Constantine Arvanitis was living the high life when his addiction to drugs saw his life spiral out of control.
It is something the high flying IT guru fully admits.
Choking back tears, the 48-year old recalled the moment he hit rock bottom and had to enter rehab.
Constantine Arvanitis and Melanie Thornton leave the County Court of Victoria on Thursday. Mr Arvanitis claims he has been the target of a savage attack to destroy his reputation
Selina Holder is defending allegations she defamed her former partner
Selina Holder walks from a Melbourne court. On Wednesday, the court heard she had sent some horrednous text messages to her ex-partner
It came only months after he had hooked-up with Sydney business development manager Selina Holder.
This week, the lives of the now bitterly estranged couple have been splashed across newspapers, websites and tv bulletins across the country.
Their bust-up has been described as among the messiest Australians have ever been privy to.
While Mr Arvanitis accepts he indeed was once a drug addict, it is a perceived slur by his ex-partner that he is a sex addict that has really ground his gears.
So much so, he filed a defamation case against Ms Holder that has played out at the County Court of Victoria for days.
So adamant is Ms Holder that what she claims is true, she refused to back down when offered a chance to settle with her ex for a paltry $5000 and promise never to slag him off again.
On Thursday, the matter needed to be adjourned off while a conflicting court battle by the pair carried out in NSW.
The expenses of the combined court actions will be costing the pair hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses each.
Yet Mr Arvanitis claims Ms Holder can walk away, without an apology or covering his legal expenses, should she retract her comments and return to Sydney.
The anger Ms Holder feels for her ex-partner has been hard for her to contain.
Throughout last week, she gasped, laughed, cried and muttered to herself as Mr Arvanitis allegedly buried her reputation in the mud.
For her part, Ms Holder claims Mr Arvanitis to be a pathological liar, cheat, thug and rampant pants man.
Selina Holder (left) Melanie Thornton (centre) have all become embroiled in a messy court case in Melbourne
So rampant, she claims, that he has a full blown sex addiction.
Initially, she had some support behind her claims.
Two other women, Sydney woman Suzanne Stretton-Brown, and Adelaide woman Michelle Langford, had been hit with similar legal action by Mr Arvanitis.
Unlike Ms Holder, the pair retracted their comments and offered an apology to Mr Arvanitis to make the matter go away.
If last week’s proceedings were any indication, it was a wise decision.
Win or lose, the stain of the ongoing civil trial on Ms Holder and Mr Arvanitis is likely to haunt them both for years to come.
If Ms Holder’s claims are to be believed, Mr Arvanitis is nothing short of violent criminal and a total pig.
On the other hand, Mr Arvanitis would have Judge Julie Clayton believe Ms Holder is cold-hearted, callous and more than a little unhinged.
In short, the trouble centres about the dissemination of damning allegations about Mr Arvanitis to people he knows.
More to the point, to his current fiancé Melanie Thornton and her high-flying sister Dr Chantel Thornton – the wife of luxury car dealer Srecko Lorbek.
Dr Chantel Thornton is married to luxury car dealer Srecko Lorbek
Dr Chantel Thornton allegedly received some damning information about Con Arvanitis and shared it with her husband
Mr Arvaniti had been enjoying a privileged ticket into Melbourne’s inner sanctum of the rich and famous on the coattails of the Thornton clan.
He has been looking at a business start-up with one member and ‘joining certain fraternities’ with another.
Dr Thorton would refer to him as ‘Ken’ and her sister ‘Barbie’ and reference them on her Instagram page, which enjoys thousands of followers.
He was dropped like a hot potato when Dr Thornton received the disturbing document and has never returned despite his ongoing relationship with her sister, who had received a hand-delivered letter all of her own.
The letter had been signed-off by Ms Holder, Ms Stretton-Brown and Ms Langford – aka ‘The Sisterhood’.
All three would later deny they were the postie.
None-the-less, Ms Holder maintains the content of the letter was largely true.
A defence document filed by Ms Holder reads like an episode of ‘Cheaters’.
‘The plaintiff cheated on Suzanne Stretton-Brown when he was in sexual relationships with other women including but not limited to the defendant, Michelle Langford, Sandra Penna and Melanie Thornton,’ one paragraph reads.
‘The plaintiff cheated on Michelle Langford when he was in sexual relationships with other women including but not limited to the defendant, Michelle Langford, Sandra Penna and Melanie Thornton.’
Constantine Arvanitis was Ken to Melanie Thornton’s Barbie back when they met. Melanie’s top surgeon sister Dr Chantel Thornton had posted this pic on her Instagram page in 2016
Dr Chantel Thornton (left) and her sister Melanie Thornton. Constantine Arvanitis claims he was banished by the Thornton clan after they read a damning document supposedly about him
Selina Holder (right) will return to court next week where she is likely to enter the witness box and give her version of events
It continues on and on.
The documents state Mr Arvanitis’ ex-wife Katerina Avramakis shares similar disdain for her ex.
Among Ms Holder’s claims is that Mr Arvanitis stole funds which were secured in an investment account in the names of his ex-wife and himself and snorted it up his nose to the tune of $220,000.
‘Please note this percentage does not reflect how I see the breakdown of the separation of the total assets as this percentage does not factor all the negative contributions that were made by you which includes the $220k that you snorted and the money that you spent this year which contributed to your double life,’ Ms Avramakis allegedly wrote in an email after they split.
Mr Arvanitis’ trouble with drugs at the time was allegedly so bad he had been cautioned by his ANZ bosses after his work became a hot mess.
Selina Holder has presented as a confident figure as she enters and leaves the County Court of Victoria. Inside, she has been brought to tears while hearing her ex-partner give evidence
Melbourne man Constantine Arvanitis claims the one-page letter was sent to his partner Melanie Thornton and warned her that he was dangerous, violent and a sex addict
He was warned for using the company email system to source Viagra – a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Mr Arvanitis has told the court he kicked his drug habit after four-and-half-years at Narcotics Anonymous.
Ms Holder alleges he used the meetings to hook up with even more women and at one point entered himself into Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous.
Mr Arvanitis told the court he attended one meeting for sex addicts before determining ‘it was not for him’.
On Thursday, Mr Arvanitis was scheduled to continue giving evidence to the court.
Up until now, the only person to question him has been his own high-priced barrister, Paul Hayes QC.
Next week, Ms Holder’s barrister Barrie Goldsmith will be cut loose on him.
Selina Holder walks from a Melbourne court. Broad smiles outside hide tears within the courthouse
Con Arvanitis has also been brought to tears recalling the hatred his ex-partner showed towards him
Already he has indicated that he plans to grill Mr Arvanitis for at least two full days – maybe more.
He was furious he had not been allowed the chance to begin his cross-examination last week.
Judge Clayton had reluctantly adjourned the hearing to allow the conflicting court hearing to play out.
Mr Goldsmith could hardly contain his disgust at the delay.
‘In the interest of justice we aim to rebut the serious and scurrilous evidence (Mr Arvanitis) gave against my client,’ he said.
Mr Goldsmith said he had an ‘enormous’ amount of ground to cover with Mr Arvanitis.
‘I’m geared up.’
The matter is expected to continue on Monday.