The Beautiful Lie

Anna flies home from a family holiday to help 'save' her brother Kingsley's marriage. Kingsley's wife, Dolly has just found out he has been having an affair with their live-in-nanny Gabriella and is threatening to leave him and take the children. Dolly's sister Kitty has just become engaged to music producer Skeet and wastes no time in telling everybody she knows. She hastily plans an engagement party at her parents' house. Socially awkward family friend Peter suffers from a case of very bad timing when he decides to ask Kitty if she'd ever be interested in being with him romantically.... She turns him down, gushing about how in love she is. He is humiliated - just as he expected he would be. Anna and Skeet meet by chance at the airport and when a terrible accident happens in front of them, they feel bonded. At the engagement party, Skeet and Anna are once again drawn to each other - which upsets Kitty. Anna leaves the party and Skeet goes with her. Anna refuses him but writes her phone number on his wrist. Skeet watches as she drives away in a taxi.... THEN it stops. Anna gets out. As if taken over by an unstoppable force they have sex in a lane-way. Meanwhile, Peter visits his sickly brother Nick before returning to his home on a farm out of town; Dolly questions whether she could ever take Kingsley back; Kitty becomes hysterical and Anna returns home to her husband Xander - shaken and changed forever.

Anna can't shake what happened with Skeet. He's calling her. And then he texts: What are we going to do? She attempts to focus her affections on her husband Xander but finds it difficult. She tries to block Skeet from her mind, but can't. Dolly and Kingsley pay Peter a surprise visit on his farm. Peter tries to convince Kingsley he is over Kitty's rejection and doesn't care about her anymore but Kingsley won't believe him. He tells Peter that Kitty has been sent to a 'wellness retreat' by her parents. We discover that she has had trouble with an eating disorder in her past. Meanwhile, Anna sneaks out of bed to meet Skeet. He convinces her to walk with him at night and despite her feeble attempt at resistance, she kisses him. Peter has a strange dalliance with a woman whose horse he euthanised, getting drunk and telling her what a loser he is at love. She tries to make him feel better by initiating sex, then falters due to old feelings she has for her ex. Peter feels rejected again. Then Kitty breaks out of rehab, determined to be better but in her own way. Anna, Xander, Dolly and Kingsley go out to the football. Dolly announces to Kingsley that she wants to sell their home in the city and move to the country - Gabriella included. Kingsley is not in a position to argue. Then to Anna's surprise, Skeet turns up and they are caught doing cocaine in the bathroom. Their affair is suddenly public as they are paraded through the crowd by security. Xander demands Anna end the affair immediately or he will make sure she regrets it. Anna begs him for forgiveness but knows in her heart that it is inevitable she and Skeet will be together again.

Anna has told Xander the affair is over but is sneaking away to see Skeet whenever she can. Xander is paranoid so he wants to check Anna's phone and whereabouts all the time. Meanwhile, Dolly and Kingsley have moved to the country where Dolly finds it less romantic than she thought it was going to be. The irony is that due to Kingsley's enforced commute to work she now spends more time alone with Gabriella. Peter's sickly brother Nick arrives on the farm and wants to stay. Peter knows that Nick wants money. Kitty tells her parents that if they think she is spoilt it's their fault and so they kick her out of home. She moves in with Dolly. Anna discovers she is pregnant. Then Xander witnesses Skeet sneaking out of the house, he shares this with Anna and demands she move out. Xander takes Kasper to the country so Anna can pack up her things... They stay with Dolly and Kingsley who turn it into a dinner party, inviting Peter and his brother Nick too. Xander gets into an argument with Nick about Kitty which ends in a punch up with Peter. Xander feels humiliated in front of his son. Anna goes to Skeet's house for the first time and is completely enchanted. It's magical and she manages to forget for one brief moment that the rest of her life is in pieces. Peter and Kitty steal a moment together and Kitty tells him she is ashamed about what she said before. She regrets turning him down. They kiss and it's fantastic.

