บททั้งหมดของ Beautiful Disaster: บทที่ 221 - บทที่ 230

"I didn't know," Piper said as soon as Austin sat down. "Honestly, I would never have imagined it was Leks. I just didn't see Iris having an affair with him. Maybe because we all know how insane he is—""Stop talking, Piper!" Austin warned her. But it was almost as if she'd slipped into a trance and couldn't hear him as she cleaned his wound. All she was concerned about, it seemed, was purging herself of all the lies and secrets. So she continued talking, despite the deadly look in his eyes."It all makes sense now why when I called Andrei later that day to tell him about your father taking the samples, he lost his shit," she continued. "I just thought he was angry with your old man for interfering. I realise now it may have been Iris and his brother he was upset with.""Can you just wrap this shit up, please?" Austin snapped, feeling sick to his stomach."I'm so sorry," Piper sniffled, her hands violently shaking as she applied an antibiotic ointment on his wound and dressed it with g

"Son!" Lukas bellowed from his den in Clarence Estate. "What is the meaning of this? Who is this?""Oh, him?" Austin replied with a sardonic smile. "I don't know who he is. But as you can see, he played a stupid game and won a stupid prize.""What the hell does that mean?" asked Willem, his thick Afrikaans accent making it hard for anyone to understand what he was saying. "Wat bedoel jy daarmee? What do you mean by that?""I mean, he's dead," Austin announced. "I killed him."Shocked silence followed his confession, and Austin gave them a few seconds to allow his words to sink in while they commiserated among themselves. Before long, the cacophony of voices in the various rooms and in different languages became too much for him. He took the reins again, clapping his hands once to get everyone's attention."Now," he said, staring straight into the camera. "Which one of you cheap-ass motherfuckers paid this dipstick twenty grand to take me out?""Hey, dial down the disrespect!" Navya sna

The housekeeping staff was surprised to see Austin. After his last skirmish with his father, everyone had figured he'd never set foot there again. He never would have if it weren't for his sheer curiosity about Blake.He found his brother and fiancée in their wing, relaxing in front of the TV in their living room. Hadley looked awfully cosy as she rested her head on Blake's lap."What are you doing here?" Blake asked, sounding unbothered for someone who'd ordered a hit on him."Benji and Arno told me Hadley's not feeling well, and that's why you couldn't make it to the meeting," Austin replied, sitting opposite the lovey-dovey couple. "So I thought I should pop in, make sure it's nothing serious. We don't want anything to happen to the Hawthorne heir, do we?"Hadley sat up and blushed like crazy as she lapped up all the attention."Oh, you flatter me, Austin," she murmured, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "We all know Orlando is the heir. After all, she is Papa Lukas' favourite.""As you

Austin watched Gordon consult his notes, struck by how different he was from his partner. He was, in many ways, Peterson's total opposite.He was a thin, fast talker with a shaved head and an almost fixed sardonic smile. His clothes and shoes weren't the most expensive or flattering, but they suited him somehow, giving him a far more professional look.Austin knew they had one thing in common despite their physical differences: to make his life hell. And if he wasn't careful, if he so much as let his guard down, today wouldn't be the last of such visits—Gordon cleared his throat and tapped his pen on the notebook, snapping Austin out of his thoughts."So," he said, handing the notebook to his partner."Detective," said Austin, crossing his legs as he drank his coffee. "I barely remember what I ate three days ago. How do you expect me to remember something that happened last month?"The detectives shared another look, their silence loud and clear. They knew he was bullshitting them, an

When Lukas called shortly after their shower, summoning them to a family supper that evening at Clarence Estate, all hope Marybeth had of an uneventful Sunday quickly vanished.She listened to Austin's side of the intense phone conversation for some time while she got dressed. Eventually, the heated argument between father and son lost its steam, and a fuming Austin threw his phone on the bed, cussing out his old man for his stubbornness."Can you believe him?" he seethed as he stormed to the walk-in closet to throw on some clothes. "I don't have anything to say to Blake! I'm not going to sit at that dinner table and sing fucking kumbaya—""Austin!""What, Beth?""Well, you did attack Blake last night," Marybeth pointed out as she quickly ran a brush through her hair, noticing how long it had grown over the past few weeks. It looked thicker and glossier, too. Maybe being pregnant wasn't terrible, after all—"Because he sent a bloody hitman to take me out, Beth!" Austin said, breaking t