Dahlia was wary when her son joined them, but looking at the state of Emely's dress, and because she hated Cherise, she naturally assumed her daughter was right.
"Hudson, look!" Polly pointed to the part of Emely's gown. "She bumped into Emely, spilled Emely's wine, and won't apologize. She has no manners at all!"
Emely, knowing Hudson would side with his family, still trying to act delicate and selfless, once again said gently, "No, it's fine. I can change into another dress. It won't be a problem." "And she dares to bring an uninvited guest to your grandmother's birthday." Dahlia looked at Paula's appearance and said with disgust.
Hudson examined the state of Emely's pale pink gown; the spot had gone wider and soaked with red wine, frowned and ordered, "Apologize." Polly looked at Cherise smugly. She knew her brother wouldn't side with that bitch if it were about Emely.
Emely looked down to hide her triumphant smile until suddenly she felt her head feeling cold and saw red liquid trickling down from her hair. Her head jerked up, and she screamed when she realized that Cherise, who was taller than her, had just poured a glass of red wine on her! "Sorry," Cherise smirked as she apologized. If Emely wanted to use such a cliche move, she could counter-attack with the same cliche move. "Still want me to apologize?" Her slender hand reached toward another red wine glass and picked it up, ready to apologize again if she needed to. "Hudson! Look at her!" Polly shrieked.
Cherise rolled her eyes, swirled the wine in her glass elegantly, then smirked. "I just apologized for what I did. Isn't that what you want?"
"Enough!" Dahlia couldn't stand it anymore. She didn't want Agatha to see she couldn't handle a situation like this, especially now that they had drawn a large crowd around them since Hudson appeared.
"Cherise, you and your guest are not-" Dahlia wanted to throw these troublemakers out before Agatha appeared in the ballroom, but she didn't get the chance as her ungrateful son said something that shocked everyone, even Cherise and Paula. Visit Jo(b) n 1b.co m to read the complete chapters for free."Polly, Emely, apologize to Cherise," Hudson suddenly snapped. "And mother, you too."
After realizing his feelings for Cherise, hearing how lovely she was toward the staff at Crescent Villa, and thinking of every little detail she had done for him during their marriage, he knew Cherise wasn't the type to start an argument.
And based on how much she loved his grandmother, she wouldn't jeopardize the festive event by creating trouble.
This could only mean his mother, Polly, and Emely were the troublemakers.
"Are you trying to humiliate your own mother?" Dahlia hissed at Hudson.
"Did you see what truly happened, or did you just assume?" Hudson sneered, not bothering to hide his dislike for his mother. It would still be around ten to fifteen minutes until his grandma entered the ballroom; he still had time to sort this out and make it right. "Do you think your sister and Emely would lie?" Dahlia hissed again.
"I know you and Polly hate Cherise," he gazed coldly at his mother and sister.
"Then why don't you ask Emely?" Polly huffed and turned to Emely, asking her to clarify.
Hudson pinned her with the same cold gaze, which made Emely freeze. What was happening? Shouldn't Hudson side with Dahlia and Polly? What had happened between them? "1-1-1-"
"Go and tell Hudson the truth, Emely," Polly encouraged her impatiently.
Emely swallowed nervously and still tried one last time to act pitiful and said in a small voice. "I-I didn't really know what happened. One moment, I was walking with Polly, and the next, I felt someone bumped against my front, but if I had seen where I was going, this would not have happened."
There, she thought. She indirectly blamed Cherise, but at the same time blamed herself too. Hudson and the others would not think she was lying.
"Oh, really?" Suddenly, a voice behind Cherise sounded, and the woman wrapped her arms around Cherise's waist and placed her chin on Cherise's shoulder.
Paula and Cherise were so close they were used to touching each other like this without making it sexual.
"I'll tell you what really happened," she said with a mischievous grin.
"Shut up!" Dahlia snapped at her. "You do not have the right to speak." She hated this party crasher whose dress was not even on par with their standard.
Paula ignored her, looked at Hudson, and told him. "I was talking to Cherise, minding our business, when suddenly, out of nowhere, someone bumped into her back. So tell me, Cherise had her back against," she paused to point toward Emely with her chin before continuing, "so how could Cherise bump into someone when she was standing still conversing with me?"
Hudson looked at Emely, who stood beside him and had gone pale.
"Emely?" Hudson narrowed his eyes on her.
"Hudson!" Polly childishly stomped her foot. "You actually prefer to believe that poor woman rather than your own family?" Hudson ignored his sister, his cold gaze still fixed on Emely, who looked even paler if that was possible.
Emely shook her head repeatedly. She couldn't change her story now, or everyone would know the truth. "I really don't know what happened."
Suddenly they heard the crowd around them saying all sorts of 'Look at the huge screen'.
Hudson, Polly, Dahlia, and Emely followed the guests' gaze toward the big screen on the stage, and the video looked like it was from one of the surveillance cameras in the ballroom.
"Who?" Paula whispered.
"Tristan." Cherise sighed. It must be him.
On that screen, they all saw how Emely purposely bumped into Cherise and, a second later, poured her wine on her dress and some on Cherise's dress before she gasped and tugged Polly's hand, making sure Polly saw the stain on her gown. They could even hear Emely's soft voice, and even though they couldn't hear the exact words, it looked like she blamed Cherise for it.
"You lied to me?!" Polly accused her after watching the video; her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. Emely wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole, but she still wouldn't tell them the truth.
She shook her head again. "I didn't. I-I told you if I saw where I was going, I wouldn't get bumped."
"You bumped yourself on Cherise," Hudson pointed out coldly. "I'm disappointed with you, Emely."
Then he looked at his mother and Polly. "The three of you, apologize to Cherise."