Anna is five months pregnant and already packing her hospital bag - she has a bad feeling about the birth and is convinced the baby is going to come early. Skeet has been recording an ethereal young singer named Theresa and Anna can't help but be jealous of her. Dolly convinces Xander to stop feeling sorry for himself and that he can still win Anna back. Peter and Kitty have locked themselves in his farm house inside a bubble of new love. They promise each other that they will never fight - easier said than done. Dolly and Kingsley walk in on an embarrassing moment for their nanny Gabriella and end up giving her relationship advice which is extremely awkward for all. After an argument with Skeet, Anna finds herself knocking on Xander's door... He is sympathetic and cooks her dinner, offering her a 'holiday' from the hell they are in. Xander makes Anna feel better about the birth and the baby on the way. Kitty asks Peter about his past lovers (promising not to get jealous) and is disgusted to find out Peter has had the same bed since University. Despite her promise not to, Kitty gets extremely jealous and they have their first argument. Meanwhile, Anna goes into labour. She haemorrhages and in her deluded state keeps asking for Xander. Xander rushes to the hospital and Skeet meets him for the first time. Xander becomes smitten with the newborn baby girl and forgives them. Anna is very ill and so decides to go home with Xander who asks her to rethink their marriage. Anna tells him she loves Skeet. Peter and Kitty recover from their lover's tiff and he proposes on a tractor. Kitty says yes and then buys him a new bed. Anna leaves Xander's house and returns home to Skeet with their baby daughter. She can't help but think there is something horrible in their happiness. Kasper tells Xander that he doesn't want to see Anna anymore. Xander doesn't disagree.

Peter and Kitty's wedding preparations have begun and she is disappointed he is refusing to have it in a church. As a compromise, they issue a wedding invitation for a NOT-WEDDING to be held at Dolly's country house and they would like their guests to all wear white. Kingsley tells Anna about the not-wedding and makes it out like it's very informal. Anna talks to Skeet about attending - thinking it's time she was let back into Kitty and Dolly's family. After all, it's not an 'affair' anymore; they have a baby. How long can they be punished for? Anna turns up at the wedding, wearing RED. She stands out in the crowd of white. She is high on pills and alcohol and has the baby with her. Kingsley walks Anna out to wait for Skeet to pick her up, he's very worried about his sister. Skeet takes Anna home. Later that night at the wedding, Xander meets a woman who returns serve on the dance floor, Lydia. They seem a good match for each other, playing imaginary tennis to the music until Peter's brother Nick vomits blood. Over the next few days, Kitty supports Nick fearlessly into his death. Peter finds it confronting and disgusting but is in awe of who his wife turned out to be! Anna becomes more jealous and fears she is losing Skeet - who feels more and more out of his depth every time he is around her. Anna descends into a pit of self-loathing and despair. She takes more pills and drinks more. Kitty and Peter fall pregnant.

Anna and Skeet have moved to the country in a futile bid for peace. Anna puts on a brave face for Dolly who visits her beautiful new house. Dolly is quietly jealous. Anna finds herself home alone with the baby more and more as Skeet makes any excuse to be back in the city with his work. Anna is convinced he is having an affair with Theresa, the singer. The clingier Anna is the more distant Skeet becomes. Their relationship begins to spiral. Meanwhile, the now heavily pregnant Kitty bumps into Skeet for the first time since he left her at their engagement party. She maintains her dignity and for the first time in her adult life, feels like a grown up. She decides she is ready to become a mother. Dolly and Kingsley discover the house they're living in is full of termites and are forced to move in with Peter and Kitty. They finally say goodbye to their nanny Gabriella and are much sadder than they ever anticipated but overall, they are proud of how far they have come. Kitty gives birth to a baby boy and is a natural mother. Surprisingly, she develops a newfound respect for her body which she has loathed until now. Meanwhile, Anna is not invited to Kasper's birthday party, which solidifies her guilt further. She breaks into Xander's house at dawn and sneaks into Kasper's bedroom to see him. Xander's new girlfriend Lydia finds her there. Xander confronts and asks Anna to leave. Feeling out of control, Anna goes to find Skeet but instead of consoling her they end up fighting. Anna is unable to manage her fears. She believes she gave up her son for Skeet but can't seem to hold onto either of them. She feels alone. AND THEN she discovers Theresa has been hiding away with Skeet. He pleads with her that it is nothing but Anna doesn't know what to believe anymore. This sends her into a spiral of mania that ends in her killing herself, to spite him. It's the ultimate revenge.