Never Judge

When Cedric and Ayanna arrived at the executive floor they were greeted by Marco.

"They're in your father's office." Marco said as he turned to lead the siblings to the office they were quite familiar with.

"Marco, what's with the cloak and dagger, can't you tell us what's going on?" Ayanna complained as they walked across the hall.

Emilio Reyes' office was the furthest and largest, it took up almost half of the executive floor and he had at least 4 junior assistants working under Marco, almost one for each subsidiary of the Reyes Group.

As Cedric and Ayanna passed they stood and greeted the siblings respectfully, technically their careers would depend on the two siblings, Cedric who would inherit the majority of shares, and Ayanna who would still be key in running the Reyes Group.

Inside Emilio's office, Cedric and Ayanna were greeted by a surprising sight. Their grandfather, Emilio Reyes II was sitting at the head of the table with their father to his right and their aunt Aurora to his left. Aside from them their mother, Priscilla, their cousin, Marie, and their Uncle A were also there.

Cedric raised an eyebrow making his grandfather laugh.

"Has being away for too long made you forget how to respect your elders, Cedric?" The old man teased. "Sit, both of you." 

Cedric and Ayanna did as the old man said, but Cedric refused to relax, he was wondering why everyone was present.

"Don't worry, we won't throw you out because of Prince Group." His grandfather said with a chuckle. "I've got to hand it to you boys though, the fact that it has grown this big is proof of why each of you are considered your family's next heads."

"Why did you call us over father, grandfather?" Cedric asked respectfully.

His father chuckled at his question. "You're in such a rush all the time Cedric. No wonder things get done so quickly around you." Emilio Reyes III said proudly as he looked at his son. 

"Okay, enough beating around the bush." Grandpa Emilio said with a smile. "We called you here because we think it's time to move up with your take over of the company."

Cedric was shocked, he didn't expect for something like this to arrive so soon. He had only returned two years ago and his plans for succession in Mor Co. were still unfinished. 

"Grandpa, dad, don't you think it's too soon?" Cedric was truly hesitating at the news. "I still want to spend more time with my wife and son."

"No, it's not. We think you are ready." Emilio Reyes told his son. "We've seen how you've managed to transform Mor Co. from a small company to an international brand, and this is despite all the setbacks."

"Don't worry Cedric. We won't be dumping all the companies on you at once." His grandfather said with a reassuring nod. "That's why Ayanna needs to be here as well."

"Me?" Ayanna asked.

"Yes Ayanna, the Reyes family has always prided itself in being more progressive compared to other families. While they were still doing arranged marriages, we were marrying for love, when they inherited through only the male line, we opened it up to the female line. Someone just rejected." Grandpa Emilio said as he looked at his daughter. 

"What? Yoyo was always the better businessman." Aurora told her father with a shrug as she called her younger brother by his childhood nickname.

"Yoyo?" Cedric said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I called him Yoyo till he got to highschool. At that point he threatened to stop talking to me if I still called him that in public. I still did by the way, but of course the Reyes Heir needs some sort of dignity." Aurora said with a laugh.

"You're veering off topic again, Aurora." Emilio Reyes said, scolding his elder sister.

"Oh right." Aurora said with a nod.

"Ayanna, will continue to run Elisia Malls and she will start helping your mother with Clarin Industries. We've already processed the documents for the merger, as of today, Clarin Industries is now a subsidiary of the Reyes Group." Grandpa Emilio explained. "40% of the stocks will be in Cedric's name while 20% will be in Ayanna's and the rest will be open to the public. As for Elisia Malls, the stocks in your father's name have been transferred to you, Cedric."

"Grandpa, shouldn't the stocks remain in dad's name. I don't see any reason for them to be moved to mine." Cedric told his elder.

"It's already been transferred, Cedric." Emilio Reyes III told his son.

"As for M Bank, Krisanta Land, and Reyes Holdings, 80% of your father's shares have been transferred to you, while 20% was transferred to Ayanna." Grandpa Emilio further explained.

"I think Ayanna should get more." Cedric suddenly said. He wanted to be fair to his sister, this was his inheritance as much as it was hers.

"No brother. It would be unjust for me to get more shares. Plus, haven't you forgotten, I married rich." Ayanna said with a wink. There was no denying that if she combined hers and Ray's incomes and assets, she could rival even her brother's. The only thing that set Cedric higher was his larger share in Prince Group and the Hernandez's Island's Inc. that was now rapidly growing under Adrianna's care.

"I'm not sure I'm ready." Cedric said with a frown.

"You are, son." Priscilla Reyes said with a smile as she reached out to hold her son's hand and comfort him.

"I trust in you brother." Ayanna said happily.

Cedric simply nodded, it wasn't like he could refuse.

"Great!" Grandpa Emilio said. "Is it prepared?" He asked his son.

"The PR team just needs to call over the press." Emilio told his father.

"Wait, we're announcing this today?" Cedric asked in surprise.

"Yes. If we don't announce this now, people will discover it one way or the other." Emilio Reyes explained to his son.

"At least let me tell my wife." Cedric complained.

"Do you want us to bring Adrianna over, or would you rather go to her?" Grandpa Emilio asked him.

"If I leave it will cause a fanfare again. I'll just ask Mia to bring her over." Cedric said as he took out his phone to call Adrianna.

All he told her was that the family needed to speak to her and that he would have Mia drive her to R Tower. Ian would meet her up at the ground floor and take her to the Executive Floor at the top of the building.

It would be Adrianna's first time seeing the Reyes family's offices so Cedric wanted to make sure that Ian gave her a proper tour.

"I'll be in my office. My old one." Cedric said as he placed his disguise back on and walked out. When Camilla and the junior assistants noticed him leaving they were quick to follow.

When they got to his office down the hall Cedric paused.

"Let the two come in." Cedric told Camilla as he marched into his office.