Never Judge

"Please feel free to ask your questions now." Katerina said in a kinder than normal tone.

Several hands quickly shot up, they wouldn't miss this opportunity to ask Katerina and Nicole questions about their private lives. At this point Cedric and his family became irrelevant to the reporters.

"Yes?" Katerina said as she pointed at one.

"So the rumors about you and Eric Chan dating are false?" The reporter asked.

"I am currently focused on my career, who would have time to date in that situation? Have you seen how many cases I have to deal with in a day?" Katerina asked as she avoided directly answering the question. She didn't want to publicly deny her relationship with Eric, but she also didn't want them confirming their suspicions. 

The reporter suddenly seemed embarrassed by his question. Katerina was sure that his boss had insisted that he ask even if everyone knew that she would never admit to being in a relationship. As he shrank back into his seat, Katerina called another reporter.

"Miss Nicole, may I ask who the father of Tristan is?" Another reporter asked. 

Nicole was ready for the question, even before this press conference new agencies and gossip sites had called asking for answers as to who Tristan's father was. 

"Yes, it's Mr. Lim. My boyfriend." Nicole said with a mischievous grin. She wasn't going to tell the public about her and Ian. Honestly if they looked hard enough they could figure it out, Tristan had inherited most of his features from Ian, and Ian had sat in as president of Saints Hospital for seven months while she recovered from her pregnancy and spent time with Tristan.

Of course some reporters had already suspected this and it was one of the many rumors going around regarding Tristan's parentage, the only problem was that there was no proof of Nicole and Ian being in a relationship. As far as the public was aware, Ian was the CEO of the Reyes Group's assistant, the CEO considered the Chan siblings to be family, this it was normal for the CEO of the Reyes Group to lend one of his most trusted employees to help out the people he considered to be family. 

"Do you have any plans of marrying Tristan's father?" The reporter quickly asked his follow up question. 

"That's a matter between us." Nicole said coldly. Of course she wanted to marry Ian, but she wanted him to achieve his goals first before they tied the knot.

The reporter didn't press his question and took his seat as well.

"Miss Katerina, is there any truth to the rumor that your brother has found a woman to spend the rest of his life with?" A reporter asked. "His car was spotted at an apartment complex, the photos of the woman were quite blurred but it was clear that she's been with him for quite a while."

"My brother's personal life is none of my business, nor should it be yours." Katerina said coldly as she glared at the man.

"According to rumors she is a disreputable woman, is this true?" The reporter continued to press.

"I'm sorry, but if you want a comment on this matter, ask Alexi." Katerina said.

"What about the other woman?" Another reporter suddenly asked.

"What?" Katerina asked, this was the first time Katerina was hearing about this new rumor, and things barely got past her.

"According to reports your brother has been seeing two women at the same time, something quite new for him. The woman who is suspected to be the third party is a Miss Selina Ramiez, the CEO of SR Designs. From what we've heard, your parents prefer her over the woman your brother loves." The reporter explained.

"First of all, my parents would accept whomever we loved. They understand that in a relationship love is needed, that's why none of us are involved in an arranged marriage. Secondly, Alexi is not the cheating type, think back, have you ever heard of my brother two timing a woman he was with?" The reporter might have surprised her with the latest rumor but Katerina was quick on her feet, she could drive away almost any question they threw at her.

The reporter was surprised by her answer and decided to just sit back down.

After answering several other queries Katerina ended the press conference and returned back inside Nationalia where everyone was waiting for them.

"How are you holding up?" Ian asked as he pulled Nicole into his arms and picked Tristan up. When he had heard that Nicole and Tristan would be facing the press he quickly drove to Nationalia and entered through one of the numerous back entrances.

"Better than I expected." Nicole said with a smile as she kissed Ian on the lips.

"Eeeeewwww!" Emilio suddenly said as he ran up to Ian so that he could play with Tristan.

"You see your parents kiss all the time!" Ian complained to the little boy as he placed Tristan back down on the ground.

"Mommy and Daddy are married." Emilio said sticking out his tongue as he pulled Tristan away from his parents to play.

"You kid's got an attitude." Ian complained as Cedric and Adrianna arrived.

"It's just you that he doesn't like." Cedric said with a laugh as he wrapped an arm around Adrianna's waist. 

"Your son should be more like my son, Emilio is too naughty." Ian teased.

"Tristan is too quiet, too serious for his age. He's turning one for crying out loud, he should be more active. I blame you for making your son too serious." Cedric answered back.

"My son is perfectly fine. He's a behaved young man." Ian boasted.

"Can you believe that it's been a year already?" Nicole said with a sigh.

"Yeah, Cedric and the rest had to rush home once your mom called them and said you had just gone into labor. I still don't know what triggered you at the office." Ian said with a concerned look.

"At the office" Nicole asked Ian curiously. "It started at home, not at the office." 

"Babe, are you getting affected by your mommy brain again?" Ian teased. "Remember, I dropped you off at Saints and headed to R Tower. You were in the office and had just finished a meeting when your water broke." Ian reminded Nicole.

"What are you talking about Ian?" Nicole asked as she looked at Ian curiously. "My contractions began in the morning at home, not in the office."

"Nicole dear, Ian is right." Raphael Chan told his daughter. "Your water broke in your office. You called for your assistant and she had someone take you to the ward. It was already night time when that happened." 

"Dad, how could I forget when I gave birth. Don't talk to me like that." Nicole said in a foul mood.

"Nicole, they are telling you the truth." Katerina told her friend. "How could you forget? We were even wondering what could have triggered you to give birth earlier."

"That's not possible." Nicole said as she looked blankly at Katerina. "How can I remember things differently from you?"