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

Not giving Dahlia a chance to respond, Cherise added immediately, “How about you come to work at Julian's mansion for three years and let the servants there treat you the same way you asked the servants of the Moonlight Villa to treat me for the three years I was married to your son? And that includes physical labor and all the abuses.”

Dahlia's whole face turned red, and it even spread to her neck as anger filled her. “Cherise, I'm kind enough to come here and try to mend our relationship! I have already apologized to you. Why are you so heartless?!"

Cherise mocked her, “Kind enough? Oh, Dahlia, didn't you realize it is I who had been kind enough for so long? You, Polly, and your servants physically abused me, and I didn’t report you to the police. So tell me again: who was kind enough? You or me?”

Dahlia could not believe Cherise had become such a difficult person to please. She wanted to revert back to her old self and spew insults at Cherise but knew she couldn't make matters worse as she wanted Hudson and Cherise to remarry.

“Clearly, you have no respect for the elderly,” Dahlia still couldn't help herself.

Cherise laughed because Dahlia’s words were just so ridiculous. “No respect for the elderly? I could have made the Amery Group bankrupt once I got divorced; even Grandpa and Julian asked me if I wanted to, but I didn't because I still think of Agatha.”

“If there was no Agatha who showed me love during those three years, there should be no more Amery Group now. So tell me, how have I no respect for the elderly?” Cherise asked with a raised brow.

The thought of Cherise bankrupting the Amery Group sent chills down Dahlia’s spine. She knew that even though Hudson was one of the three most influential CEOs besides Julian and Logan, he was still young and could not compete with the legendary Charles Alster.

Judging from how Charles made Cherise his heiress instead of Julian as his heir, it could be seen how much the old man loved his granddaughter.

The Amery Group was Dahlia’s lifeline. If it went bankrupt, everything she had worked for to get her status in the upper society would be a huge waste, and she would go poor.

“I have humbled myself and apologized to you,” Dahlia said. “You know how hard it is for me to do so. You should at least appreciate it, but I can see you are arrogant and no different than those people who you said “look down on others who are beneath them”

Cherise could not help but burst out laughing again. Dahlia was really ridiculous. How could she compare punishments and looking down on people?

“There is a difference between looking down on those who are beneath me and simply not forgiving someone who made my life hell for three years and even after my divorce” Cherise pointed out.

“You asked for my forgiveness, yes, and I simply told you the way for me to forgive you,” Cherise continued. “If you can't do it, then that's your problem and not mine."

Dahlia opened her mouth and closed it again before she regretted saying whatever was on her mind.

“It seems you are not willing to earn my forgiveness," Cherise said, adding, “then we have nothing to talk about anymore.

You can go now. The banquet has ended.”

With that, Cherise turned toward her friends, who all looked at Agatha as if she was a joke, and they all walked toward the guarded section of the villa.

“God, how much more shameless can she be?” Tristan asked as they walked together toward the direction of their rooms, which were all located in the same wing of the villa.

“I know, right?” Paula replied. “She apologized but still accused Cherise of not respecting the elderlies and not accepting her apology.”

“She will never change,” Katherine piped in. “We all know she apologized because she wanted the connections Cherise could bring her”

The group of friends talked about Dahlia until they reached their respective rooms and bid each other good night. Dahlia stood on her spot watching them, her anger brewing inside her, but she could do nothing to stave it off. She looked around and realized there were less than five guests left, and they were talking to either Logan or Julian.

Polly was still at the refreshment table, downing glasses of champagne while looking at Julian dreamily until she heard her mom's voice telling her they should go home now.

“Mom, you are going to help me get Julian, right?” she asked her mother once they got into their car.

“Yes,” Dahlia confirmed. She would still work on getting her son and Cherise back together, but if that plan failed, then Polly would be her backup plan. It would be great if she could get both Julian and Cherise.

Hudson accompanied Emely, and the doctor told them it was just chronic pain from the successful operations she had and dropped her off at the apartment he had bought for her before returning to his penthouse, where he poured himself a glass of whiskey and thought of Cherise’s mocking expression when he left with Emely in his arms.

He knew it looked bad. He had told her he wanted her, and yet she saw him holding the woman who had framed her for her miscarriage.

Hudson didn’t want Cherise to misunderstand, and he knew he needed to explain why he still cared about Emely, even after the vile thing she did to Cherise. He just hoped Cherise would understand.

The following day, in front of the Alster Group building, a stage had been placed with a long table and three chairs behind it. The announcements Charles made during the banquet the night before had spread throughout the whole country, and this press conference would be shown live on all the television channels where the reporters worked.

Reporters had gathered to interview Cherise and get all the juicy details first-hand. They had so many questions for Cherise, and they couldn't wait for her to appear, as did Julian and Logan.

Inside the CEO's office, Cherise was sipping her tea leisurely. As discussed, Julian would help to answer some questions for her since their grandpa trusted them and preferred not to appear. As for Logan, they knew the reporters would ask him questions about how he came to be the adopted grandson of the Alster family but had a different last name.

