Chapter 91
"We did a great job, didn't we?" Cherise asked as she looked around the ballroom in Julian's villa.
What once had primarily been painted white, silver, and blue, just like the Alster main mansion in Country A, now looked like a magical forest.
All the walls were covered in flowers with deep colors such as purple, dark pink, green, and pops of lighter yellow. Even the natural ceiling couldn't be seen as it was covered with hanging flowers and vines.
The chandeliers' light bulbs had been changed from white to warm white to make the whole magical forest look dimmer and even more magical.
Although the dress code in the invitation had only stated 'formal', all the ladies in attendance were wearing ball gowns, and Cherise, Katherine, and Paula were no exceptions.
All the gentlemen wore tailored three-piece suits, with some wearing bow ties while others stuck to the basic ties.
As usual, Paula had dressed Cherise and Katherine. Katherine was in a strapless fiery red ball gown with red sequins all over and a high slit, while Cherise wore a one-shoulder metallic silver ball gown with a high slit as well. Visit Jo bnib.c(o)m to read the complete sentences for free. The one shoulder part was like a sash of metallic gold material that crossed over her right shoulder to the right part of her body, secured at the waist by a white gold and diamond pin.
Cherise had complained about Paula's color choice for her gown, but Paula had insisted that since she was the star of the event, metallic would make her pop up.
However, no one could complain when they saw the final result because Cherise looked like a million dollars in that gown. Paula herself had opted for a balloon-sleeved ball gown in electric blue that matched Tristan's bow tie. Julian and Logan wore black suits, but Julian wore a gold tie while Logan wore a silver one.
"Shhhh," Tristan shushed Cherise. "Don't let Grandpa Alster hear you. You know he wants all the credit."
They all laughed, and suddenly, Cherise saw Hudson across the room. Their eyes locked for a moment before Cherise smirked and looked away.
"Imagine their shock later on," Paula smirked along with her as their gazes followed Cherise's.
"If any of the guests were smart, they would have guessed from the way we dressed," Cherise said, but she knew everyone would look down on her, and they wouldn't even notice the color scheme of her family.
Her grandpa would be wearing a muted silver suit with a muted light gold bow tie. Of course, he chose those colors for himself when Paula measured him. He said he needed to be the main male star, not Julian or Logan.
"I think I need to escape to Grandpa's room," Julian said and swallowed nervously as he looked at the throng of ladies coming their way.
Before any of them could say anything, he had already bolted away from their group, going to the part of the house that was guarded so only family members and close friends were allowed to enter.
Cherise and the rest looked at each other before bursting into laughter. They had never seen Julian look so nervous before.
Logan checked his watch and said, "I think I better go and check up on them too. It's nearly time for Grandpa to make an appearance."
"Alright," Cherise and her friends chorused.
"Stay out of trouble, okay?" Logan patted the top of her head, earning him an eye roll from Cherise. He chuckled before going the same way as Julian before.
"I never cause any trouble," Cherise grumbled under her breath.
"Trouble is the one always looking for you," Paula laughed and then shut her mouth when she felt Tristan nudging her with her elbow.
"Uh oh. Incoming." Tristan pointed in a particular direction with his chin. "You jinxed her, Paula."
Katherine and Cherise turned to see Polly marching toward them with Emely in tow.
A few minutes ago, Polly was complaining about her mom to Emely - again - and it bored Emely to death even though she pretended to be interested and nodded once in a while to agree with whatever Polly was saying because that was what Polly wanted. She looked around discreetly and noticed Cherise's group sans Julian and Logan. Emely's eyes lit up, and thought it was the perfect time to humiliate Cherise since the two men involved weren't there, and there was still time until the banquet started and Charles Alster made an appearance.
"Cherise looked stunning tonight," she interrupted whatever Polly was saying as she looked toward Cherise's group.
Her words successfully brought Polly's attention to her target.
"What's so stunning about her?" Polly snorted. She would never see Cherise as stunning. In her eyes, Cherise was and would always be a country bumpkin.
