Never Judge

Everyone was already at the patio by the pool when Cedric, Katerina, Eric, and Ram joined them. Little Emilio was laughing in his father's arms as they arrived.

"How's my great-grandson?" Grandpa Emilio said, as Cedric approached him. 

A nanny came over with a stroller. Cedric had asked the nanny to be ready with one whenever any of the elders were around. 

"He's definitely going to break a lot of hearts when he grows up." Cedric's grandmother teased. 

Cedric simply smiled and left his son in the care of his grandparents and the nanny. He had hired several nannies to look after little Emilio, he wanted his son to be well taken care of and he wanted to take as much burden off Adrianna. She still had her goals in life and he wanted her to have the time and energy to achieve them.

"Cedric!" His father said calling him over.

Cedric moved to the seat next to Eric and left the seat next to him vacant for Adrianna, she was still in a discussion with Jose Sebastian. 

"How's that matter?" Ray asked Cedric.

"We have some very suspicious developments." Cedric said as he sat down.

"Like what? Maybe we can help?" Ram asked. Cedric was sure that at least one of them had heard of MT Summit.

"We discovered that a company called MT Summit is trying to destroy the Reyes Group's integrity in the eyes of the investors." Cedric explained.

"But your investors are painfully loyal. Plus you don't have that many, most of the shares in the Reyes Group companies are owned by the family." Alexi said as he thought what it meant for someone to attempt to spread rumors about the Reyes Group.

"They went about it quite intelligently." Cedric explained. "They approached the smaller investors instead of the big ones that have been with us for a long time. They were the ones we didn't have a relationship with."

"That's quite smart." Ram said as he rubbed his chin.

"MT Summit." James Abad said slowly as he tried to recall where he heard that name. 

"MT Summit, isn't that the bank that closed down twenty years ago?" Benedicto Laurence asked. 

"You're right. MT Summit was once a big player in the banking industry. Unfortunately it closed down due to bad management, wasn't that the same company that the Lims were secretly invested in?" Emilio Reyes recalled.

"Why didn't Ian remember it or bring it up?" Cedric asked. He didn't want to doubt his friend and assistant.

"Ian wouldn't have known. Only that cousin knew, what was his name again?" Emilio said, clarifying any doubt in Cedric's head.

"Noel Lim." James Abad said, recalling the name.

"Yeah, he's also the one that ran off with grandpa Lim's money." Benedicto recalled.

"What happened to MT Summit after they closed?" Cedric asked the elder men.

"Would you know Rebeckah?" Benedicto asked his cousin. "Weren't you the lawyer for one of the families suing them?"

"I was. Last I heard they were still closed. But if you are telling me that they are moving again it must mean one of two things. The original owners now have funds to revive the company, or someone bought MT Summit." Rebekah Torres - Sebastian said as she thought of the possibilities.

"I'll have someone look into it." Alexi said as he rubbed his chin.

"Thanks." Cedric said with a nod.

"So Alexi, son, who were you talking to in the hallway earlier?" Rebeckah Sebastian asked her son in a teasing tone.

"Mom." Alexi complained. It was no secret to the parents that Alexi slept around with various women, changing almost every week. His parents knew that he had even slept with some of the help.

"I just hope you don't make a mess in your friend's house, both figuratively and literally." Rebeckah warned her son in a more serious tone.

"Don't worry mom, I think he's actually serious about this one." Katerina said with a laugh.

"Yeah auntie! He actually went a second round with her after months!" Miguel added.

The parents were shocked at this revelation. Alexi was notorious for never going back to any of his past flings after he was one with them.

"Fine, I think I like her." Alexi hesitantly admitted.

"If you like her, tell her." Emilio Reyes suggested. 

"I have." Alexi complained.

"And?" Amy So - Laurence, Ray's mother asked.

"She said no." Alexi said with a shrug. "She didn't want to risk being in a relationship with her boss's friend." 

"Who is her boss?" Victoria Bernasconi - Abad, Ram and Veronica's mom, asked.

"Nicole." Alexi said as he rolled his eyes.

"We aren't friends." Nicole said with a giggle.

"Yeah, you're more like our older brother." Ayanna teased.

"You're making it worse!" Alexi accused Ayanna.

"Well it's true. You're like the older brother that defends us when we get into fights." Veronica added.

"Yeah, you and Ray go after people who offend us." Natalia said with a proud smile.

"So who is this woman who has managed to captivate Alexi?" Rebekah Sebastian asked, curious about what kind of girl could catch her notoriously impatient son's attention.

"Nurse Jen." Veronica said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, Nurse Jen doesn't like men. How could Alexi have slept with her?" Amy So - Chan said as she recalled that Nurse Jen was a lesbian.

"It's my charm auntie." Alexi said with a wink.

"What's with the eye roll? I know Nurse Jen, she doesn't come off as a bad person" Amy So - Chan asked her daughter-in-law.

Katerina laughed. "She caused a misunderstanding between Veronica and Miguel."

"I hope you guys spoke about it." Raphael Chan said as he threw a warning glance at his son.

"Miguel almost broke his hand." Nicole said as she rolled her eyes.

"I said I was sorry." Ayanna reacted, to all of the parents' surprise.

"Why are you so reckless Ayanna?" Priscilla Reyes said, scolding her daughter.

"But mom, it wasn't my fault." Ayanna complained.

"We are going off topic. We need to convince this Nurse Jen to consider Alexi!" Rebekah Sebastian said.

"I can always just fire her." Nicole said with a shrug.

"Maybe Nicole isn't the issue." Eric said as he thought of why Nurse Jen would reject Alexi despite having slept with him multiple times already.

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked.

"Maybe Alexi is being too Alexi." Eric suggested.

"I'm lost." Cedric said.

Eric smiled and shook his head. "Alexi comes off as too strong sometimes, no oftentimes. Maybe she's afraid of your playboy ways?" 

"Then what do I do?" Alexi wasn't ashamed of discussing his love life in front of the parents, they were already aware of his habits anyway.

"Court her!" Natalia suggested.

"Be sweet!" Katerina said as she looked at Eric, who winked back at her.

"Don't be after sex." Ayanna said with a laugh.

"Fine. I'll try." Alexi said, surrendering to the girls' suggestions.

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