Carrie felt their relationship was falling apart. Mike Horton stepped in to fill the void as he was attracted to Carrie, and eventually Carrie and Austin broke up. Carrie moved to Israel with Mike on November 19, 1999. Austin then rekindles his romance with Sami later that same year, and despite a brief fling with Greta and Nicole, Austin and Sami remain on and off before becoming engaged in the spring of 2002. However, Sami blackmails Victor into transferring Austin's job to Hawaii to escape Lucas and when Austin finds out, he leaves Sami at the altar and leaves Salem. In 2005, Austin returned to Salem for his half-brother Lucas and Sami's next attempt at tying the knot. The wedding didn't happen and Austin was there for Sami when no one else was. With no place to stay in Salem, Austin moved in with Sami. They formed a company along with Nicole called Austin Reed and Company, or ARC. The company took over High Style, a company that was run by Carrie. Austin did not know Carrie was back in the United States and did not know High Style was her company. Lucas found out the company Austin was taking over was indeed Carrie's but did not tell Austin. Lucas knew that once Carrie and Austin saw each other, they would get back together. Lucas had fallen for Carrie and wanted her to himself for several years, and knew Carrie would not get back with Austin if Austin took over her company, so he allowed it to happen. Carrie was furious with Austin for taking over her company, and Lucas stepped in to comfort her; they began a relationship. Sami and Lucas deviously worked together to help Lucas further his relationship with Carrie. Sami's motive was to make sure Carrie was not available romantically for Austin, as Sami wanted Austin for herself. Eventually Carrie and Lucas married, and Austin and Sami were a couple and were planning yet another wedding. To ensure that Carrie would no longer want to be with Austin, Sami was also able to blackmail Dr. Lexie Carver after finding out about Lexie's affair with young detective Tek Kramer. Lexie thought up of a bogus story to tell Carrie, which was that Austin and Carrie shared rare genetic markers and if they ever had children, the child would suffer extreme birth defects that could result in death.