Emely ignored Polly's question and asked her, "Julian and Logan are not with them. Do you think Julian knows about Logan and Cherise, and now they are fighting somewhere?"
"No, Katherine is with Cherise." Polly looked at Emely as if she was stupid. "If Julian knows, Katherine will know too, and she won't still be friends with that slut."
Then suddenly, Polly's eyes lit up with an idea. She put her champagne flute down and dragged Emely toward Cherise.
"Come on, it's time for us to let her know what her so-called best friend did behind her back."
Emely hid her triumphant smile and let Polly drag her. She couldn't wait to sit back and enjoy Polly humiliating Cherise.
"What are you doing here?" Polly asked Cherise with narrowed eyes the moment they stood before her group.
Cherise rolled her eyes at her. "Seriously? Is that all you can ask every time we meet?"
"Because you don't belong in a place like this," Polly sneered.
"Says who?" Cherise smirked.
"Says everyone." Polly opened her mouth to say more nonsense, but her arm was suddenly tugged, and she looked up to see her mother, who looked kind of angry with her. "What are you doing?" Dahlia hissed. "Have you forgotten how protective your brother is of her now?"
Dahlia also wanted to take her revenge on Cherise but with Hudson around and how heartless he had turned, she couldn't risk making a scene now.
"But, Mom..." Polly leaned closer to her mother, cupping her hand beside her mouth to whisper something to Dahlia.
Dahlia drew back after hearing what her daughter had told her. "Is that so?"
"Yes." Polly nodded. "And I have evidence."
Cherise and her friends looked at each other, wondering what the mother-daughter duo would do next.
"Well, in that case, I think we should let Katherine now," Dahlia said.
"Me?" Katherine asked in surprise. How did their focus shift from Cherise to her? Katherine looked at Cherise and the others, but her traitorous friends seemed to be enjoying this new, unexpected turn of events. "Yes, Katherine," Polly said. "Do you know that Cherise is trying to steal your boyfriend behind your back?"
Katherine nearly gasped in shock and quickly looked at Cherise, whose eyes had widened slightly. Even Paula and Tristan looked shocked. They all had the same look in their eyes that said, 'Since when did you have a boyfriend?'. Katherine shook her head, confused at what Polly was accusing Cherise and her of.
"Can you elaborate more?" Katherine tried to pry for more information.
At that moment, Finley, who was looking around for a waiter with red wine on their trays, saw what was happening and turned to say to Hudson, "Hudson, I think your mother and sister are going to cause trouble again." Hudson looked at the direction Finley had pointed and frowned. Were they really trying to test his patience?
Without thinking, he strode toward them, and just as he arrived, he heard Polly's sentence, which made him frown even harder.
"Emely and I saw Cherise hugging Logan and kissing him." Polly's voice was loud enough to draw attention from the guests surrounding them.
"And I have evidence," Polly added and showed Katherine the photo of Cherise and Logan she had captured.
Katherine looked at the picture and finally realized why Polly was being all smug.
She looked at Cherise, Paula, and Tristan, who all seemed to try their hardest to keep their look of shock but might fail at any moment because she felt the same as them - Dahlia and Polly's accusation was simply ridiculous! "What is going on here?" Suddenly, they were interrupted by a deep baritone's voice, and Katherine felt a hand settle on her waist.
"Logan, is it true that you betrayed me with Cherise?" Katherine asked, looking sad.
Logan looked at her in shock. "Never," he replied firmly without thinking. How could he betray her when they weren't even a couple, and Cherise was his sister?
"But she has evidence," Katherine said and turned her back toward him, looking down and placing her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggle.
She looked at Cherise, Paula, and Tristan, who were holding back their own laughter, and her shoulder shook from trying not to laugh.
Katherine did not know her gestures were seen by onlookers as crying over being betrayed.
The guests started to gossip amongst themselves, condemning Cherise for seducing her best friend's boyfriend behind her back.
Logan looked at the picture and swiftly turned toward Cherise's group. He saw Cherise looking alarmed, Paula looking confused, Tristan just smirking at him, and Katherine looking like she was crying.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
He sighed inwardly, wondering what he had done to be sucked into such a situation, but if they all wanted to play, then he'd play along with them.
