Never Judge

"Marie!" Cedric happily said as he hugged the woman back.

Marie Reyes - Mendiola was the daughter of Emilio Reyes III's elder sister, Aurora Reyes. At the beginning Aurora was supposed to enter poverty training as the eldest child of the Reyes family. This was at a time when naming a woman as the next family head was frowned upon, the opinion of the public didn't matter to the Reyes family and they were set to send her to her training when Aurora chose to step down as the heir. 

The job then fell on her younger brother, Emilio Reyes III. Luckily Emilio Reyes was more than ready to take on both the training and the job as the Reyes Heir. Despite giving up her place as the Reyes Heir, Aurora Reyes played a crucial part in the company. While Emilio ran all the local interests and oversaw the Reyes Group as a whole Aurora led the international expansion of the Reyes Group. It was due to Aurora's hard work that the Reyes Group had grown internationally, it was during her stint abroad that she met her husband Anastacio Mendiola, he was from a poor farming family, but he managed to snag a scholarship in a good school abroad. He was in New York, working when he and Aurora Reyes met.

"You've grown so much, Cedric!" Marie said as she let go of her cousin. 

Marie was much older than Cedric, she was already fifteen when he was born. This was mostly because Emilio and Priscilla had Cedric late due to Emilio's poverty training.

"I haven't seen you in so long Marie!" Cedric said excitedly, seeing his older cousin made him somewhat feel like a child again.

"Stop hogging Cedric, Marie!" An elder woman said.

"Aunt Aurora, Uncle A!" Cedric said as he hugged his uncle and aunt. "Why did you all suddenly come home? We were planning to visit you when things stabilized here."

"To see your son of course!" Aunt Aurora said with a smile. "Your grandpa and grandma should arrive later. They had dinner with some duke in Milan, they're trying to close a business deal. It's so hard dealing with nobility sometimes, they want to talk to the elders." Aurora complained.

"Grandpa and grandma are coming home too?" Cedric said in surprise.

"Marie! Auntie Aurora, Uncle A!" Ayanna squealed as she came running into their father's office. She was filled in by a grinning Ray Laurence. It seemed he was aware that the other members of the Reyes family would be arriving.

"You knew?" Cedric asked Ray.

"Yeah. I lent my plane." Ray said proudly. 

"Such a suck up." Cedric teased. 

"Ayanna, Ray! When's the wedding? I was so excited when I saw the photos of your engagement. I knew you liked each other." Marie said as she took a seat.

"Cedric was my ultimate wingman." Ray said with a laugh. "Plus a few bad guys." 

"We heard about the whole Carlo issue." Aunt Aurora said. "We were so worried. We asked your dad if he needed us to mobilize the team, but he told us that you could manage. And you did!" Aunt Aurora was proudly smiling at her nephew. 

"I think Cedric will be better than Emilio." Uncle A teased. "I mean Emilio, you gotta hand it to the kid. He did much better than you in his training and he's become a celebrity without ever showing his face."

Emilio sighed and shook his head.

"Where's my sister-in-law?" Aunt Aurora asked her brother.

"She's out on a business trip." Emilio said with a sigh. Cedric knew that his father hated it when his mother, Priscilla Clarin - Reyes, had to go to her hometown to ensure that their business was running smoothly. 

"I thought you were set to manage Clarin Industries for your mom Ayanna?" Marie asked her cousin.

"I can't yet cause someone still has a few challenges to finish." Ayanna said, rolling her eyes. "Plus I'm trying to convince dad to let me stay on Elisia Malls while managing Clarin Industries."

"Ayanna, isn't that a bit too much?" Marie asked her cousin. "Elisia Malls is big enough on its own. You want to add Clarin Industries to your plate as well? Your husband will be complaining that you're barely home!" Marie teased.

"Ha! At least I got together with my husband. You and your beau are too busy working." Ayanna teased back.

"Ayanna!" Cedric scolded his sister.

"It's not a problem, Ced." Marie said with a laugh. "It's true. Being a workaholic sucks." 

"At least you know he's loyal." Ayanna said with a shrug. 

"Are our other cousins coming as well?" Emilio said, quickly changing the topic.

"A few of the ones in our foreign offices. The rest said that they will come visit on Christmas." Aurora told her younger brother. 

"Sir." Marco said as he knocked. "The offices are ready." The assistant announced.

"Great, please show Marie, Aurora, and A to their respective offices here." Emilio told his assistant Marco. "Did you bring any staff?" Emilio asked.

"Mom and dad brought their assistants uncle, but I didn't. Don't worry I can manage." Marie said proudly.

"Nonsense. Cedric, let Ian work for me for a bit. Marco, see to it that everything Marie needs is provided. Work with her while they are here." Emilio instructed.

"Sure dad." Cedric said with a grin. He knew exactly what his dad was up to. 

Later that evening, Camilla informed Cedric that his dad wanted him to join them in picking up his grandparents. Cedric suddenly realized that he forgot to tell Adrianna that they would be having guests.

Marie had a house in the Mountain View community, it was already built and fully staffed, that was where she and her parents would be staying. Cedric's grandparents on the other hand would be staying at his house. Since Veronica and Miguel were living in the guest house Cedric needed some maids to prepare the ground floor guest rooms for them.

He quickly dialed his wife's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey hon." Adrianna happily greeted.

"Hey Adri, we have some surprise guests today." Cedric awkwardly informed her.

"I thought you told the others to stop bringing gifts for Emilio?" Adrianna asked her husband. 

"It's not them." Cedric said slowly.

"Who?" Adrianna asked.

"Did I ever tell you about my cousin Marie and her parents, Aunt Aurora and Uncle Anastacio?" Cedric knew he had never mentioned them.

"No. You have a cousin?" Adrianna asked.

"Who do you think manages the other parts of the Reyes Group?" Cedric said with a laugh.

"I'll have the maids whip something up." Adrianna told her husband tenderly.

"It's not just them that's here. My grandparents are arriving tonight too. And they're staying at our house." Cedric knew his wife would get mad now.

He heard Adrianna sigh at the other end of the line. "Couldn't you have given me more time to prepare?" Adrianna asked her husband.

"Sorry. I was busy at work." Cedric said with a nervous laugh.

"I'll just finish feeding the little demon here." Adrianna said with a giggle.

"Alright. I love you." Cedric said in a sweet tone.

"I love you too. Drive safe." Adrianna said as she dropped the call.