Simon Gittany, 37, was charged on Wednesday with the murder of his Canadian fiancee Lisa Harnum.
Ms Harnum, 30, died on Saturday around 10am (AEST) when she struck the footpath outside The Hyde - a new high-rise unit block on Liverpool Street.
Police interviewed Gittany immediately following the incident and arrested him on Wednesday morning as he was leaving the apartment block.
He appeared in the dock at Central Local Court, wearing a grey jumper and collared shirt and supported by his brother and two of his sisters in the gallery.
The court heard the couple had had an argument minutes before Ms Harnum went over the balcony.
CCTV footage showed Ms Harnum screaming as she exited the front door of the unit when Gittany allegedly reached around her head and put his hand over her mouth and brought her back into the unit.
At some point, a witness heard her cry for help, a police prosecutor told the court.
"Please help me. Please help me. God help me," the prosecutor said Ms Harnum was heard saying.
One of Gittany's lawyers, David Price, told the court that minutes later Ms Harnum made her own way to a metal platform outside the unit.
Gittany tried to get her back inside but she slipped and fell, striking the same structure on the level below before falling to her death.
"They certainly have had their ups and downs," Mr Price said.
"Any dispute was always a verbal argument."
Gittany has been devastated by her death and has co-operated with police in the days following the incident, Mr Price said.
They had been in an 18-month relationship and were planning to marry sometime in the next six months.
"The accused is grieving in relation to this matter," he said.
A police prosecutor said a passerby in Hyde Park heard an argument, looked up and witnessed a motion more consistent with a push.
Mr Price challenged the account, saying the damage to the platform on the lower level could not have happened if she had been pushed.
"They are relying on one witness in Hyde Park from over 200 metres away," he said.
Magistrate Julie Huber denied Gittany bail and ordered him to appear in the same court on September 29.
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