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

Empty.

For once in his life, Hudson Amery, the mighty and unemotional CEO of the Amery Group, felt empty inside his heart.

He glanced around and stood up, going from room to room, where he usually could feel Cherise's presence, but there was no one there now.

With no room left to wander into, Hudson went back to the master bedroom, and a silhouette of Cherise lying on their bed crossed his mind, but it disappeared a split second later.

Not wanting to linger on that image, he went straight to his bathroom and showed up before lying down on the bed to get ready to sleep. But the clock kept ticking, and sleep eluded him.

He sighed and sat against the headboard. Subconsciously, his gaze eyed the ring box on his bedside table, and his hand reached out to take it and open it. His thumb grazed each ring, and a bitter laugh escaped his thin lips.

What the hell was he doing? He had never missed her presence before, so why now? Why was it getting harder and harder to be in this house without her with each passing day instead of getting easier?

He never loved her. Shouldn't he be happy that he got rid of her? Then why the emptiness?

Then Hudson's mind wandered to the day he brought Emely back to this house the day after Luis' funeral -the beginning of all these, the day he asked Cherise to choose between apologizing or divorcing him.

Was he too harsh at that time? Should he never ask her to make a choice? If he didn't, would she still be here?

No. She killed Luis' baby. She should apologize.

But then...

Could he be wrong?

Everyone seemed to think it wasn't Cherise's fault, that she, being Cherise, would not hesitate to apologize if it was truly her fault.

Hudson shook his head to clear his mind. Even if he had doubts, even if those questions kept popping into his mind, even if Emely slipped and indirectly caused her own miscarriage, Cherise was still the one who pushed her, causing her to slip. And those who thought it wasn't Cherise's fault were all her friends. And his grandmother, who hated Emely to her core and loved Cherise like she was her own biological granddaughter.

Hudson groaned when he realized he hadn't told his grandma about his so-called engagement with Emely.

The news had spread wildly, yet his grandma went radio silence. She must be uber mad at him for not even trying to talk him out of it.

Hudson rubbed his face with his palms and groaned again. God, he felt like he was failing his grandmother now. He should reach out to her soon. He hated disappointing his grandma.

She was the one who truly loved him since he was small. She was his grandmother and also a mother figure for him since Dahlia only saw him as an ATM Machine.

With a heavy heart, he set down the ring box on his bedside table and slid down the bed, turning sideways, his hand reaching out for the figure who used to curl up against him, only for him to freeze when he realized she wasn't there anymore. A sort of maniacal laugh escaped his lips. He couldn't believe what he just did.

Was Keith right? Did he get used to her presence after three years of marriage?

Dammit! He didn't want to believe it, nor did he want to admit it.

Hudson knew it would be a sleepless night tonight, so he slid off his bed and walked toward his study. There was no point in staying in bed now. It'd be better if he did whatever work he could to take his mind off that damned woman. Yet, an hour later, he could only stare blankly at the document before him. His mind kept wandering to Cherise and the emptiness inside his heart.

Against his better judgment, Hudson picked up his phone and sent a message to Miles, asking him to purchase the other penthouse at the Regal Apartment.

He didn't want to leave this house, yet he couldn't help himself from gravitating toward Cherise and wanting to see for himself if Julian had moved in with her or not or if she even liked to bring other men to her apartment. Maybe he was a masochist to put himself in that situation, but he couldn't stop himself from doing it, especially now that the house he used to love to live in felt empty.

Two days later, when Cherise stepped out of her apartment, she saw people moving furniture and boxes into the unit next door.

She didn't think too much of it, just hoping her new neighbor wasn't the type who would be nosy. Knowing this was the Regal Apartment and how much the penthouse cost, she was sure her neighbor would be someone civilized. After driving to her office and parking her car in her specific spot, she went straight to her office using her personal elevator and was greeted by Neil, who was ready to go through the business for the day with her.

With someone as efficient as Neil, her work had become much easier. Everything could be done perfectly and right on time. Sometimes, she even had time for an extended break; today was one of those days.

With nothing urgent to attend to, Neil left her in her office, and Cherise decided to check her emails, which she had not used during the three years she had been married to Hudson. Those emails were mainly for her secret identities, such as Q and Miss. X.

She opened her Q's emails and saw many offering her jobs for large sums of money. Scrolling through each one, she decided to give some of the jobs to Ace.

Just as she was about to send the information to him, Tristan appeared in her office with a bright smile.

'Speaks of the Devil, and he appears, Cherise groaned inwardly.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have any job?" Cherise asked him.

"Nah." He shook his head, his long black hair swinging with each turn, and locks of it draped over his eyes when he settled down.

He casually ran his fingers through his hair, combing them back so they wouldn't hinder his eyesight.

Cherise watched him silently and sighed. Why couldn't she fall in love with someone charming like Tristan instead of with someone cold like Hudson?

Oh well, she knew the reason for it. Hudson's aloofness was what made her fall in love with him in the first place-she and every lady who laid eyes on him, apparently.

"Are you falling in love with me?" Tristan, noticing her stare, smiled flirtatiously at her. That smile would have made his fans scream and maybe faint, but it only gave Cherise goosebumps.

"You wish," she snorted and repeated her question. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I have nothing better to do, so I thought I'd just see your workplace," Tristan replied, as if popping into someone's office uninvited was a natural thing to do.

Cherise rolled her eyes at him. "You are lucky I'm having a long break now, or you'll be stuck here alone."

"I came here because I knew you were having a break," he replied with a blinding smile and wink. "I asked Neil before coming here."

"Neil told you my schedule?" Cherise asked with a raised brow. Neil might not be as professional as she thought if he could give out her schedule so easily.

"I wish it were that easy," Tristan huffed. "He needed Julian's permission before he could tell me."

"Okay." It seemed Neil was a professional, after all.

"You come at the right time, actually," Cherise told him. "I'm going to give you some jobs."

"Jobs?" Tristan gasped exaggeratedly, then whined. "Can't I just relax here with you? It's my day off, too, and I don't want to work."

"Stop being a baby." Cherise shook her head. Really, if his fans knew he was such a baby, it would shatter their image of him being a bad boy or prince charming. But then they might think him cute, and he would become a golden retriever boyfriend instead. Gosh, this guy was made to be a star, no matter what.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she pointedly looked at him and said, "You are a hacker, right?"

That question made Tristan freeze on his seat instantly.