Never Judge

It wasn't long before the executives of the Reyes Group slowly started to arrive. 

The first one to get to Ayanna's home was Camilla, Cedric's former assistant and the new Vice President for Mor Co.

"Your brother told me to get here as soon as possible." Camilla said as she hugged Ayanna.

"Thank you." Ayanna said with a smile. "Will you please go over to my office and calm my dad down?"

Camilla laughed at Ayanna's request and did as asked, walking up to Ayanna's office.

"Uncle." Camilla greeted as she entered the room. 

Emilio Reyes smiled sweetly at the young woman.

"It's been a while Camilla, how is your mission with Cedric going?" Emilio Reyes asked. Despite everything Cedric had made it a point to inform his father that everything going on between Camilla and Lucius Ting was all a front, a cover up for Camilla to spy on the man.

Cedric knew that Emilio Reyes would have been terribly disappointed that Camilla had betrayed them.

"Tiring to be honest, uncle." Camilla said with a frown as she sat down next to him.

"I'm pretty sure if you told Cedric that you didn't want to do this he wouldn't force you." Emilio said with a frown as he looked at the young woman that he considered to be a daughter. 

"I want to do this. I owe Cedric at least this much." Camilla said with a determined look on her face.

"Alright, you are all old enough to make your own decisions." Emilio Reyes said with a sad smile.

"Uncle, you need to put more faith in your son." Camilla pointed out.

"Why does everyone keep telling me that today?" Emilio complained.

Camilla looked to Ray, who was seated across from her, she was confused by the old man's reaction.

"Ayanna told him the same thing, with regards to this new scandal Cedric managed to stir up." Ray explained with a laugh. "You guys didn't plan this did you?"

"No, of course not. I just trust Cedric." Camilla said, shaking her head. "I may trust him too much, but he deserves my trust."

"I wish I had people as loyal as you and Ian." Ray groaned.

"The underworld is more dedicated when it comes to loyalty." Camilla answered with a grin as she referred to Ray's role as the ruler of the underbelly of the capital.

"They are also very very dangerous." Ray said as he leaned forward, giving Camilla a menacing simile.

"That won't work on me Ray." Camilla said as she rolled her eyes. "I've known you for quite a while now, you don't intimidate me."

Ray laughed at her reaction, he knew that his behavior would never scare people who knew the real him, but he enjoyed teasing his friends.

"They're arriving." Ayanna said as she walked into the room, sitting next to her husband.

"Nervous?" Ray asked as he looked at his wife.

"No, just anxious." Ayanna said, shaking her head. "I know they have a lot of questions, and I can't answer them all. The only thing I have to tell them is-"

"Trust Cedric." Emilio Reyes said, cutting his daughter off mid sentence as he rolled his eyes, making Ray and Camilla laugh. 

"Did I miss something?" Ayanna asked Camilla and Ray.

"Just Camilla telling your dad the exact same thing you did about Cedric, and now you want to tell the executives just that." Ray said as he tried to control his laughter.

"Well it's true." Ayanna said with a shrug. "It's not like there is anything else that we can do."

"Here, drink some water, relax." Ray said as he handed his wife a glass.

"This better not be spiked." She warned as she glared at him.

"It's not, it's just water." Ray said in an innocent tone as Ayanna took the glass and emptied it.

She took a few deep breaths and chatted with her father and Camilla while they waited for a maid to call them and inform them that everyone had  arrived. 

The executives of the Reyes Group were extremely punctual and within minutes all of them had arrived in Ayanna's home. None of them would dare make the CEO's sister wait. 

Not only was she Cedric's sister, but she was also the second most powerful person in the company. She not only owned a significant amount of shares, but she also led some of the largest companies under the Reyes Group's umbrella.

Ayanna had the meeting set up in the formal dining room in their home. It was big enough to accommodate all of the executives.

She had her maids serve dinner and snacks since it was an urgent meeting.

When she arrived with her father and husband, the executives were quite surprised. It was rare for the former CEO to make an appearance during a meeting, especially after he handed the reins of the company to Cedric. 

An even rarer sight was Ray joining them. He kept his distance from company matters, but tonight he was joining them.

Camilla had joined the other executives in advance and was seated next to Ray's chair.

Ayanna stood at the head of the table and greeted everyone as she waved for dinner to be served.

The executives ate and chatted happily as they anxiously waited for whatever news Ayanna had for them.

They avoided the topic at the dinner table and instead talked about each other's personal lives.

As soon as everyone was done with their meals, the maids and staff cleared the table.

When all was in order Ayanna stood up, getting everyone's attention as their heads turned to face her.

"I know you have all seen the news." Ayanna began. She didn't want to beat around the bush, she wanted to get straight to the point so that they could all have a peaceful night.

"My brother did not bribe that official, we all know that Cedric would have no need to do such underhanded tactics." Ayanna said as the executives gave her their full attention.

"This afternoon, I spoke with Cedric and he told me that he had proof that he did not bribe that man. All he asks is that we have faith in him and trust him." Ayanna said as she nodded.

"If you have any questions, raise them now." She told them. 

"What are we supposed to do?" A well dressed man asked. 

Ayanna recognized him to be the vice president for Krisanta Land, the oldest and largest company under the Reyes Group.

"We do nothing. We wait for Cedric to make his move." Ayanna said plainly, much to everyone's shock as they began to whisper among themselves.

Emilio Reyes frowned as he did not appreciate the disrespect he was seeing.

He stood up and slammed his hand on the table, silencing everyone.

"You will not disrespect my daughter. Disrespecting her means disrespecting me, my son, and her husband." Emilio Reyes said as his voice boomed across the room. "I am pretty sure that you all know how horrible the consequences are for disrespecting any one of us."

Emilio Reyes looked at the executives as his eyes scanned the crowd.

All the executives sat frozen in shock, none of them expected the former CEO to get angry over a few whispers.