Sorry Sir I Don’t Want You Back by Little Angelic Devil

"Replay it, Hudson!" Finley exclaimed in excitement again.

When Hudson didn't move, Finley tried to click on the mouse, but Keith grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the couch. "Come on, you can watch it on your phone."

Finley seemed to have just realized it, then took his phone as he sprawled on the couch, tapping to see the 'True Love' campaigns again.

Keith shook his head, and while he was happy that Finley had seemed to have a 180-degree change of attitude toward Cherise and somehow became her fan, he was worried about Hudson.

It wasn't so much about Cherise's part with Tristan that concerned him; it was the Angel x Logan campaign.

Sure, Angel's whole face was never shown, only shown as far as half as the tip of her nose to show the earrings in the 'True Love' collection, but as an observer, Keith was ninety percent sure Angel was Cherise. If he was that sure, Hudson, who had been Cherise's husband for three years but turned possessive now, should know it was her.

And judging from how rigid his posture was now, Keith had no doubt Hudson had realized it too.

He went back to stand beside Hudson and asked, "You okay?"

Hudson's hands were tightly clenched on his desk, and he looked like he was about ready to kill anyone who was involved in the campaign production - most probably Logan.

Keith placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard, jerking his mind to the present.

He tilted his head to look at Keith, and Keith repeated his question, "You okay?"

Hudson gave a jerky nod, not really wanting anyone to touch him right now, but he couldn't snap at his best friend, who was concerned about him.

"They were just acting," Keith tried to comfort Hudson. "And the scene didn't really show them kissing. It was cut off before their lips touched."

"They might just think it was too much to be shown and cut it off," Hudson growled.

Keith sighed as he wasn't a hundred percent sure of it himself. Instead of trying to comfort his best friend further, he tried to remind and warn him instead.

"Don't do anything rash the next time you see Cherise," he advised. "Remember that you are trying to win her back, and it is already difficult enough because of your past mistakes. Don't add more mistakes."

Keith's reminder pierced Hudson's mind and cleared the anger in his chest a bit. He closed his eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths until his body loosened up, and he felt Keith's hand squeeze his shoulder again.

Hudson opened his eyes and gave a tiny nod, silently thanking his best friend for reminding him to behave as a gentleman so he could get his ex-wife to remarry him.

Keith smiled and went to join Finley, who was complaining about how the ring Logan wore on his thumb and the necklace had sold out, as did everything else.

Hudson knew it would not be a good idea for him to watch the campaigns again, but he couldn't control himself.

He clicked on the play button, and Tristan's Cinderella campaign played on his laptop screen again.

It really was like a Cinderella story, but it started right during the ball, where Cherise arrived wearing a ballgown and a mask, and Tristan took a fancy to her. Cherise fled before the clock struck midnight, but instead of leaving a shoe behind, she left a bracelet. It was followed by Tristan going around the country, trying to find the mysterious lady whose wrist was just the right fit for the bracelet.

Like in the fairytale, other ladies's wrists were either too big or too small until he met Cherise. The bracelet fitted her wrists perfectly, and they lived happily ever after.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Then Angel x Logan's campaign started. Unlike Tristan's, which flowed like a story, this campaign was more of snippets of their simple movements that really focused on the collections, with monochrome color, either black or white background, dresses, and suits. Even though only Angel's identity was still concealed, there was no way Hudson wouldn't know it was his ex-wife on the screen.

The shape of her shoulders, the curve of her neck, her hands, her jaws, her chin, the tip of her nose - he remembered everything, which actually had surprised him.

He didn't think he had paid attention to Cherise during their marriage, but he guessed Keith was right: he was blinded by his hatred for gold diggers, and since he thought Cherise was one, he didn't realize his feelings for her.

The one scene that made Hudson's blood boil with anger and jealousy popped into the screen. It was a close-up profile shot of the two of them when Logan put on a necklace/choker for 'Angel'.

Logan's side profile hindered the audience from seeing Angel's face while he clasped the choker while mouthing the words 'I love you' into her ears, then he moved his head, his cheek brushing hers, letting the audience see the earring on Angel's ear, and just as his lips were about to touch her, the scene changed into another snippet.

Hudson had to close his eyes and take calming breaths again. He needed to know if Logan and Cherise had kissed. If they did, then what about Julian?

There were other questions he needed the answers to, too. Why had Cherise never told him she was Angel? Or Miss X? Was she really an orphan? Surely she wasn't a country bumpkin?

He needed to ask Cherise these questions since he couldn't find any information about her other than the ones he, Q, and Keith found, which seemed either fake or Cherise had someone powerful backing her.

Could Julian be the one backing her all this time? No, Hudson shook his head. Even the Alster would not be able to hide someone's identity until it was so perfect that he and Q couldn't find anything. And why would Julian help her and let her marry Hudson if he was Hudson's love rival? That just didn't make any sense.

Hudson groaned and rubbed his face. He wished Cherise was home right now so he could question her. It was only a few days left until his grandma's birthday; why hadn't she returned yet?

If they couldn't meet before the banquet, then he could only hope to see her there. She wouldn't miss his grandma's birthday, would she?

***

"Okay, we look perfect!" Paula grinned widely as she looked at her reflection along with her two best friends in the full-length mirror in Cherise's walk-in wardrobe. Cherise looked at their reflections as well and smiled in satisfaction.

Paula had dressed her in another mermaid dress, which she said suited her tall and slender frame, and this time, was in an emerald green color that made her skin look fairer.