Dahlia opened her mouth to protest, but at the warning in her son's eyes, she swallowed it. After how cruelly he treated her and Polly, she couldn't provoke him further, or who knew what he would do to her. "Fine," she said through gritted teeth, not bothering to conceal her unwillingness. "I apologize for assuming anything, Cherise."
Hudson turned to look at Polly and Emely. Polly stomped her foot and, unwilling to see Cherise's smug look, said, "I'm sorry."
Emely looked down and clenched her gown. "I'm sorry, Cherise."
"But her friend couldn't stay," Dahlia said firmly at the same time Tristan and Katherine moved toward them, Katherine's hand looped around Tristan's arm.
"You want to throw Paula's out?" Tristan asked Dahlia in feigned surprise.
Katherine patted his arm comfortingly. "Oh, don't worry about it, darling. She called me a slut and insulted me with every other derogatory name when we met. It seems she never learned from her mistake." "But how could someone want to throw Paula Laurent from a banquet?" Tristan said, still with that feigned shock.
Dahlia blanched. That hippy-looking woman who stood with Cherise, the one she kept calling poor, was THE Paula Laurent? The renowned clothes designer?
She cursed herself for offending another big name in the fashion industry, but how could she know Cherise was friends with someone so important?
"Mother, go and make sure the guests won't talk about this once Grandma appears," Hudson ordered. "Polly, bring Emely to change her gown."
At the finality of his voice, the three of them couldn't refute his orders. Dahlia went to play host again while Polly, who was angry with Emely for using her, dragged her roughly toward her room.
"How dare you use me, Emely!" Polly shouted the moment she closed her bedroom door.
"I didn't," Emely defended herself. "I just pointed out my soaked gown and told you someone bumped into me. You assumed Cherise did it."
Polly wanted to unleash her rage toward Emely again, but Emely quickly changed the subject.
"What happened between Hudson, Dahlia, and you?" she asked. "Why did he side with Cherise instead of his family?"
As she had expected, Polly launched into details of what happened. Polly had a short attention span, so it was easy to make her forget what just happened as long as the other subject made her madder.
"Oh my God, I can't believe Hudson did that to you and Dahlia." Emely was genuinely shocked about what she had learned. "I know, right?" Polly fumed. "You might be used to living with such a meager allowance, but my mother and I don't!" Emely bit her bottom lip from retorting. Polly has just insulted that she was poor, but it was not wise to be angry with her. She still needed her to bring Cherise down, being how easily manipulated Polly was.
"I need to change my dress before the banquet starts," Emely said instead.
Polly, still sulking, pulled out a few of her older gowns for Emely to choose. They had the same measurements, but Emely had to bite her lip again at how Polly treated her like she was beneath her by offering her old gowns.
"Pick one, and I'll help you change into it," Polly ordered impatiently.
Emely picked a soft yellow gown, and they worked together to zip Emely into it.
Downstairs in the ballroom, Hudson wanted to speak to Cherise, but Katherine and Paula ushered her toward the bathroom to clean her gown even though it was impossible, and there were only small tiny spots that were not really visible if one didn't scrutinize it closely.
Tristan, who was still standing near Hudson, examined him warily. "What are you doing, Hudson? You hated her, mistreated her, and worse, let everyone else mistreat her, and now you asked your family to apologize to her without even asking for the truth like you trusted her. What game are you playing,"
Hudson only glanced briefly at Tristan and told him before leaving, "I don't have to explain anything to you."
"What happened to Hudson?" Paula and Katherine asked Cherise the moment they entered the bathroom.
Cherise's brows trembled. "Aren't you guys going to help clean my gown?"
"Oh, pish posh." Paula waved her hand dismissively. "You know we are only here to gossip with you. That stain will not come off with just a simple wipe of water."
Katherine laughed and said, "Tell us why he defended you, darlin~"
"Beats me if I know," Cherise shrugged. She also didn't know why Hudson did that.
She quickly washed her hands and urged her best friends to leave the bathroom so they wouldn't miss Agatha's entrance. Unfortunately, when they returned to the ballroom, Agatha was already surrounded by the guests to wish her birthday. Julian, Logan, and Tristan joined them, and with concern in his eyes, Julian asked, "Are you alright, Cherise?"
"I'm fine," Cherise smiled assuringly.
Before they could converse further, Agatha's maid appeared and told Cherise that Agatha wanted to see her and that her guests were welcome to follow.
"Happy birthday, Agatha," Cherise smiled and hugged the old lady.
"Thank you, my dear," Agatha hugged her back. "I heard what happened. I'm so sorry they acted like that toward you at my party."
Cherise laughed and assured her, "It's not your fault, Agatha. They just hate me and will cause trouble whenever they see me."
Agatha frowned, but before she could say anything, Cherise introduced her brothers and friends to her.
They chatted for a while. Tristan, Paula, and Katherine kept it light so that Agatha would laugh and enjoy her birthday before they moved away so that other guests could talk to her.
A commotion was heard from the main door as they were talking and laughing. They all looked and froze when they saw Charles Alster appear.
"What is Grandpa doing here?" Cherise asked, slightly panicked. She should not be seen with Julian, or her identity would be uncovered, and she doesn't want it to happen now. Not during Agatha's birthday.
The others thought the same as well. Dahlia and Polly most probably would talk badly about her 'relationship' with Julian, how she was a gold digger, and she didn't want to ruin Agatha's banquet. If they wanted to do it during her banquet in a month's time, she wouldn't mind it.
"I think I'm going to go to the garden," she whispered and slipped away before anyone could see her.
Cherise loved Agatha's garden, and as it was cold and she didn't have her coat, she walked toward the area where she and Agatha used to sit and chat, knowing there would be a blanket ready to warm her up. But before she reached her destination, she yelped as she was pulled by someone and felt herself being pinned against the wall.
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