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

"Good evening, brother," a young woman's soft voice came from the other end. "I can't sleep. I miss you. When are you coming back?"

Theo suddenly felt guilty because he left her sister alone in Country A while he pursued Cherise, and before this, he had been away to another country to settle his partnership there. "I'm sorry, but it might be a while before I could go back home," Theo apologized regretfully.

"Oh." He could hear his sister's disappointment through the simple reply and understand why. They hadn't been separated for this long before.

Suddenly, Theo had an idea. "Why don't you live with me here? I've just landed a huge project for our company, and seeing how I will be staying here for more than six months or maybe forever, you can move here with me."

"Surely you are joking, Theo," Erica gasped. "What about my college?"

"You are still waiting to start. I can tell them you have been accepted at one of the colleges here," Theo explained patiently.

"But I haven't," Erica replied uneasily. "I don't know if any of the colleges there still accept applications."

"Don't worry about it," Theo assured his sister. "Tomorrow, I'll ask around, and you just need to prepare yourself for their tests,"

"What if I don't pass any of the tests?" Erica asked anxiously.

"Erica, you are a bright young woman. Never doubt yourself, alright?" Theo tried to boost her confidence.

His sister was smart and had always been first in her classes, but she had low self-confidence. He always thought it was because she didn't have a motherly figure or any female figure to look up to, and there were many times he felt like a failure in raising her. "Alright, if you said so," she answered timidly.

Theo sighed inwardly, feeling helpless about how to make his sister feel more confident, but decided to change the subject.

"I have great news," he said gently with a smile he made sure his sister could hear.

"Ohh... What is it?" Erica asked, trying to sound excited because she knew Theo was trying to make her feel better.

"Do you remember the virtual game I'm about to develop?" Theo was trying to be cryptic, but Erica knew it wouldn't last long, so she hummed in response.

"Well, I got a partnership with the Alster Group, whose CEO has just changed."

Erica frowned. Getting a partnership was indeed great news, but it wasn't that great for Theo to be mysterious about it as he had been friends with Julian, the CEO of the Alster Group.

Wait, she thought. He said the CEO had changed. The Alster family wouldn't hand the group to strangers, which could only mean one thing.

She gasped when realization dawned on her. "Oh my God! Are you going to be working with your first and only love? Is that why you said you might stay in country B forever? Is that why you asked me to move so you could court her?"

Theo laughed at his sister's barrage of questions. "Yes, yes if I could get her, and partly that, partly so we could still see each other even when I'm busy working every day," he responded to her three questions.

"Oh my God, Theo! I'm so happy for you!" Erica squealed like the teenager she was. "This is indeed great news! It's like a fairytale! You finally meet your princess again!"

Theo couldn't help the laughter that slipped out of him again. He always loved hearing Erica's excitement instead of her usual timid self. Because of their closeness, ever since she grew up, she had become like any other teenage girl who loved hearing love stories, her brother's love story in her case.

"Don't get too excited yet," Theo warned her in a warm voice. "I might not get her. She's just gone through a terrible divorce, and her ex-husband is a serious contender."

"Theo, you are so gentle and caring; I believe she'll choose you," Erica said with a confidence she didn't have for herself.

Theo chuckled and said, "Thank you for thinking highly of me."

"Of course, I think highly of you," Erica replied softly. "You were the one who raised me."

"And as the one who has been raising you, I need you to go to bed now," Theo said sternly though it didn't have the same effect as others since he still sounded gentle. "I'll update you once I have a list of colleges, and you can choose which one you'd like to attend." "Alright, Theo," Erica yawned. "Good night."

"Good night, Erica," Theo said. "Have a sweet dream."

He ended the call and looked at the framed picture of him and Cherise again. He thought he would not fall in love with her again, but he was wrong.

She had blossomed into a beautifully strong, stunning woman, even more so than her pictures, and with a knack for business and he couldn't help but to have feelings for her again.

This time, he would do anything to get her, even if it meant going against Hudson Amery.

***

The following day, Cherise had breakfast with Julian and asked him about the Kingston family's internal struggle.

"Didn't I tell you to ask Theo if you are curious about him?" Julian glanced at her before going back to reading the newspaper again.

Cherise pouted. "I can't do that. It will be awkward asking him about it. He might not want to talk about it," she complained and then teased her brother, "And why are you still reading a newspaper? Are you feeling as old as Grandpa now?" Julian folded the newspaper and tickled her, sending Cherise's giggling and moving away from him.

"Are you really curious about it?" Julian smiled when Cherise sat back on her chair.

Cherise nodded in response, and Julian told her, "From what I heard, it was the usual power struggle between two brothers."

Oh, so her guess was correct, she thought. It was a pity when it happened. She hoped if she, Julian, or Logan had kids, they would never end up in that kind of situation.

"I won't be coming home for dinner tonight," Cherise told her brother before she left for her office. "I'm going to have a team meeting with Theo and have dinner with the team members." "Alright, have fun, then." Julian kissed Cherise's cheek, and she got into her car, driving toward the Alster Group.

When she reached her office, Neil was already at his desk with a bouquet of red roses, annotated paperwork ready for her to sign and a stack to check on her table.

Cherise sat on her swiveling leather chair, told Neil to distribute the roses as usual. Neil placed the annotated papers on her desk before he left to give away the roses and prepared her tea. She worked until Neil told her it was lunchtime and that the lunch Hudson ordered for her had arrived. Cherise ate her meal and did not even feel bothered that it was from her ex-husband. After lunch, Neil came into her office and said, "Miss Cherise, I've just received news from the two companies we are supposed to give presentations to this week that we've won the tenders." Cherise frowned and thought how could they win it if they hadn't even presented their plans and proposals yet?

"Which two?" Cherise asked. "And how did we win them?"

"The ones we are competing against the Amery Group," Neil informed professionally. "It seems the Amery Group withdrew themselves."

Cherise felt anger rising in her chest. "That bastard!" she thought, standing up to get her car key and

coat.

"I'm going to kill him!" she muttered angrily as she quickly strode toward the elevator.

Neil's gaze followed her until she disappeared into the elevator before he sighed. He really didn't know what Hudson Amery was thinking. As usual, he entered another elevator and went to Julian's office to report this incident. Cherise kept cursing Hudson as she drove toward the Amery Group building. She was too angry to think Hudson might not be in his office.

When she arrived, she parked her car in front of the building and strode toward the receptionist.

"Call Hudson to come down here," Cherise commanded the receptionist.

"M-Madam Cherise," the receptionist greeted her nervously as she saw how angry Cherise looked. After publicly declaring his desire to pursue her back, Hudson asked Miles to make sure every employee knew Cherise's face and to call her 'Madam' if she ever visited the Amery Group.

"We're divorced, don't call me that." Cherise hissed. "Get him down here," she ordered the frightened receptionist again.