Never Judge

Cedric was dressed in a fancy suit while he sat in his car. Adrianna would ride with Ayanna and Ray to the event while he would arrive separately. Cedric was worried that something might go wrong during the auction that could harm Adrianna and the baby, and as a result he increased the security. They would pretend to be there for Ayanna, but in truth they were there for Adrianna's protection.

As the Reyes Heir, Cedric was not supposed to arrive early, as a matter of fact he was scheduled to arrive just a little bit before his parents and in-laws. He knew from Adrianna's message that she, Ayanna, and Ray had arrived at the event ten minutes ago and they were socializing with people. 

The others had already arrived as well. Before the official auction there was a party where businessmen and socialites, as well as some actors like Eric, could mingle with each other. Relationship building was quite central to events such as these.

Every so often Cedric would send a message to Ray or Ayanna checking on how Adrianna was doing, he knew that Adrianna wouldn't tell him if something was wrong, she would probably just keep her tough girl act and soldier on.

It seemed that from Ray and Ayanna's messages, his wife was using the event to meet people who could help in making Island's Inc. even bigger.

When Cedric's car arrived at the venue, he saw that members of the press and some fans were lined up on one side of the red carpet where guests were supposed to pass. Normally, Cedric would have found a way to avoid all the attention, but as part of the deal Miguel had made, Cedric had to be seen publicly attending the event.

As Cedric walked down the red carpet he acted quite indifferently, he decided to keep the whole cold, mysterious CEO persona. He could hear the photographers and some fans calling for the Reyes Heir to turn around. Some women were even shouting, asking to be his mistress. Cedric of course, ignored them. He could also hear the reporters shouting questions, he even heard one ask when he would show the world the mysterious Mrs. Reyes. Ever since the day it was announced that the Reyes Heir was married, various news companies and gossip columnists searched far and wide to figure out who he had married, but they all failed. It seemed that the even better kept secret of the Reyes family was who Mrs. Reyes was, they didn't even have a silhouette to go by.

Cedric grinned at the question who Mrs. Reyes was, if only the reporters had known that she was always standing in plain sight, they would think that they were stupid not to see. Of course they had been right all along, the look the Reyes Heir always gave Adrianna was really one of love, and of course Cedric loved his wife, he absolutely adored the woman. 

When Cedric entered the venue people began to greet him, some even bowed to him. The auction was a very public event in the sense that there were photographers everywhere and the media was allowed to wait outside, also some reporters were allowed to watch in during the auction, but the party before and after the auction was extremely exclusive. Even the right to bid was only by invitation, only the richest and most powerful members of society were allowed.

Everyone wanted to get closer to the powerful Reyes Heir, not only was he in line to inherit the Reyes Group, but the Clarin Holdings were also part of his inheritance in the near future. Eventually, Cedric found his sister and their friends talking on one side of the venue. 

"Where is she?" Cedric asked Ayanna.

Ayanna pointed at Adrianna's direction, she was currently talking to several CEOs and their wives. Cedric smiled as he saw his wife controlling the conversation, he was proud that she was slowly becoming a very important person in the business world by her own right.

"Brother, do you mind doing some rounds?" Ayanna asked Cedric. Ayanna called speaking with business partners during social events doing the rounds since she found it very tedious and annoying.

Cedric nodded, getting her brother's agreement Ayanna held Ray's hand and led Cedric to meet some important people. As they were speaking to some people Priscilla, Emilio, Gracia, and Charles arrived. They nodded and smiled towards their children's direction before eventually socializing as well.

A lot of the business partners were eager to finally meet and speak with the Reyes Heir, he rarely went to social gatherings and it was usually Ayanna that they met. All the CEOs introduced their wife, daughter, or sister in the hopes of catching the Reyes Heir's attention.

Unfortunately for all of them, Cedric only had eyes for one woman and she was standing in the same room as them. From time to time Cedric would glance towards Adrianna's direction, this simple act was not taken for granted by the other people in the room, especially the women.

What the women didn't know was that while they chatted amongst themselves in the bathroom, one of the sisters would occasionally be there and overhear their conversions about Adrianna.

When Ayanna returned to her brother's side after a visit to the ladies room, she whispered to him. "The other women are talking about my sister-in-law. Stop staring too much. They think you've taken her as your mistress. It won't look good."

Cedric grinned under his mask and replied in a low voice. "They are being silly. She isn't the mistress, she is my wife." 

"They don't know that, idiot. You better do something about it." Ayanna scolded her brother.

Cedric lifted his head to see Adrianna speaking to several wives and sisters of the CEOs. 

In terms of social standing to the public Adrianna barely had any left. She was from a disgraced family and her husband was a nobody. The fact that she was even invited to the event disgusted some of the wives and sisters. One wife looked down at Adrianna, and was intent on embarrassing her.

"Miss Adrianna, do tell us, who really is the father of your child? Are you really that desperate? We hear you've been trying to ruin the Reyes heir's marriage." She dared to accuse.

"I'm sorry?" Adrianna said in surprise. She never expected such a refined and well bred woman to ask such a question.