"Katherine," he said softly and reached out to touch her shoulder to turn her to face him. If he had not been immune to her charm, he would be in trouble at that moment. Katherine had tears on her long lashes, which somehow added to her seductiveness. Fortunately for him, Grandpa Alster decided to make an appearance, which garnered the attention of all the guests, and he didn't have to continue his act anymore.
Charles Alster went to the stage, looking dapper in his suit with Julian by his side, ready to finally introduce his beloved granddaughter as the heiress of the Alster family.
Just as he took the stage, he was rudely interrupted by a woman's voice, and he frowned when he saw that it was Cherise's ex-mother-in-law.
"Old Master Alster, I apologize for interrupting your speech, but there is something you should know about your grandson's girlfriend," Dahlia spoke.
Charles's eyebrows raised toward his hairline. Why had he never heard any news of Julian having a girlfriend? He looked at Julian for an explanation, but his grandson seemed as shocked and confused as he was.
Hudson grabbed his mother's arm and whispered in a low and cold voice, "Mother, have you forgotten my warning?"
Unfortunately for him, Charles Alster did not seem to want to drop the subject.
"Girlfriend?" Charles dragged his eyes back toward Dahlia, and it encouraged her more.
"Yes." She nodded. "His girlfriend seduced Logan Jennings, Katherine Sterling's boyfriend, behind her back."
Charles' eyebrows lifted even more; they nearly disappeared into his hairline. How did he miss the news of those two becoming a couple?
"Logan and Katherine," he called the two of them, who looked guiltily under his scrutiny. "Step onto the stage." Charles needed to know what was going on and clear up any misunderstanding.
He'd rather do it privately, but he knew Dahlia would not let the matter go if he did not clear up any misunderstanding in front of everyone. He was sure Julian would not choose a lady who would steal someone else's boyfriend. Surely his grandson had better taste and judgment.
"Grandpa Alster," Katherine and Logan greeted him with a guilty look.
"Is that information correct?" Charles asked the three of them, and they shook their heads in reply, denying it.
Dahlia, who did not want to waste the opportunity to get into Charles' good side, quickly said, "My daughter has evidence. She took a picture of Logan and Cherise embracing and kissing each other."
"Cherise?" Hearing his granddaughter's name, Charles finally had an inkling of what was happening.
"Cherise is Julian's girlfriend," Dahlia kept talking, unbothered by the strong grip on her arm. "He must be hiding her from you because he's ashamed of her. Cherise is the country bumpkin who used to marry Hudson."
"Mother," Hudson growled low, warning her to shut her mouth, but Dahlia ignored him again.
"I'm not trying to talk bad about her, Old Master Alster, but you should know about your future granddaughter-in-law. Surely you don't want Julian to marry such a lady."
Charles' butler took Polly's phone and showed the image to Charles. When he saw it, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. These grandchildren of his were too playful.
Charles asked his butler to plug the phone into the big screen so everyone could see it. He didn't want anyone to think they were kissing lips-to-lips.
Once the photo was shown, the guests started to whisper amongst themselves. Dahlia and Polly looked smug and gleeful. They could not believe they would finally be able to see Cherise being humiliated. Emely, as usual, looked down to hide her vicious smile. Charles ignored them and looked around, trying to find his granddaughter. "Where is Cherise?" he asked when he couldn't see her.
Cherise did not hesitate to step forward because, at the end of the day, she would end up on the stage anyway.
Hudson released his mother's arm and tried to stop Cherise, but she just brushed past him, walking toward the stage in confidence.
"Cherise," he called her, trying to stop her for the second time. He didn't want her to be subjected to humiliation, but Cherise didn't seem to hear him.
Once Cherise stepped onto the middle of the stage, Charles gestured toward the photo and then asked her, "Cherise, what do you have to say about all this?"
Contrary to what the guests thought she would do, Cherise shrugged and smirked proudly. "What can I say? Julian and Logan both love me too much. I can't choose between them."