Katherine was dressed in a deep red, backless, flowy dress, which surprisingly didn't show cleavage because she wanted to show some respect for Agatha and didn't want to appear too sexy.

Paula was still in her gypsy-style period and looked exotic in her colorful-patterned dress.

Tonight was Agatha's birthday banquet, and they all had decided to go together rather than meet at the Amery Mansion. They also had promised each other to avoid making any scenes out of respect for Agatha. "Let's go," Katherine said. "This time, we shouldn't be late. Agatha was the only nice person to Cherise in the Amery household."

"Still is," Cherise corrected.

"She is." Katherine shot her an apologetic look for the little slipped-up. "Let's go," she repeated and hooked her arms through Cherise's and Paula's arms, urging them.

Cherise and Paula smiled at each other and let Katherine pull them forward.

Despite her seductive nature, Katherine had soft spots for the older generations, especially those who were lovely. She was raised by her grandparents after losing her parents, and from there, she always respected any of her grandparents. She even sometimes volunteered at retirement houses when she had the time.

As usual, the men waited for them at the foot of the staircase. Cherise would still be her brother's partner, Logan with Katherin, and Tristan partnered up with Paula.

They made sure their gifts were in the limo's trunk before going their way.

When they arrived, the hall at the Amery Mansion was already filled with guests even though the banquet hadn't started yet.

They registered their gifts and started to mingle with the rest of the guests, or rather, Julian, Logan, Tristan, and Katherine, while many gossiped about Cherise.

"You are becoming famous," Paula chuckled when the rest were pulled by business partners and left her with Cherise.

Cherise rolled her eyes and took a sip of champagne from her glass before grumbling softly, "This is why I prefer to remain unknown."

"But you can't," Paula pointed out, making Cherise sigh.

"How can people not know you are THE Paula Laurent?" Cherise accused.

Paula laughed and replied in a whisper, "Nearly the same way people don't know that you are Angel or Miss X."

"But you don't have other identities," Cherise complained.

"I don't, and you know people overseas know I'm Paula Laurent." Paula shrugged and then smiled playfully. "But I'm not an heiress to a rich old-money family."

Cherise sighed again. She knew what Paula meant. Her secret identities and her identity as the heiress of the Alster family could not be compared.

Both Katherine and Paula only appeared in selected functions no matter how famous they were, just like her as Miss X.

She could also hide the fact that she was 'Angel' forever or even stop being it, but she couldn't hide that she was an Alster forever.

Suddenly, someone bumped into her, and Cherise sighed inwardly as she heard the unmistakable voice of her evil ex-sister-in-law. So much so for not making a scene. "Hey, apologize to her!"

Paula raised an eyebrow, and Cherise turned around to see Polly and Emely whose dress - surprised, surprised - was stained with red wine.

"You! What are you doing here?" Polly snarled at her.

"Agatha invited me," Cherise replied languidly and sipped her champagne again.

Her dismissive and lazy reply angered Polly even more. She still remembered how Hudson insulted their mother, cut off their allowances, and even left them without servants for half a month. "What? Just because you appeared in a commercial now you think you are above us all and do not need to apologize when you bump into someone and spill wine all over their dress?" "Polly, it was my fault," Emely said in a small voice. "If I had seen where I was going, this wouldn't happen."

She had seen Cherise, purposely bump into her, spilling her drink over her dress and Cherise's, and acting pitiful, knowing Polly would defend her.

"You see the difference between you and Emely?" Polly scowled at Cherise. "She didn't even blame you even though you were the one at fault. No wonder my brother divorced you." Cherise looked at Polly as if she was a clown. She didn't know Polly was so easy to manipulate. Did she not know this was a classic, cliche move of shameless women like Emely? "Are you deaf, Polly?" she asked with a raised brow. "She said she was the one who didn't watch where she was going. How was it my fault?"

"She should be the one apologizing," Paula chimed in, looking annoyed. "She spilled her wine over Cherise's dress, too."

Polly gave Paula a once-over and said in disgust, "And who are you? A poor hippy wanna-be?"

Cherise couldn't help the laughter that slipped from her lips, and she heard another voice join their conversation.

"What are you guys doing?" Dahlia hissed at them. Now that Hudson didn't care about her anymore, she could not make any mistake in front of Agatha, even though she hated the old witch. "Mom, Cherise bumped into Emely, spilled wine all over her, and didn't want to apologize," Polly accused and stared dagger at Cherise. "She even brought her poor gypsy friend with her."

Dahlia frowned and looked at Paula and Cherise. "Cherise, apologize to Emely and ask your friend to go home," she ordered sternly. "This is Agatha's birthday. You can't just bring anyone you want."

Cherise rolled her eyes and pointed to Emely. "She was the one who bumped into me, and my friend is not just anyone." "Dahlia, Polly, I'm fine," Emely felt like this would not go according to her plan. "I can just change into another gown." "No," Dahlia stopped her. "It was her fault, and she needs to apologize. And I will bring the guard here to throw her friend out if she doesn't."

"You want to throw my friend out?" Cherise asked with feigned shock. Had they not learned anything from their first meeting with Katherine?

"Why wouldn't I want it?" Dahlia asked arrogantly.

"Nothing," Cherise smirked and challenged her. "Go and bring your guard then."

"You are becoming arrogant, aren't you?" Dahlia sneered. "You will regret this."

Before she could turn around to summon the guard, Cherise saw Hudson striding toward them, a frown marring his handsome and aloof face, and couldn't help but groan inwardly. "What is going on here?" he asked.