Chapter 96
Everyone turned around and was shocked to see Hudson Amery, the CEO of the Amery Group, standin
very back of the group of reporters who were all seated with a bouquet of beautiful red roses in his hand.
All eyes were on him, and they all gawked as Hudson moved toward the stage with his masculine gracefulness. Did he ask someone to deliver it by helicopter or something? Because it was clear those roses were fresh and imported!
But the shocking part was that Hudson Amery was holding them! Hudson was always famous for his cold and aloof nature with no romantic bones in him! Gentle, maybe, since they saw how he treated Emely before everyone found out how she was a lying and scheming
woman.
But romantic?
And to humble himself in front of a live press conference by saying he wanted to remarry his ex-wife whome used to hate so much and labeled as a gold digger throughout their marriage? No one would have ever thought this day would come!
This was going to be the juiciest news they would ever capture. All the reporters were shaking with excitement, and they were too busy taking pictures, so much so that they forgot to ask questions.
Cherise frowned inwardly, wondering how in the world he had gotten past the guards. But then she thought oh well, he was THE Hudson Amery-of course, no guards could stop him unless they wanted to go against him, the most influential figure in this country. And it was her fault for not thinking ahead and telling the guards not to let him in. Frankly, she never thought he would come and proclaim his love for her.
Even though Cherise was frowning inwardly, she maintained a faint smile on her beautiful face. This was her press conference, and she would not let anything or anybody affect her. She would show everyone she could handle everything gracefully. To avoid an incomplete reading experience, visit Jobn'i'b.com. Julian, who was perching his arms on the table with his fingers clasped together, arched an eyebrow as he saw Hudson approaching them. He glanced at his sister and found she was looking calm, so he knew she had it all under control.
On the other hand, Logan was ready to stand up and lunge at Hudson for daring to show up there. He hated Hudson with a passion for hurting his savior, and no one knew he felt guilty for letting it happen.
He should've stopped Cherise when she told everyone of her plan to hide her identity when she married Hudson. But what was done was done, and he could do nothing about the past, but he sure could protect her from now on. Suddenly, he felt a soft, and small hand covering his bigger one, and he turned to look at Cherise, who shook her head at him with a look that said, 'I got this'.
With heavy reluctance, Logan unclenched his fists and forced himself to relax. As much as he wanted to interfere, he respected his adopted sister's wishes. Once in front of Cherise, Hudson placed the bouquet of roses on the table. "For you, Miss Alster. It is to convey my wish to pursue you from now on."
Hudson's words finally broke through the reporters' minds, making them frenzy and raising all kinds of questions regarding his statement of wanting Cherise back.
Hudson held up his hand; his commanding presence made all the reporters who fired up questions at him quiet down.
When he let his hand down, the reporters began questioning him in an orderly manner, just as they had done when questioning Cherise, Julian, and Logan.
"Mr. Amery, are you regretting your decision to divorce Miss Cherise after you found out she is the heiress to the Alster family?" one of the reporters asked the first question. "No," Hudson replied firmly. "I realized my feelings for Miss Alster long before last night, and I've declared my feelings to her during my grandmother's birthday banquet."
"Is it true then that you have replaced all the staff at your mother's villa?"
"Yes." Hudson nodded. "And I've made sure they are not to be able to find any employment in this country for everything they had done to Miss Alster."
All the reporters shivered at that moment as they witnessed the ruthlessness and heard the shrewd method of Hudson Amery when someone caused him wrong, with his eyes narrowing and the icy aura blasting from him. They knew they needed to tread carefully around him and not ask the wrong questions, or he would get them fired.
Hudson cleared his throat and said, "Surely no household would want servants who would mistreat the Young Madam of the household."
The reporters nodded, agreeing with him.
"But you had no idea what they had done to Miss Cherise before?"
Hudson's expression turned sad and melancholy. "I had no idea at all. Even if I used to hate Miss Alster, physical abuse is not something I would have tolerated, and I would've stopped it sooner had I known, but alas, I found out too late, and I regretted it." "If Miss Alster wishes to hit me now, I'd gladly take every beating without hesitation to make up for it," he added sincerely.
Suddenly, a reporter seemed to notice the ring on his ring finger and asked with excitement, "Mr. Amery, are you wearing one of the rings from the 'True Love' collection? Is this a way to show your support for Miss Cherise as the CEO of the Alster Group?"
Hudson looked down at his hand and touched the ring Cherise had designed for their third anniversary.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
The night before, after arriving at his penthouse, Hudson thought about how to make Cherise believe his sincere intention to remarry her.
He was sure everyone would have heard of his punishments for his mother and Polly, but what could he do to show how much he wanted her back?
