Semua Bab Beautiful Disaster: Bab 171 - Bab 180

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

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

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

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

"What's a payment ledger?" Orlando's question zapped Marybeth back to the room. She turned to the little girl, her mouth slack as her brain struggled to come up with something to explain away her horror. "What is it, Marybeth? What's a payment ledger?" Orlando repeated her question, shaking her arm gently. "It's something your daddy has been searching for," Marybeth replied, forcing a small smile on her face as she affectionately ruffled Orlando's hair. "For real, for real?" Orlando's eyes lit up. The tears that had shone brightly in them just moments ago were gone now. "Daddy's been looking for this?" Marybeth nodded and took Orlando's small hands in hers, "You don't mind if we give the books to your daddy, do you?" "Will it make him happy? He won't be sad anymore if I give him mommy's books?" Orlando asked, biting her bottom lip, her brows furrowed as though she was deep in thought. "Of course, it will make him happy!" Marybeth assured her. "He's been searching for these for