Never Judge

Emilio Reyes and his wife, Priscilla, were chatting with their friends when they heard a commotion. When they looked over, some CEO's wife was trying to bully Adrianna. 

Emilio and Priscilla both adored their daughter-in-law, and now that she was pregnant with their first grandchild they cared for her even more. So when some nobody tried to embarrass her, the couple was furious.

"Can you deal with them?" Emilio whispered to his wife as he held her by the waist.

"Easy." Priscilla said as she flashed her husband a grin and turned away.

"How dare you fling mud at the Reyes family? Adrianna is no man's mistress." Priscilla said, full of authority. Everyone around them thought that she was defending her son who was being accused of adultery, when in truth she was defending her daughter-in-law who they had unknowingly offended.

"Mrs. Reyes, Madam, I didn't mean to offend your family." The woman whimpered. She only wanted to pick on Adrianna so that her own sister or daughter could have a chance to seduce the Reyes Heir.

"Marco." Priscilla called out. In a blink of an eye, Marco So, Emilio's assistant appeared beside his boss' wife. He followed Emilio Reyes even to private events such as this and was at the beck and call of the couple.

"Madam, how can I help?" Marco asked.

"Make sure her husband's company closes down. I want it gone by tomorrow morning. No one has the right to talk s**t about the Reyes family." Priscilla ordered. In the business world, their word was law.

"Yes madam." Marco said before finally disappearing.

"Mrs. Reyes, please, don't I beg you." The CEO's wife said as she got on her knees. 

"Guards!" Priscilla called out. Two bodyguards arrived at Priscilla's command. "Take her away." 

At that, the two guards dragged the CEO's wife out.

The scene had caught the attention of all of the guests and everyone was intently staring at Adrianna and Priscilla. It was clear to everyone in the room, no one was supposed to mess with Adrianna Hernandez.

At the other end of the venue Cedric, Ayanna, and Ray watched as Priscilla defended her daughter-in-law.

"Lucky mom was there." Ayanna told her brother.

"I would have done the same thing." Cedric said, approving of his mother's drastic method. 

After Priscilla defended Adrianna, various people began approaching Adrianna, offering business partnerships and endorsements. All of a sudden Island's Inc.'s standing rose when people saw that it's new boss was backed by Priscilla Reyes. 

Adrianna smiled at her mother-in-law. No words were needed, Priscilla knew she was thankful. Priscilla Reyes loved Adrianna as much as any of her own children, and Adrianna was more than thankful to find the love that the Hernandez clan couldn't give from the Reyes family.

After defending their daughter-in-law Emilio watched as his wife confidently walked back to his side. He loved it when Priscilla flexed their power like that, it made him feel empowered as well.

"Those women are stupid for looking down at Adrianna like that." James Abad said, shaking his head. 

All of the parents had chosen to attend today's auction, but they all preferred to take a more relaxed role in tonight's events letting their children do all the networking and socializing. James and Victoria Abad were actually seeing Veronica for the first time today since she got married.

"We all know how cruel society can be." Emilio casually commented.

"You saw Veronica for the first time today right?" Priscilla asked Victoria and James. 

"Yes. She seems extremely happy with Miguel." Victoria said with a laugh. "I just feel bad that she's mad at us. You all know we had little choice in this. The Abad elders would have gone after her if she had refused to announce her engagement to Miguel."

"You should have at least told her that you didn't want to force her." Emilio said, gently reprimanding his friends. 

"You know Veronica, she wouldn't have believed us. We're just lucky someone as incredible as Miguel loves her and is willing to give her the world." James said as he watched his daughter and son-in-law speaking to some socialites. Miguel was holding Veronica by the waist and she stared at him lovingly. 

"That's a look you can't fake." Lucy Ang - Chan said as she giggled at how her daughter-in-law and son were being extremely showy of their affection. 

"Did Miguel tell you about his plan for today?" Emilio asked his friends.

"Of course. That kid couldn't keep his mouth shut over the phone." Raphael Chan complained.

"I'm just glad Veronica will finally get her revenge. It was painful seeing her heart break when Jason first betrayed her." James Abad said as he recalled how his daughter came home in tears and refused to speak to any of them. It was eventually his adopted son, Ram, that managed to calm his sister down and spoke to her. 

"It's good we never truly pursued the engagement between them. Ram was right, that was the push Miguel needed." Victoria said with a laugh.

"You guys are evil for tricking your children." Rebekah Torres - Sebastian said as she rolled her eyes at her friends. Unlike most of them, she rarely meddled in her childrens' lives, but she was always there for Alexi, Katerina, and Natalia whenever they needed a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.

"Don't worry, we'll be in-laws soon." Victoria teased Rebekah. All of the parents were aware of how Eric and Katerina felt of each other and were hoping that the two would get together soon.

"Don't be shy Gracia, Charles. They won't bite." Priscilla told her in-laws as she noticed they had remained silent the whole time.

"We just aren't used to hanging around with you guys in front of so many people." Charles said. The Hernandezes had gone with the parents to multiple shopping trips, golf games, and vacations since finding out about Cedric's real identity. 

Normally they all got on well, Charles and the dads would even go out for a night cap at Nationalia while Gracia had joined the moms during their wednesday launches. No one dared question why such important people were hanging out with a couple whose family had been thrown into jail and had their properties ceased. 

"Don't worry, they are far enough not to hear anything." Jose Sebastian said as he pointed at how far the bodyguards had kept other people from them. There would be the occasional acquaintance that would say hi, but other than that no one dared approach. It was clear that the group wanted to spend a relaxing evening with their friends.

"Have Ayanna and Ray set a wedding date?" Charles asked.

"Not yet. But I'm expecting them to give us one soon." Benedicto Laurence confidently said.

"Those two are so funny." Priscilla said with a warm smile. "They pretended for so long not to have feelings for one another. We all knew they were dating in private. Ray would empty out a whole plane for Ayanna, I mean it's that obvious."

"My son is not so smooth." Amy So - Laurence said as she made fun of Ray.

"Imagine, it took Cedric almost dying to get them together. These children." Emilio said, shaking his head.

"Sirs, Madams, the organizers are asking if you would like to take your seats in the auditorium first." Marco asked, interrupting their conversation.