Never Judge

Cedric was busy reviewing some documents that needed his attention when Dave and Mae suddenly entered.

"What is it?" Cedric asked without lifting his head.

"Sir, we have a situation. A non-business one." Mae said as she handed Cedric her phone. 

Cedric looked up and raised an eyebrow at her, an non-business situation would mean one involving his family, and most of the time it was a rumor about Adrianna and the CEO of the Reyes Group, aka himself so he wasn't too worried.

"Guys, we've been through this if it's another rumor about Adrianna, don't worry." Cedric said as he reached out for the phone.

"Sir, it's not Mrs. Reyes." Mae said, surprising Cedric. "It's about Emilio."

"What?" Cedric asked in surprise as he took a look at the phone. He was shocked to find a photo of Katerina with Emilio and Tristan that had a vague caption 'Day out with these babies'. "How long has it been up?" Cedric asked.

"A few minutes sir." Mae said. 

Cedric groaned and quickly dialed Katerina's phone. When he first called Katerina didn't pick up, he was getting frustrated, so he dialed her number again. After a few rings he finally got through.

"Katerina!" Cedric shouted.

"Woah, chill, what's wrong?" Kateirna asked. It seemed like she was completely oblivious to what had just happened.

"Katerina, check your social media accounts then call me back. And no, don't take it down!" Cedric yelled as he dropped the call. 

Everyone knew that the Reyes family placed a high importance on their privacy, their friends like Katerina knew this the most. So it puzzled Cedric that Katerina would carelessly post something like this, it was very unlike her. 

After a few seconds Cedric's phone began to ring again, it was Katerina.

"Cedric I'm so sorry I didn't think, I didn't know. I thought I posted my photo with Tristan and Emilio to my personal account, not the public one." Katerina frantically said over the phone.

"I hope you didn't take it down, it will do more damage than good." Cedric reminded Katerina.

"No, I did as you asked. It's still up, but the comments section has exploded. People are asking who he is." Katerina told Cedric in a sad tone. "Crap."

"What is it Katerina?" Cedric said in a panic.

"No, no, no, I didn't mean to panic you. It's just people think he is either my child or Alexi's. I mean seriously, Emilio is adorable but we look nothing alike." Katerina said over the phone. "And clearly he looks nothing like, what the actual fuck? They think I'm Mrs. Reyes. They are crazy!" Katerina shouted over the phone.

"You might need to make a statement over the photo." Cedric said. "Or post a new one saying he is the son of a friend."

"Yeah, I'll arrange for something." Katerina said in a distracted tone. She was probably reading through the comments.

"I'll talk to Ram about Eric. I'm sure people are also floating the idea that Eric might be the father." Cedric told Katerina.

"Thank you Cedric." Katerina said with a sigh. "Now I guess I need to tell Auntie Priscilla and the Uncles about this. Dad's gonna be so mad that I was so careless."

"Just handle things on your end Katerina and I'll deal with the rest." Cedric said as he dropped the call.

"Any other mention of Emilio being my son online?" Cedric asked.

"Well, people who realize that Emilio can't be Katerina's son because she's been in the view of the public all this time assume he belongs to one of her friends. Many are quick to point out that Emilio is the same age as Mrs. Reyes' son." Dave reported before blinking and realizing what he had just said and how silly it sounded. "Well of course he is the same age cause he is that child. Sir, this is incredibly confusing." Dave confessed, making Cedric laugh.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Cedric said with a nod. "And I don't plan on keeping my identity a secret for too long."

"In line with that, they are suspecting that he could be either the son of Cedric Reyes or the CEO of the Reyes Group." Dave said as he struggled not to react to his own statement. 

"I know, I know." Cedric groaned as he saw his assistant struggle. "Have the public relations team release a statement saying that I don't have an illegitimate child and that I have never cheated on my wife, nor do I ever plan on doing so. On the matter of the child with Katerina in the photo, Katerina will be the one to clear things up."

Dave nodded as he quickly jotted Cedric's instructions.

"Mae, do I have a lot on my plate for today?" Cedric asked. 

"No sir. A few meetings that could be moved but that's it." Mae said as she double checked Cedric's schedule.

"Move them, then call Ram's assistant. Check if he and Eric are at Lights Entertainment. If they are, tell them I'm coming to see them, if they aren't tell them to come over." Cedric quickly instructed. 

"Copy sir." Mae said with a nod.

Both assistants soon left to do as Cedric asked. As he had expected after a few minutes his phone was ringing. It was his wife.

"Adri." Cedric said in a tender tone. He was sure she would have seen the post by now.

"Katerina's post." Adrianna said, she probably had no idea how to react to what had happened.

"Don't worry Adri. Katerina is dealing with it on her end, as for the other matters I'm going to talk to Ram to figure out the best solution." Cedric told his wife.

"Did you read the comments?" Adrianna said with a giggle.

"Some, why?" Cedric asked. He found his wife's reaction quite odd.

"They're saying he's your illegitimate child by me again." Adrianna laughed. "I mean, that's really impossible. They will be shocked when the truth comes out."

"Yes, they never get tired of that accusation." Cedric complained. "About the truth Adri, do you think we can talk about it when I get home tonight?" Cedric asked, he had been itching to reveal his identity to the world so that people would stop looking down at his wife. Unfortunately, it was his wife that was stopping him.

"Alright. See you at home." Adrianna said as she dropped the call.