Never Judge

Ayanna woke up early the next day, she had promised her father that she would come to R Tower to help with some work in Elisia Malls and Krisanta Land. With her elder brother back she knew that her workload would definitely decrease and she welcomed the peace.

At R Tower, as she marched in everyone greeted her, when walking around as Ayanna Reyes she maintained a personality that was in total contrast to who she was at home. Here in the Reyes Group she was respected and feared. She was known for her business acumen and in her intolerance for incompetence. Employees knew that getting on her bad side was like signing your death certificate in the company.

Her morning was filled with meetings that required her full attention and it drained her. She was sitting in her office at the top floor of R Tower when she remembered Cedric's instructions on how to deal with Jason Evangelista. Ayanna put down the stack of documents and called her assistant to instruct that Jason should be moved to Elisia Malls. He would be placed under the director that was in charge of mall operations which included the mall design.

Ayanna was looking forward to lunch, Ray had promised to take her to a new restaurant that a chef friend had just opened down the street. Ray was already waiting for her at the lobby by the time she came down, the female employees of the Reyes Group couldn't help but stare at the handsome man sitting in the lobby.

"I hope you didn't wait long." Ayanna said as she tucked a hair behind her ear. She had always been a little bit shyer with Ray around.

"Not at all. I've waited this long for you anyway, what's a few minutes." Ray teased as he held her hand. Ray was very much aware of how other women looked at him, but he wasn't interested in any of them. Everyone was borning compared to Ayanna Reyes.

"You're sweet today. Have you been taking tips from my brother?" Ayanna teased. She had always looked up at Cedric's and Adrianna's relationship, despite the challenges they had faced so far the couple had managed to stay together and even keep the fire in their relationship going.

"Not Cedric, Miguel." Ray said with a laugh.

"Ha. Miguel is useless. Veronica didn't even notice he was in love with her until he said it in front of all of us." Ayanna laughed.

"Veronica was quite thick too! Miguel was so obvious. Remember when she went to Paris and he came up with that lame excuse that he was offered a position there? He even had Veronica living in the same house as him and nothing happened." Ray said recalling the lengths his friend had gone just to be with the girl he liked.

"And you think you're better? Just admit it Ray, you were afraid at first that Cedric wouldn't approve of us." Ayanna said as she got into Ray's car.

"He gave his approval the moment he got back." Ray said kissing her on the cheek and running to the driver's seat.

Ray drove them to the restaurant where he was allowed to park at the front. Since they were quite famous people began taking their photos discreetly when they arrived. They were led to a table a little bit further away from most of the crowd allowing them some privacy.

They had a pleasant meal and the chef-owner came out to check on them. He was very much concerned about what the couple thought since businesses rose and fell at their word. When Ayanna gave her overall approval the chef breathed a sigh of relief.

Ayanna excused herself to go to the washroom when she noticed Adrianna with some employees on a table. Ayanna was about to come over to greet her when a familiar figure showed herself, it was Calathea Carpio.

Ayanna had assumed that with the initial wedding called off Calathea would fly back to Spain, after all there was nothing for her here.

"Well, if it isn't miss 30 under 30." Calathea cockily greeted Adrianna.

"Miss Carpio, how can I help you?" Adrianna greeted formally.

"A word please." Calathea said, asking Adrianna to step outside with her.

Adrianna didn't want to cause a scene and stepped outside. Ayanna sneakily followed them, she hid behind other people so that she couldn't be seen or recognized,

"Miss Adrianna, do you really think you're good enough for the Reyeses?" Calathea asked Adrianna.

"Why would you ask me that?" Adrianna told Calathea.

"Miss Adrianna, you are way below them. Plus I don't like it that you encourage Katerina Sebastian." Calathea accused.

"Katerina is my friend. She's like a sister to my husband. I don't see how this is any of your business Miss Carpio." Adrianna said.

"Poor little girls like you shouldn't aim so high." Calathea threatened.

"I don't know what you are trying to say Miss Carpio." Adrianna said glaring at Calathea.

"I've always hated women like you and Katerina. Do you really think that you have a place in the world of men? Men don't like strong women. Men like submissive women. You and Katerina bring a bad name for proper women." Calathea went on, ignoring Adrianna's statement.

"Miss Carpio if you are here to talk to me about how jealous you are of me or Katerina, then you are so petty. I'm already married to my husband, nothing will change that. As for Katerina, she's not the one that's making the moves, it's the other way around." Adrianna said implying that Eric was chasing Katerina and not Katerina chasing Eric.

"Your day will come." Calathea threatened as she walked away.

Ayanna who was hiding in the crowd quickly called Katerina.

"Ayanna?" Katerina asked as she picked up the call.

"Your best friend Calathea Carpio was just threatening my sister in law." Ayanna told Katerina in a rush.

"I think she wants to either marry Eric or become Cedric's mistress." Katerina said calmly.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Ayanna asked.

"Why should I? It's Eric's choice. As for Cedric, she wouldn't be able to tempt him in a million years." Katerina knew that Cedric only had one woman in his heart and his greatest flaw was that he was a painfully loyal man that did anything for his wife.

"Don't lie, you like Eric." Ayanna said as she sat back down on her seat across Ray.

"What's going on?" Ray asked.

"Calathea was outside threatening Adrianna and saying things about Katerina. I'm talking to Katerina now. Shhhh." Ayanna quickly told Ray.

Ray shrugged and quickly told Cedric what Calathea had just done to his wife.