Never Judge

Cedric woke up the next day to find Adrianna still fast asleep. Last night's gathering lasted longer than they expected. The parents were extremely happy and on top of that, Veronica and her parents had finally made up. 

Cedric pulled his wife to him and held her, he watched her sleep peacefully as he played with her hair. Unfortunately they had a busy day ahead, Cedric had a lot of work to do on the expansion project for Mor Co. He actually had to visit the site today as Ian and the other department heads in charge of the expansion were going to give him a tour, as well as updates on the build. 

Aside from the main Mor Co. buildings, his friends had their own stakes in the area. The Mor Co. Tech Park was not just going to be the hub for scientific innovations it was also going to be the commercial center of the whole province. 

"Ced?" Adrianna asked as she slowly woke up.

"Did I wake you?" Cedric asked. As he kissed her on the cheek. 

"Nope. I need to get to the office. I'm handing over my work to Uncle Matthew and Henry. I'm also going to try patching things up with Margaret again." Adrianna said as she slowly got up from the bed.

"Don't tire yourself out too much." Cedric said as he pulled his wife into the shower.

When Adrianna arrived at Island's Inc., she found Uncle Matthew and Henry waiting for her in her office. She greeted them with a smile before finally settling in her chair.

"How long before you have to stay at home?" Henry asked his cousin.

"If my husband had his way? A month ago." Adrianna said with a laugh. Cedric was extremely paranoid about his wife and child's safety. Aside from the increased security, Cedric had scheduled for more frequent check ups. "Don't worry I still have two weeks to turn things over to you." 

"Did our old partners come back?" Henry asked Uncle Matthew and Adrianna.

"After Elaine's true identity came out, they were all begging for our forgiveness and to partner with us again." Uncle Matthew laughed. Aside from Elaine's deception, the fact that until now Adrianna and Ayanna Reyes were good friends and even Mrs. Priscilla Reyes came out to defend Adrianna made everyone think that there was something more to Adrianna.

There were currently two rumors going around, the first being that Adrianna might be the illegitimate daughter of a Reyes relative, and the second was the long circulating rumor that Adrianna was the mistress of the Reyes Heir.

"We dropped them. We're going with a few new ones, the sisters connected me with a couple of companies that are much bigger." Adrianna told Henry.

"Glad to hear you're slowly having a change of heart." Henry said with a laugh.

"Don't tease." Adrianna answered back. "I'm still your boss."

"What's Henry talking about?" Uncle Matthew asked.

"Uncle, you know that all my life I've been told that my face will help me marry a successful man." Adrianna explained. "I fell for Cedric because he wasn't someone who simply looked at me as a pretty face, he looked at me as a woman capable of achieving my dreams, on top of that he wasn't some rich man's son so people wouldn't say I achieved things because of him. Now that we know that he is beyond the kind of man everyone expected me to marry, I don't want people saying in the future that I achieved my success because I had a powerful man behind me. So I've been refusing his help."

"Is that why he still remains mysterious and refuses to show his face in public?" Uncle Matthew asked.

"It is, but the events with Elaine Moyra and my talks with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law helped me realize that maybe I can accept help from some of them." Adrianna admitted. "On top of that when I met Mr. Quinto he helped me realize that no matter how hard I try people will still act according to how powerful they think the people behind me are."

Henry laughed at Adrianna. "So Cedric couldn't knock any sense into you but Priscilla and Ayanna Reyes managed to do so?" 

"It's a woman thing. They understand me differently." Adrianna said with a shrug as she returned to focus on explaining to Henry and Uncle Matthew the work she would be passing over to them.

At lunch, Adrianna had arranged for the three of them, Margaret, and her parents to eat at the Bamboo Room. She asked for Ray's help to get a table the night before during the small gathering Ayanna had organized.

She thought that after everything that had happened recently they all deserved to sit down and have a nice meal together. Cedric couldn't join them since he was visiting the Mor Co, expansion site today. 

Everyone was eating peacefully when Margaret suddenly placed her utensils down and murmured something.

"Margaret, speak up. We didn't hear you." Uncle Matthew told his daughter.

"Adri, I'm still mad at you." Margaret managed to say.

Adrianna looked at her cousin with a confused face, she never expected Margaret to have forgiven her. After all, they had never spoken about what had happened after the Hernandez family had thrown them away.

"I understand and I don't take it against you." Adrianna calmly told her cousin.

"Aren't you going to send me away, or shun me, or use your husband's power, wealth, or influence to send me away? I haven't forgiven you, aren't I a threat to your safety?" Margaret said with a confused expression. Just like Adrianna, Margaret had grown up surrounded by people who used each other to further themselves and people who wouldn't hesitate to get rid of the other if they posed any threat.

"Margaret we aren't with them anymore. I'm not like them. You know this." Adrianna said with a stern look.

"Margaret, what are you doing?" Uncle Matthew asked his daughter.

"Our world is different now Margaret. We aren't part of the Hernandez family anymore." Adrianna told her cousin.

"Our last name is still Hernandez, we still carry that blood." Margaret said in a sad tone. They had been branded, and Margaret was not immune from the effect of the family's fall. They may have had more, financially now, but socially, people avoided them like the plague. Most of her old friends abandoned her, very few remained. 

"Margaret, they aren't our family anymore. We've moved on." Adrianna said in an attempt to comfort her cousin.

"Not we Adri, you." Margaret said with a frown. "You might have escaped the shadow of the Hernandez family, but we all still need to live with it."

"Margaret, Cedric said the Reyes Clan is our family now." Adrianna tried to explain to her cousin. 

"Adri, don't you see, that only applies to you. Because you prefer to keep your husband's true identity a secret." Margaret cried out.

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