Chapter 21
Miles did as ordered and they went their separate ways. Hudson went to the upper level of the hospital and barged into the director’s office unannounced.
Keith, who was looking at a patient’s case, looked toward the door to see the handsome face of his best friend. Although Hudson still maintained his cold, indifferent, and sophisticated appearance, being a doctor, Keith could see a small tell–tale sign of his exhaustion – the light dark shadow under his eyes, the dimness in his eyes which were usually sharp, and the soft frown lines on his forehead.
He sighed as he watched his best friend strode to the couch and slumped over, leaning his head against the headrest. His usual composure was gone instantly, showing all his fatigue.
Keith dialed his secretary to bring them two cups of tea and waited until she brought it over before he began to speak.
“You shouldn’t overwork yourself.” He frowned as he watched Hudson begin tugging his hair, a sign of which he was used to a sign that his insomnia was back again and had worsened.
“I need sleeping pills,” Hudson muttered.
“Stop it.” Keith hurriedly went to him and stopped his hand from tugging more of his hair. “Sleeping pills are only a temporary solution, and you know it won’t be good for your health to take them in the long term.”
“I don’t care. I need those pills,” Hudson snapped and opened his eyes.
Keith was startled to see how haggard he looked just a few moments after he entered his office. His eyes had turned bloodshot, and he looked unkempt with messy hair. No one would have believed this man was the most influential CEO in Country B if they saw him in this condit
“OW.
“I will give them to you once you tell me your problems.” Keith, being a doctor for so long, was used to all kinds of emotions from his patients or their families, thus he remained calm in face of Hudson’s sudden emotional outburst and tried to negotiate with him, wanting his best friend to open up to him.
“What really happened during the accident, Hudson?” he asked quietly. No one knew how Luis died. Everyone only knew there was an accident at one of their factories overseas, and Hudson was there when it happened, but Keith knew how the incident had traumatized him.
After the funeral, Hudson left with Emely, and he appeared at Keith’s house at night, claiming he had fallen asleep in Emely’s hotel room for a while due to his fatigue, only to be woken up by the nightmare of Luis dying.
Keith had tried then to obtain information about it from him, but he remained tight–lipped about it. At that time, he could only give Hudson a sleeping pill to help, but this
time, he needed to know what really happened if he were to help Hudson with his insomnia.
Hudson’s b*dy trembled slightly, and he had to close his eyes, clench his fists, and grit his teeth to
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Chapter 21
shake off the image of his bloody brother from his mind.
Seeing Hudson’s condition, Keith decided not to press the matter further. He was afraid Hudson would break down and go into depression if he didn’t tread this lightly. So, to alleviate Hudson’s attention, he began talking about how his insomnia was cured..
“You do realize you could sleep peacefully when you were married to Cherise,” Keith pointed out, as he had done when they were in the club the other day.
He sighed in relief when he saw Hudson stop trembling, his eyes narrowing and a sneer forming on his face. At least he was back to his usual self, Keith thought to himself.
“I was able to sleep because of exhaustion from all the S*x,” Hudson sneered. In front of Keith, whom he had known since childhood, there was no shame in them talking about it.
The corners of Keith’s lips curved up slightly as he sipped his tea. “If you wanted S*x, there were and still are other ladies willing to jump into your bed.”
“For them to brag about sleeping with me after that? I’m not Finley, and I didn’t want to be trapped in another disgusting marriage because they claimed I had taken their virginity,” he said with disgust.
Kbh
Keith ignored his response and pointed out another important thing in a bedroom relationship between men and women, “I doubt you had S*x with her every night. As a woman, she would have her monthly period.”
Hudson was stunned by Keith’s words. He always thought he went back home every night to do the deeds with Cherise, but Keith was right. Even when Cherise could not do it, he would still home no matter how late it was..
go back
Could Cherise actually make him comfortable to the point she was able to somehu.. ure‘ his insomnia? What was it about sleeping with her that he liked? There should be nothing besides the great S*x. But then he remembered the many times he pulled Cherise toward him subconsciously whenever she fell asleep first.
Hudson froze as his mind wandered through all those nights he spent with his ex–wife. One vivid memory flashed through his mind – he loved Cherise’s scent. It soothed him, so he liked to pull her into his arms when they slept together.
“Now you realize it?” Keith’s calm voice broke through his reverie, making him sneer in disgust again. It couldn’t be. He hated his ex–wife so much that it didn’t make sense if she was the cure for his insomnia!
Seeing his best friend still denying it, Keith changed the topic again. “I know you have a reason behind wanting to marry Emely, but Hudson, won’t it trap you in another useless marriage again?”
“And don’t tell me you are still in love with her,” Keith quickly added before Hudson could reply. “You had never noticed her when she was with your brother, not in the you–were–in–love–with–her way. You saw her only as a good friend and future sister–in–law…until she saved you.”
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Chapter 21
Keith stood up and took a bottle of pills before returning to Hudson’s side. “Is that really love? Or gratitude? Think about it.”
Hudson denied not loving Emely in his heart. Who wouldn’t love someone who could be brave enough to sacrifice themselves for you?
“You have never been in love before; you don’t know how it feels,” Hudson retorted, only to hurriedly apologize when he saw the sadness in his best friend’s eyes. I’m sorry. I’m too worked up today. I shouldn’t have said that.”
–
Keith was the most pitiful of the three. He fell in love once with someone he couldn’t be with- his classmate a man. Although they loved each other, it was impossible for them to be together. In their culture and class, a same–S*x relationship was frowned upon.
Keith shook his head and smiled calmly, betraying the emotions in his heart. “I’ve gotten over it.” He then handed Hudson a pill. “Here, take this and rest here for a while. I’ll tell Miles to cancel your engagements for today.”
“I’m sorry,” Hudson apologized again. He didn’t mean to bring up Keith’s old wound. They were best friends, and even if he was usually cold toward everyone, including Finley and Keith, it was a lowly thing for him to do so.
“Just rest for now.” Keith patted Hudson’s shoulder and handed him a glass of water.
Knowing that keeping apologizing would only make matters worse and that he needed to sleep, Hudson took the water from Keith, gulped down the pill, and soon drifted off to sleep.
Watching Hudson finally fall asleep on the couch, Keith’s memory walked down the memory lane. of his first and maybe last love. He knew he wouldn’t be able to marry for love the moment he realized his S*xuality and how everyone was against it. He shook his head and wer
-k to the case
he was studying before, submitting to his fate of marrying a woman of his parent’s…ice in the future.
Cherise finally got home and talked to Julián about her decision and plan for the contract termination. Julian agreed with her decision without a second thought. As long as his sister was happy, he would support her.
Feeling happy, Cherise called Katherine to meet up and ch*ck out the “True Love‘ collection, but unfortunately, she was overseas for a jewelry show.
After hanging up, her phone suddenly rang, and Cherise’s eyes lit up with excitement as she saw the caller ID flashing on her phone screen.
A/N: I changed Erika’s name to Katherine, which seems to suit her character more *love*