And then it occurred to him-flowers, as Finley said every lady loved them, and the wedding rings. It was time to show the world that his heart had been taken by his ex-wife.
And here he was, at the press conference, presenting Cherise with a bouquet of flowers and wearing the ring she was meant for them to wear, unashamed to put his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see.
Hudson rubbed the ring lovingly, and a gentle, soft smile grazed his handsome face, momentarily dazing the reporters - female and male alike, because Hudson Amery seldom showed that kind of expression!
If an aloof and cold Hudson was handsome, then a loving and gentle Hudson was nothing short of a prince charming from a fairytale. Those two different sides of him would no doubt be able to make all the ladies swoon! The reporters broke out from their dazed state, and all tried to capture this side of Hudson to the best of their abilities.
The clicking of their cameras broke through Hudson's reverie, and he remembered the reporter's question. He answered, "You can say this ring is a part of the 'True Love' collection by Angelworld Jewelry, but it is one of a kind." "What do you mean, Mr. Amery?"
Hudson turned to look at Cherise intensely and said, "My wife designed this ring for our third wedding anniversary, and the matching ring is still waiting to be worn by her."
Cherise, who still had a faint smile on her face, cursed inwardly. She should've thrown the rings herself instead of leaving them at the Angelworld shop!
"Miss Cherise, is it true Mr. Amery had confessed his love before he knew you were the heiress to the Alster family?"
Cherise tilted her head to one side and smiled graciously at the reporters. "Yes, he has indeed told me of his feelings during Agatha's birthday."
"After this sweet gesture by Mr. Amery, do you think you'll give him another chance?"
"Unfortunately, I can't ignore the fact that he and his family had hurt me during our marriage, so my answer to him is still the same as what I told him during Agatha's birthday," Cherise said, and after ignoring Hudson's gaze, she finally locked her eyes with him. "Sorry, Sir. I don't want you back," she said elegantly, with no tone of mocking, unlike when she said those words to him in Agatha's garden.
Julian then stood up, followed by Logan, and said, "I think the press conference should end here. Thank you to everyone who has come. There will be a refreshment for everyone."
Cherise stood up and nodded toward the reporters before their bodyguards ushered the three of them inside the building, and Neil took the banquet of roses with him before following their bosses.
The reporters still had questions, but seeing how they wouldn't get the answers anymore, they all surrounded Hudson.
"Mr. Amery, will you give up now that Miss Cherise has made it clear she will never want to reconcile with you?"
"I won't," Hudson replied with no hesitation. "I know it won't be easy for her to forgive me after all the hurt I've inflicted on her, but I will never give up."
The reporters kept asking him questions, but Hudson excused himself as he had done what he had intended to do by coming to the press conference.
In Hudson's office, Finley and Keith were waiting for him as they thought they would watch Cherise's press conference together, but to their surprise, Hudson actually went there and proclaimed his love for everyone to see.
"Oh my God!" Finley exclaimed. "He's really in love with her, isn't he? I have never seen Hudson behaving like that. Not even when he was in love with Emely."
Keith looked at Finley and asked, "You still think he was in love with Emely?"
"He wasn't?" Finley asked with confusion.
"I think he never loved Emely," Keith said casually. "He mistook gratitude for her saving her life as love."
Finley's brows furrowed, but then he nodded in agreement. "I guess you are right. He told us he loved Emely after she saved him, but he was just gentle toward her, unlike how he is now with Cherise."
Meanwhile, Dahlia and Polly also watched the life press conference at Moonlight Villa.
"I can't believe that bitch has made Brother fall in love with her!" Polly stomped her foot, complaining loudly to her mother.
"Polly, what did I tell you about calling Cherise names?" Dahlia chided her.
"But Mom..."
"Calm down, Polly," Dahlia changed her tone of voice and pulled her daughter to sit beside her. "If Cherise and Hudson can reconcile, you'll have more chances of getting together with Julian." That perked Polly's mood up. "Are you sure, Mom?" she asked with hope shining in her eyes.
"Yes, we can ask your brother and Cherise for help." Dahlia patted Polly's hand, but in her mind, she was already scheming how to push Hudson so he could reconcile faster with Cherise.
At Emely's apartment, she watched the press conference with wide eyes. She never thought Hudson would announce his feelings for Cherise on national television!
She paced around her apartment, biting on the nail of her thumb. How did it end up like this? When did Hudson start to fall in love with that bitch? If she knew this would happen, she'd have killed Luis herself before the accident so that she wouldn't have stayed too far away from Hudson for too long.
As she was pacing around, her phone alerted her of a new message. When she checked it, her whole body trembled, and she felt herself going pale.
There was only one sentence on her phone screen: Meet me at our usual place.