Austin had every intention of returning to Hawthorne Towers and working through the security footage Tim sent earlier just to distract himself.But the more kilometres Arno and Benji put between him and Marybeth, the bigger the knot in his chest grew, and the lump of discomfort in his tummy hardened.He leaned back in his seat, thinking if he willed himself hard enough, he'd stop reliving his fight with Marybeth. But, it was easier said than done. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw were the tearful accusations in hers.He'd done a lot of incomprehensible shit in his life, lost more than most, and experienced the worst of heartbreaks, too. But he'd never felt as gutted as when Marybeth looked at him like he was the devil incarnate, the worst of society.He didn't regret his life or the choices he'd had to make. Hell, he wouldn't even apologise for the crimes he'd committed or the people he'd murdered in cold blood, because, quite frankly, they all had it coming. Marybeth might n

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

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

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.

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