Never Judge

When the employees of the Reyes Group returned from their vacation in Kashmere, the company productivity doubled, it seemed that a well earned vacation was just the thing that was needed to propel the Reyes Group to new heights.

"Wow, even if he isn't in the company anymore it seems my dad has managed to affect it in a good way." Cedric said with a laugh as he looked at the numbers a few weeks after the trip.

"You have been planning on doing something like this for a while now." Ian reminded Cedric. "You've just been too busy to organize it." 

Cedric simply smiled at his friend's compliment and went back to reading several documents that Ian had handed over to him.

"How's my schedule today?" Cedric asked as he wrote on the document.

"Busy as always." Ian said with a laugh. "Most of your meetings today will be for M Bank, they seem to be encountering some trouble that needs your attention." Ian explained as he looked over Cedric's schedule.

"Clear out my schedule from 4pm onwards." Cedric said.

"Alright. Do you need anything for that time?" Ian asked.

"Well you can come with me, drag Mae, Dave, and Camilla along as well if they want. Island's Inc. is having an event later today and Adrianna will be there." Cedric explained. "I want to support my wife." Cedric said proudly.

"You want to use my car, don't you?" Ian asked his friend.

"Yup." Cedric laughed. "Just going there. I can ride with my wife going home." Cedric said with a shrug.

"I better tell Nicole." Ian said with a grin. "She won't let me off the hook if I knew about Adrianna's event and didn't tell her."

"I'm sure my wife told the sisters. They've all become quite close to one another, too close." Cedric said, shaking his head as he thought of what they could be telling his wife. 

"Better safe than sorry." Ian said as he took out his phone and dialed Nicole's number. 

"Why isn't your girlfriend's number saved on your phone?" Cedric asked as he eyed his assistant suspiciously.

"No one's number is saved." Ian said with a shrug as he pressed the call button. "It's my mental exercise." He said with a laugh.

"Hey Nic, guess what!" Ian said excitedly.

"Oh how did you know?" Ian faked a disappointed tone as he winked at Cedric.

"Of course I'll be there, he husband is going and he needs my car again." Ian explained.

"Well, we could be out together in public if you wanted." Ian complained. Cedric recalled how Ian was ready to tell everyone about his relationship with Nicole, but it was Nicole that was hesitating. 

"We can cuddle in the backstage, then continue at home." Ian said in a seductive tone that almost made Cedric spit out the coffee he was drinking. He shook his head and began to wonder if that's how he sounded when he tried to flirt with his wife.

"Alright Nic, I'll see you later. I love you and our little dumpling." Ian said with a laugh as he dropped the call.

"And that's how you do it." Ian boasted.

"You've still had worse fights with Nicole than I had with Adrianna." Cedric said, shaking his head and returning his attention to the documents in front of him. 

"At least my wife has never hopped on a plane with another man!" Ian taunted.

"At least she's my wife. Nicole can still run away from you." Cedric answered back leaving Ian speechless.

"Don't you have work to do?" Cedric asked as he looked at Ian who was just standing in front of his desk.

"Soon! Nicole Chan will be Nicole Lim!" Ian boasted.

"If she takes your last name." Cedric teased.

"Are you done signing those yet?" Ian asked, quickly changing the topic. 

"Yes. You can take them." Cedric said as he pushed the stack in front of him towards Ian.

"Great, Ayanna is your next meeting. She said she'll meet you with her staff in the boardroom." Ian told Cedric. Cedric simply nodded in reply and got up to put on his disguise. 

Among all of the Reyes Group's subsidiaries, Elisia Mall was the one that needed the least supervision. Ayanna ran the company so smoothly that it was rare for her to need her father's help when he was still in charge. 

With Cedric leading the Reyes Group, Ayanna decided to let him have a more powerful say on how the malls were run as well as on their future projects. She had very ambitious plans for the chain of malls and she badly needed Cedric's support for them.

"Brother." Ayanna respectfully greeted when Cedric entered the room with Mae in tow.

"You may begin." Cedric said. Ayanna nodded to a member of her planning team who began to present the proposal.

Cedric was initially listening to the presentation, but Ayanna kept kicking him under the table to get his attention.

"What?" He hissed quietly at her.

"My sister-in-law has an event later. Am I allowed to go?" Ayanna asked.

"Why wouldn't I let you?" Cedric asked as he raised an eyebrow at her. 

"People will talk again." Ayanna reminded him. 

"It's fine. I'll be there too." Cedric told her, making Ayanna smile.

In the end Cedric approved the proposal of Ayanna's team with some minor comments. He trusted his sister, but he was also quite happy that she wanted to run things as big as these by him first.

The relationship between siblings had always been the reason why the Reyes Group flourished. There were rarely any members of the family that tried to grab power, they all knew that whoever was at the helm had earned it and was capable of leading both the company and the family. 

Those that became heads of the Reyes Family on the other hand had always treated everyone fairly. Each member had a role to play and they were placed where it best suited them.

Cedric made sure to end all of his meetings that day quickly, he didn't want to be late for Adrianna's event. 

As the VP for M Bank finished his discussion with Cedric, he was quickly ushered out by Ian. Cedric went to the lounge to change from his business attire to something less formal.

When Cedric stepped out Ian laughed.

"Are you trying to copy my fashion?" Ian teased as he looked at the clothes Cedric was wearing.

"It's still an event. I don't want to show up in jeans and a hoodie." Cedric said with a laugh. 

Ian had always favored wearing slacks and a long sleeve button down polo to work, and today Cedric had copied his friend's style, matching is black pants with a light blue top. 

"Let's go. We'll be late." Cedric said as he walked out of his office with Ian and Mae in tow.