Never Judge

As soon as the DNA samples were taken from Mien and Mae, Cedric had let everyone go home.

It had been a tiring day for all of them and Cedric understood that they needed to rest. 

Even the following day, Cedric decided to have everyone come in in the afternoon. They needed a break.

Luckily, in contrast to the past few days, there was not much that needed to be done. Cedric had a few meetings here and there, but that was all.

As the day came to an end, Cedric decided to invite his sister, brother-in-law, and wife to their dinner with Marisa Benitez. 

Yoyo on the other hand would spend the night with Emilio Reyes and Cedric's Grandparents in the old Reyes Mansion.

"Where are we having dinner? Nouveau or Bamboo Room?" Cedric asked Mae as he had allowed her to make all the necessary arrangements for the night.

"I initially planned for itt at Nouveau, but as soon as you invited Ray and Ayanna, his assistant called and told me that Ray had reserved the whole restaurant for us." Mae said with a frown.

"I really don't like it when he does this." Cedric grumbled, shaking his head. "I guess it will be a waste if we ignore his efforts. Have you sent a car to fetch Mrs. Benitez?" Cedric asked.

He had consciously been avoiding calling her Mae's mom or Mien's mom since they still wanted to run a DNA test to be sure. But with Lara around Cedric doubted that a DNA test would be needed.

"Yes, I'll also be fetching Mien and Lara, while Dave picks up Max and his mother." Mae said with a nod.

"How about you, how are you feeling?" Cedric asked his assistant.

"Worried, scared, I don't know." Mae said with a shrug. "I'm just feeling so many emotions at the same time it just ends up confusing me."

Cedric frowned at her confession, he knew she was going through a lot, that's why he had initially let her take the day off. He even offered to let Dave take the day off so that he could be with her, but the couple refused.

"I told you to rest today, you and Dave could have spent time together." Cedric told Mae with a frown.

"I know, but if I stayed at home my mind would keep pacing back and forth between my adoptive parents and my biological parents. I just want to keep myself busy." Mae said.

"Alright, it's your choice." Cedric said with a nod as he allowed her to leave.

He called his wife to check up on her and to see if he and Ian could pick her up. 

Adrianna told him that she would be done in five minutes, so Cedric called for Ian and told him to prepare to leave.

Dave and Mae had already gone ahead since they still needed to fetch some of their guests.

As Cedric passed by Ayanna's office, he noticed that his sister had already left as well.

"The struggles of being the CEO, too many documents to sign." Ian teased as he showed up next to Cedric.

"It wasn't a busy day, just a long one." Cedric said with a laugh as they walked together towards the elevator.

"Who do you think Marisa Benitez will look like, Mien or Mae?" Cedric asked as they got in the elevator.

"Mae, probably Mae. Mien looks more like Fernando and his family, Mae's skin is much lighter and her hair is a different color, although their features are somewhat alike." Ian told Cedric as he thought of Cedric's question.

"I think they might both look more like Marisa." Cedric said as he thought of the similar features between Mien and Mae.

"Well, we'll know when we meet her." Ian said as he held the elevator door open for Cedric.

Today, Cedric had chosen to pass through R Tower's main lobby rather than go straight to the basement. He knew it was important for the employees to see him and somewhat interact with him as well.

As they passed, the crowd parted mainly because of Cedric, but others were gently asked to move aside by Cedric's bodyguards.

Cedric could see as the employees whispered among themselves as he walked past them. This was something he was never going to get used to, the fact that people practically treated him as a celebrity.

He even noticed some employees take out their phones and try to snap photos of him. He tried not to smile as he found it quite amusing, in Cedric's eyes he was just an ordinary person.

The drive from R Tower to Island's Inc. was quick. And when Cedric arrived Adrianna was already waiting in the lobby.

She quickly got in the car as her security detail joined Cedric's as they drove to the Bamboo room.

When they got to the restaurant in the outskirts of the city, Cedric was surprised to find it empty. In the past, whenever Ray had the place closed for them, there would be members of the press, or patrons waiting outside, wanting to catch a glimpse of Ray and his guests.

Today it was just peaceful.

"This is odd." Adrianna pointed out as she looked around. "Usually there are paparazzi lined up. Did we do something to confuse people?"

Cedric looked at Ian and wondered if his assistants had done something without his knowledge.

"This wasn't us." Ian said as he shook his head.

As they entered the gates, there was only one car inside, Ray's favorite sports car.

Cedric made a mental note to scold his brother-in-law about not bringing bodyguards, especially now that they should be on high alert due to two different threats.

As they climbed out of the car, Ray and Ayanna came out of the restaurant holding hands.

"Odd, isn't it?" Ray asked with a grin.

"What did you do?" Cedric asked. "It's never this peaceful."

"Bamboo Room has been under renovation for a week, it was just completed yesterday." Ray explained. "I was planning on inviting you over for dinner, but then you invited us. So I decided to just combine the two."

"This is a different matter though." Cedric pointed out.

"It's a family reunion, what better way to celebrate the renovation." Ray said with a smile. 

Their attention was soon diverted as the gates to Bamboo Room opened once more. This time a black van rolled in.

Cedric knew that this wasn't Dave's or Mae's car, so it could only mean one thing, it was Marisa Benitez.