Never Judge

After hearing the story about Grandpa Chan and Cedric's grandmother, Bonifacia, Cedric noticed the Hernandezes were now behaving quite awkwardly as they arrived at the old Chan mansion.

"Relax guys." Cedric said with a laugh as he stepped out of the car and opened the door for his wife and in-laws. "The Chan and Reyes families have long moved on from that drama, we just refrain from mentioning it to the grandparents."

"So it's still a sore topic for them?" Adrianna asked as she stepped out of the car and held Cedric's hand. 

"A little." Cedric said with a grin. "Grandpa Chan likes to avoid anything and everything that would remind him of my grandmother, including me."

"He must have fallen quite hard then." Charles Hernandez said with a laugh. 

"Very. So let's just talk about it at home again, it's not exactly public knowledge and there are a lot of guests today." Cedric said as he gave his father-in-law a smile.

The Hernandezes nodded, agreeing not to bring up the issue again. 

As they entered the house a maid led them to the backyard where the Chans had set up a garden party for the former patriarch. 

Adrianna wanted to laugh at how silly the other guests looked, many were dressed in over the top formal attire and were dripping with jewelry.

"This party is a social climber's heaven." Cedric whispered to his wife.

"I didn't think there would be this many guests." Adrianna whispered back.

"The Chans are the only family among our group to hold parties like these, they invite almost every socialite and any aspirant who can get their hands on an invite." Cedric explained. "The Abads have big parties too, but those are restricted to the industry and their friends."

"Cedric, Adri." Nicole waved as she spotted the couple arrive. She was holding Ian's hand as they spoke to two women that Cedric didn't recognize.

Adrianna waved back as they slowly descended the stairs to join the rest of the crowd. 

"Have my father and grandfather arrived?" Cedric asks Ian as Nicole pulls Adrianna away.'

"Yes, I think your father is with mine, they are hanging out." Ian said with a grin. 

"Mom, Dad, why don't Ian and I take you to my dad. I'm sure you would find it boring to hangout around me and my friends, and it seems my wife has abandoned you." Cedric teased, making Charles and Gracia Hernandez laugh.

As Cedric and Ian made their way through the crowd with Cedric's in-laws, people couldn't help but look. 

Cedric was now the richest man in the country and possibly the most powerful, everyone wanted a chance to speak to him and possibly make an impression.

"Gracia!" A woman suddenly came waving through the crowd.

Cedric was honestly shocked that it took this long for a former acquaintance of the Hernandezes to show up and attempt to strike conversation with them while Cedric was present.

"Oh, hey Mrs. Yang." Gracia said in a flat tone.

Cedric knew that this wasn't the first time that old friends had suddenly appeared. Prior to Cedric's identity reveal, many of the Hernandezes' friends had gone on and snubbed them.

It was mainly because they felt that the Hernandezes weren't worth as much anymore. Sure they had kept the company, but their name was ruined. Half of the Hernandez clan had been sent to jail, those that were innocent were left with nothing. Everyone thought the Hernandezes were done for. 

"Please Gracia, we go way back. It's just Nora." The overdressed woman said as she hugged Gracia.

Cedric noticed as Nora's eyes kept darting between him and his in-laws.

"It's nice to see you, Mrs. Yang." Charles Hernandez said in an uninterested tone. "We haven't seen you since, hmmmmm darling, when was the last time we saw Mrs. Yang?" Charles asked his wife.

Cedric could see that his in-laws were planning on embarrassing the woman so decided to stick around with Ian for a bit.

"It seems the Hernandezes have picked up a thing or two from your families." Ian whispered to Cedric with a chuckle as they observed the interaction.

"I bet they learned it from mom." Cedric said with a sad smile as he thought of his late mother. Just remembering her hurt, but he preferred to feel the pain rather than to bury it away.

"I think the last time we saw Mrs. Yang was when the rumors about our poor Adri began circulating." Gracia said as she now glared at the woman.

Cedric wanted to laugh at what his mother-in-law had just said, but he didn't want to take the attention away from them, watching the scene unfold was just too fun.

"And we were so mistaken!" Nora Yang said as she gave the couple a fake smile. "Then my husband's business got busy and I had to turn my attention to our kids, I'm sure you understand." Mrs. Yang said as she nodded.

"Yes, it is quite tough, I'm sure." Gracia Hernandez said as she continued to smile at the woman.

Nora Yang seemed to take it as she had been forgiven and her smile got even bigger, but she couldn't have been further from the truth.

"Mrs. Yang, have you met my son-in-law?" Charles Hernandez asked as he led Nora Yang over to Cedric and Ian.

Both men were quite tall, combined with their aura Cedric and Ian were quite intimidating, as a matter of fact, Nora Yang even hesitated when Charles pulled her over.

Cedric kept his face devoid of any expression as he watched curiously what his in-laws were about to do. 

"Actually, no, I've never met Mr. Reyes, but I've heard many good things about him!" Nora Yang said in a loud voice, making sure that everyone in the vicinity could hear her. 

Cedric glanced around, noticing some guests whispering among themselves, many were jealous of Nora Yang, it was quite difficult to get an introduction to a member of the Reyes family, even during events like these.

"Cedric, this is Nora Yang, we went to high school together." Gracia Hernandez said as she introduced the woman.

Cedric gave a slight nod, keeping his intimidating pesona in place.

"It's an honor Mr. Reyes." Nora Yang said quite excitedly. "I have a daughter your age, you might know her -"

"No, I don't." Cedric quickly said in a cold tone. He wasn't lying, he had no friends with the surname Yang.

"Cedric, she was one of the women pushing for Adrianna to be a mistress!" Gracia Hernandez suddenly revealed, making Nora Yang go pale.

Cedric glared at the woman, it was no secret that Cedric adored his wife and would do anything to protect her, so for someone to push her to become a mistress it was clear that Cedric would be furious.

"Mom, you know that Adri would never be a mistress, and why would she need to be?" Cedric asked Gracia in a kinder tone.

"Well, I was pushing her to be your own mistress, so nothing wrong there." Nora Yang said with a nervous laugh.

"I didn't know that it was normal for married women to become mistresses." Cedric said with a raised eyebrow. "Is that how everyone is expected to act now? Do you push your own daughter to become a mistress?" Cedric asked the woman who was now visibly shaking.

"Ced." Adrianna suddenly appeared beside her husband, placing a hand on his arm.

"Were you just trying to whore your daughter over to my friend?" Nicole asked, clearly catching the part where Nora Yang asked if Cedric had met her daughter.

"No, Miss Nicole." Nora said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, right." Nicole said, rolling her eyes. 

"I suggest you leave us, Mrs. Yang." Cedric said in a cold tone to the woman.

"Mom, Dad, shall we?" Cedric asked as he let them walk ahead towards his father.