The housekeeper was supposed to be at the penthouse at 8:00 AM. She was there at 7:30, earning herself her first brownie points from Austin to Marybeth's relief. If there was anything her husband despised, it was tardiness. After a thirty-minute chat with Austin in his study, she was given the green light to start work, but on a three-month probation."I won't mess this up, Mrs Hawthorne," Nomaindia said as they left the study and headed to Orlando's room so she could meet the kids."I hope so. My husband does not give second chances," Marybeth said, entering Orlando's room.Orlando was reading to Adeline and the boys on the floor, melting Marybeth's heart with her thoughtfulness. She'd worried Orlando might have a hard time adjusting to the new baby, but now, seeing how good she was with the Scheepers kids, especially the twins, her heart was at ease."Kids," she said, trying to get their attention. All four looked up, curiosity flashing in their eyes when they fell on the housekeepe

If Marybeth thought the church was packed before, she was in for another shock when they stepped back into the prayer hall and found it overflowing. All the pews were now filled up, and there was hardly any standing room."Jesus," Marybeth whispered. "I was only gone for thirty minutes, but look at this place now.""You're lucky Lewis fought valiantly for your seats!" Scarlett whispered back as she pushed her to their row just in time for the start of the funeral service.Father Jensen kept it simple, with a brief sermon and an equally short list of speakers, none of whom had any horrible things to say about Carol.At 9:30 AM, the funeral procession moved to Sea Point Cemetery for the burial. Austin stayed in the car with the boys, reasoning they were too young to understand anything, while Marybeth took Adeline to the grave site. She expected Adeline to break down at the sight of the casket being lowered to the ground. But, the little girl showed very little emotion as she threw a ha

"—Ahem!" Lukas cleared his throat, scowling at Austin, "If you're done with your back-and-forth, can we get on with the handover?""Of course," Austin replied. But he kept him waiting for another three minutes while he sent a totally unrelated email to Laura, asking her to draw up two sets of adoption papers, one for Orlando and the other for Adeline.Laura responded promptly, informing him that family law wasn't her area of expertise, but she'd forward his request to Isaac Jones, and he'd contact him shortly."Alright," Austin said, focusing again on his father and the attorneys as he scribbled his signature on all the required pages.Lukas did the same, begrudgingly though, grumbling about how he couldn't believe he was signing over his nightclub under duress."Congratulations, Mr Hawthorne Junior," said Adrian when both documents were signed, shaking Austin's hand. "You are now the sole owner of Crush—""Not so fast," said Lukas. "The ledger.""Right!" Austin reached inside his mess

"What the hell just happened?" Austin whispered as he opened his door and sprung out of the car, his brain unable to process the carnage."кум!" his handlers yelled at him to get back in the car. But, locked in a dream-like world where everything had lost colour and sound, Austin paid them no mind. As he approached the bullet-riddled Porsche, a tinny voice inside his head kept screaming at him to turn around, get back in the car, and pretend he didn't just witness a hit he'd tried so damn hard to prevent. But his feet, acting on their own free will, pushed him forward, and all he could think of, all he could hear, was Marybeth's warning about Willem being unhinged. The driver's door opened, and a blood-soaked Jaco stumbled out, staggering on his feet as he screamed for help. The look in his eyes reminded Austin of the ones he'd seen numerous on family members of the men he'd murdered in cold blood. It was a look of stunned horror and disbelief, of utter heartbreak and gut-wrenching g

Since Hadley was still in the observation ward and wasn't expected to regain consciousness for a few hours, Austin thought they should head home and get some sleep, a suggestion Marybeth gladly welcomed. They left the hospital, with Marybeth offering to drive since she could see how exhausted he was. So he let her, handing her his car keys. "We didn't check on Aleksei," she said after they'd driven a kilometre or two in silence. "I heard he's on the floor above Hadley's." "I don't want to see him," Austin murmured, barely looking away from the window. "Besides, I don't think Nikolai's security would have allowed me to see him. I've been blacklisted," he added, showing her the membership termination email from The Corporation. "When did it happen?""I just saw the notification. I've also been kicked out of all the family group chats. I guess things are truly well and over now."They didn't speak again until Marybeth sparked to life with another question, "What did your father say to