Ever the professional PA, Neil looked at his watch and informed the three people inside the office. “It's time.”

Julian and Logan, wearing bespoke three-piece black suits with white shirts underneath and black ties, stood up and offered their sister their arms to take.

Cherise raised from her seat gracefully, her white power suit with a white shirt contrasting with her brothers’ black ones, adorned with a black wide obi-like belt, and she hooked her hands in the crooks of her brother's arms.

“Ready?” Julian asked before stepping out of the lobby.

Cherise chuckled. “I was born ready for this sort of thing"

Julian and Logan laughed. They knew Cherise was confident, and being the Alster’s heiress, of course, she was born ready to be in the media’s eyes, just like the two of them.

The three of them stepped closer to the main building door, which automatically slipped open to the side. Cherise put on an elegant smile as the reporters took pictures of them, the flashes from their cameras blinding Cherise momentarily.

After a few seconds, they were escorted by Neil and the head of the PR department to the stage. Cherise took the middle seat while Julian sat on her right and Logan on her left.

Guards were placed everywhere to ensure the reporters would not try to get closer to them or to let any unwanted visitors join in the conference.

Once everyone was settled in their places, Neil and the head of the PR department told the reporters they would need to raise their hands if they wanted to ask questions, so it would be easier for Cherise, Julian, and Logan to answer them.

The first reporter asked the most important question. “Miss Cherise, how do we never know that there is an heiress to the Alster family?”

Cherise let Julian answer the question for her.

“When Cherise was five years old, something bad happened to her, and she was... shaken by the event, Julian explained. “As her family, we closed off the Alster mansion, and from what I knew, everyone thought she had passed away, and we didn't correct them."

“But why?” another reporter asked.

This time, Cherise was the one who answered. “After the traumatic event and as I grew older, I realized I wanted to live a normal life, not as the heiress of the Alster family, but just as Cherise. I was too young then, and that identity seemed too heavy for me to carry... And too dangerous.”

“Are you saying someone was targeting you?"

Cherise smiled and answered, “No one knew for sure. But we all know the danger of being the heir or heiress to a powerful family. With how competitive the business world is, it is not unheard of for competitors to resort to underhanded methods, which can and might include bodily harm."

The reporters murmured among themselves, knowing what she was implying. As Cherise had mentioned, the business could be vicious, and they had heard more than a tale or two about how competitors would just about do anything to win a tender - from something as simple as planting moles inside their competitor's firms to threatening the family members of the staff so they would do their bidings.

They asked Cherise and Julian more questions, including how Cherise felt about being the new CEO, and Julian felt about being the new President of the Alster Group, which both of them answered light-heartedly, making the press conference feel less formal.

The reporters laughed along with them when they made jokes, and they were glad the new CEO and President of the Alster Group were not arrogant, unlike others who preferred press conferences to be formal and stiff.

They then turned to Logan and asked him how he ended up as Charles Alster's adopted grandchild.

Logan wasn't ashamed of his past. He told them how Cherry had saved his life and brought him back to the Alster Mansion.

“Cherry?” one of the reporters asked.

“It's my nickname for her,” Logan said with a smile. “She used to carry a cherry plushie anywhere she went”

“Hey!” Cherise slapped his arm playfully and pretended to be annoyed. “You can't just blurt out my secret like that”

Logan and Julian laughed, as did the reporters. They could see the deep love between the siblings, which was beautiful to witness.

“But your last name is not Alster?”

“Jennings is from Cherry's mother’s side,” Logan replied, his gentle smile still in place. “They have no heir, so they made me one, and I will forever be thankful for Cherry, the Alster family, and the Jennings family for giving me a second chance in life!”

All the reporters and viewers of the life press conference could not believe how kind the Alster family was. They always thought a family as wealthy and legendary as the Alster would never show any compassion, and it brought shame to themselves.

Suddenly, one of the reporters asked Cherise, “Miss Cherise, you were Hudson Amery's wife for three years, and from what we heard, you were mistreated during your marriage because they thought you were a gold digger."

Julian and Logan squeezed Cherise’s hands, and Julian leaned closer, whispering in her ear, “Do you want to stop the interview?”

“No, it's fine," Cherise answered in a low voice. “If I don't answer, they will follow me and keep. asking the question. I might as well clear up everything now.”

Julian and Logan shared a look before nodding at each other. They trusted Cherise to answer the question.

“Yes, I was married to Mr. Amery, and to be honest, I concealed my identity as I didn’t want our relationship to be based on mutual gain, or as we called it, a “business arrangement. I was in love with him, but I guessed my love was not enough for him or his family,” Cherise replied with an elegant smile.

“So, is it safe to say you have no desire to remarry him, Miss Cherise?”

Cherise laughed; the sound sounded free of mocking or self-deprecation.

She shook her head and answered, “No. After all the bad things I had experienced while being married to him, I can say I have no intention to remarry him.”

Suddenly, everyone heard a deep, husky voice coming from the back of the group of reporters, “But I want to remarry you, Miss Alster.”