Never Judge

When Adrianna arrived at the airport on Kashmere Island, she ran into Tony Tamano. Initially Adrianna was supposed to take the Reyes plane back to the capital, but when she saw Tony she decided to take the same trip as him.

Tony didn't ask where Cedric was. He was just a silent companion to Adrianna the whole ride back to the capital.

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"Tony, thanks for not asking." Adrianna said as they were about to deplane.

"Well, you don't want to talk about it. But if you do and you don't have anyone, you can just give me a call." Tony shrugged.

"I'll take you up on that." Adrianna said with a smile.

"Do you need a ride?" Tony asked.

"No. Someone is picking me up." Adrianna said with a smile. Aside from it being inappropriate for her to accept a ride from Tony, Ayanna had already sent her a message that she had arranged for Cedric's driver to pick Adrianna up and take her home. She might be fighting with Cedric, but he was still her husband.

When Adrianna arrived home without Cedric, Gracia began to pester her with questions. Adrianna only told her that they had fought and that Cedric wouldn't be coming home for a while and that she wouldn't be annulling their marriage.

Adrianna actually waited everyday if Cedric would come home. He sent her messages daily, but he never showed up at the Hernandez home. Adrianna already had dinner twice in the week with Ayanna. She ranted to her sister in law on how daft her husband was for not doing anything.

On Thursday Adrianna was in Elisia Mall buying Christmas presents, when she bumped into Tony Tamano.

"Hey Adrianna." Tony said with a smile.

"Oh hey. I thought you would have gone home by now." Adrianna assumed Tony would be spending Christmas and New Year's with his family in their province.

"My family decided to spend the holidays in the capital, so we're all checked into Constellations Resort. I'm planning to buy a place here too since my dad wants me to be closer to Ray Laurence. Is your ummm… problem fixed?" Tony asked Adrianna.

"My problem is in the process of getting fixed, but it's not quite there yet." Adrianna admitted.

"Would it be inappropriate for us to have dinner?" Tony asked.

"I don't think so. I mean we did just bump into each other, and eating alone is awkward." Adrianna said.

"Hey, I actually enjoy eating alone at restaurants. I can order whatever I want without being judged." Tony laughed.

"Come on. I know a place." Adrianna said walking towards the direction of a famous Japanese restaurant in Elisia Mall.

When they were seated Tony and Adrianna began to chat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry I can't exactly tell you what's bothering me." Adrianna said.

"It's okay. They're private matters so I shouldn't meddle." Tony explained.

"Well let's just say that I might not have earned everything I thought I had accomplished." Adrianna told Tony.

"I'm pretty sure you are quite the capable woman Adrianna." Tony said as he looked through the menu.

"Well, you see, I've always been the type that didn't want to depend on my family name or my family connections to achieve things. I also refused to enter into a traditional marriage so that I would earn my achievements." Adrianna said opening up to Tony.

"I'm pretty sure you made the 30 women under 30 all on your own Adri. The Hernandez family and the Lobo family don't have the power to put you in that list." Tony said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, no. It's not them. They could never do what I'm referring to." Adrianna laughed.

"Is it the Reyes Heir? I mean I heard the rumors, but didn't the Reyes Group deny those rumors?" Tony asked.

"Well it's kind of that and also not that. Sorry I'm being so cryptic." Adrianna apologized.

"If it has anything to do with the Reyes Heir I would expect it to be a secret." Tony teased.

"That's kind of the thing. Someone may have been pulling strings and lying about it. I really thought I was becoming someone in my own right." Adrianna sighed.

"How sure are you that someone was pulling the strings?" Tony asked.

"They are all connected to him, and it's in his power to do it." Adrianna shrugged. She was feeling more and more comfortable around Tony.

"Shouldn't you be flattered that a guy is willing to use his power to help you?" Tony asked.

"I lived my life trying to escape that." Adrianna hissed.

"Why? Aren't all women drawn to powerful men?" Tony asked Adrianna.

"I want to succeed in my own right. Not because I'm some CEOs wife!" Adrianna was already quite mad at this point. She was mad at Cedric for making her think that she had gotten everything because of her own skills when he had made things go her way.

"But you aren't some CEO's wife." Tony pointed out.

"Yeah, I��m not. Look I've lost my appetite. I'll just see you around. Thanks for being a listening ear." Adrianna smiled and left some money to pay for what she had ordered and not eaten.

Tony was left alone at the restaurant, confused at what happened.

Adrianna drove home with mixed feelings, she was mad at Cedric and she also missed him at the same time.

She had fallen in love with him because he was different, because he didn't see her based on her last name. She chose him because with Cedric she felt that she was her own woman and she was free of all the expectations for her to marry rich.

She married Cedric because he looked beyond her pretty face and flashy last name. She married him because she didn't need to achieve less to make him feel more accomplished. Everything she thought was the reason why she married him changed.

Now even every reason she thought was the reason she had succeeded changed as well. As the Reyes heir, Cedric had the power to move companies, he could have easily told Elisia Corp. to cooperate with her no matter what the plan was. He must have asked Ray to get Breeze Air to approach Adrianna, the same went with Nicole offering a partnership with Saints Hospitals and Veronica doing all the designs for Island's Inc. Arranging for all of these were in Cedric's power as the Reyes heir, and he let her think she did it on her own.

Adrianna thought back to the timing of the 30 women under 30 shoot. She had barely taken her new role in Island's Inc. when Abad TV approached her. Another company clearly owned by one of Cedric's friends, and a company he clearly had influence over as well.

Cedric knew how important creating her own identity was to Adrianna, and he completely disregarded that by throwing everything to the wind, including her trust.