm busy!" he barked at his assistant when she knocked on his door for the umpteenth time."I'm sorry, sir, but it sounds urgent," she explained."I don't care, and I don't pay you to be my father's errand lady. Now, out!" Austin scowled at her and jerked his head at the door.Without saying another word, Elizabeth quickly saw herself out, leaving him to stew over the shit with the cop.It was bad enough he had to hear about
Beautiful Disaster 51|Nadia Van Staden
"How far is Angelo with the financials?" Tim asked, turning on his laptop."He knows a guy," Austin replied and hit play on the security footage he was watching before the unplanned break. "I'm guessing we'll know more about the other accounts in a week or two.""So I heard the girls met up last night. Something about Orlando's ancestry project—"Austin nodded, but he was barely listening. All his attention was on the full HD clip of the VIP room at Gold Rush, more specifically, at the elderly grey-haired woman with a pen and paper in her hand. She looked like a harmless, ordinary punter, but from all the footage Austin had seen of her so far, he'd quickly worked out she was the captain of this ship and ran it with military precision."Interesting," he murmured, rubbing his chin, a thoughtful look in his eye.What would possess an elderly person to even think of running such a scheme was beyond him. But then again, he decided, as he threw off his tie and contemplated the array of bott
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