Never Judge

When they arrived home Cedric found his wife waiting for him with their son in her arms, laughing.

"Have you eaten?" Adrianna asked Cedric and Ayanna as they walk in through the door, visibly exhausted.

"Not yet. We're famished." Ayanna said as she marched into the kitchen and slumped on a chair.

"When exactly are you and Ray moving out?" Cedic asked with a sigh as he followed after her. Ayanna and Ray had been working with Veronica to build their new home within the Mountain View community.

"The house should be done in a month. I'm sure you'll miss me." Ayanna said with a wink as she teased her brother and sister-in-law.

"Where are the elders?" Cedric asked Adrianna as he looked around searching for his parents, in-laws, and grandparents. They would usually be in the living room, playing with Emilio, but when Cedric and Ayanna arrived there was no such sight.

"Out." Adrianna said with a shrug as she placed their son in a crib and sat next to him.

"Something about all of this doesn't seem right." Cedric confessed to his sister and wife.

"Dad thinks you're ready, what's wrong with that?" Ayanna asked as a maid brought her food over.

"It's too soon. I know dad, he would have handed me one company at a time, not all of it at one go." Cedric said as he took a spoon full of soup.

"What are you being suspicious about? We should be celebrating, you've basically ascended to the throne." Ayanna told him.

Cedric hesitated, he didn't know if he should tell his wife and sister about his suspicions, but he also didn't want to keep a secret from them any longer.

"I had dad investigated." Cedric finally confessed.

"You did what?" Ayanna practically shouted in surprise.

"I noticed a piece of property, a small one, not an investment or a beach home, a small suburban home under his name." Cedric explained.

"So? We have a lot of properties." Ayanna asked as she eyed her brother suspiciously.

"It's not normal Ayanna. Plus a woman and dad have been there whenever mom isn't around." Cedric explained.

"What if it's an old friend? What if it's someone mom and dad are helping? Don't jump into conclusions Cedric." Ayanna said.

"Ayanna, its only normal for rich men." Cedric said calmly.

"For rich men what? Don't tell me it's normal for them to have mistresses or second families, our parents are not like that!" Ayanna shouted.

"It's not impossible." Cedric told her slowly as he tried to break his reasoning to her as gently as possible.

"No Cedric, you have no right! None at all. You don't know them like I do. You've been gone for thirteen years! In those years you didn't get to spend time with them like I did, so don't claim to know them or their love." Ayanna shouted as she slammed her hand on the table.

"Ayanna…" Cedric said with a sigh.

"You're a rich man, so does that mean you will cheat on Adrianna? Ray is a rich man do you want him to cheat on me? All of your friends are rich men and I don't think any of them would cheat on any of their wives when they all get married. Even Alexi who as a new woman every week wouldn't cheat!" Ayanna shouted. "You don't know our parents like I do. You've been away!"

"It's not like I wanted to be away Ayanna, you forget that I didn't have a choice in this." Cedric said, finally raising his voice.

"You had a choice, we always have a choice. You could have convinced dad to change tradition! It's antiquated anyway." Ayanna said leaning forward.

"I was fifteen Ayanna! Fifteen, you don't think about changing tradition or the world at that age, you do as you are told or you don't!" Cedric said.

"Children have spoken up about less than this." Ayanna said angrily at her brother.

"Do not lecture me Ayanna. Don't change the topic." Cedric said with a glare.

Suddenly little Emilio began to cry and the fighting siblings calmed down.

"You're right, I was away, so I don't know our parents as well as you do." Cedric said, conceding as he sat down. 

"And I was wrong to accuse you of being away, I know you didn't have a choice. It was for our sake." Ayanna said with a sigh. "Do you really think dad could be cheating on mom?" Ayanna asked with a frown. Cedric knew that his sister had so much faith in their love for one another that his suspicions would be difficult for her to accept.

"I'm worried that the reason he turned the company over to me is because he wants to have a family with that woman or that he already does and he wants to avoid an inheritance war." Cedric explained with a frown. Many families had fallen in the past due to fighting among siblings for their inheritance, the Reyes family had been fortunate that each sibling respected their place and accepted who would inherit the most.

"I don't want to speculate Cedric." Ayanna told him. "I want to know the truth. I want to be sure." 

"I'm trying to find out Ayanna, but dad has considerably more resources than I do." Cedric told his younger sister. 

"Then think out of the box, no matter what they are still quite old fashioned so think of something they wouldn't." Ayanna said desperately. "This cannot be true." Ayanna said, shaking her head on the verge of breaking down into tears.

"I want to be proven wrong just as much as you want me to be wrong Ayanna, but the evidences are pilling up. I am trying my best to figure things out and solve this." Cedric said with a sigh.

"I don't understand how this could happen." Ayanna said as tears began to roll from her eyes. Adrianna moved next to her sister-in-law and gave her a hug, holding her as she cried.

"Don't worry, I'll put my best resources into it. Did you know I was worried dad found out that I knew so I had my men check the house earlier, it was empty today." Cedric told Ayanna.

"Well duh Cedric, mom was here today." Ayanna said, rolling her eyes.

"I promise. I'll do my best." Cedric swore as he looked Ayanna in the eyes.

"Do you think, Ray could do that to me?" Ayanna asked, her tone full of fear and hesitation.

"Ayanna, we've known Ray our whole lives, he's been waiting for the woman he will love from the very beginning. He is the loyal type." Cedric said as he reached out to hold his sister's hand and squeeze it tightly to comfort her.

"But brother, most rich men…" Ayanna couldn't bring herself to complete what she was going to say, it hurt way too much.

"It's different. He is different, we are different." Cedric told his sister. "Plus if he dares to do anything like that I swear I will ruin him for hurting you." Cedric said with a smile.

"You wouldn't. He is your best friend." Ayanna said, shaking her head.

"He is, but you are my sister, and that is more important." Cedric smiled. "Family first, always." Cedric swore.

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