Never Judge

The next day the Reyes household woke up to Ayanna and Ray's photos posted everywhere. News about their "longtime" relationship was everywhere. It was on social media, in the newspapers, and on TV.

"Cedric, what do you know about this?" Emilio asked his son as they had breakfast. ​​

"Relax dad. It's just a facade. Do you think Ram would let Ray and Ayanna be the center of any scandal without their permission?" Cedric asked his dad.

"So they aren't dating?" Gracia asked.

Adrianna burst out into laughter. "They aren't mom. It's just Cedric's and Ray's weird way of making sure people don't try to hurt Ayanna."

"Too bad. I wouldn't mind having Raymund as my son in law." Prscilla said with a sigh.

"They will announce their fake engagement soon." Cedric said as he ate his breakfast.

"Did you force your sister to do this?" Emilio asked his son.

"The engagement was all her idea. She's making Ray fly over to do a whole romantic scene. So I need to prepare an official statement coming from the family." Cedric explained to his father.

"I'm surprised she didn't complain about this idea." Adrianna told her husband.

"She was surprisingly cooperative." Cedric said. "Come on Adrianna, the girls will arrive anytime. I need to finish some things in the office so they said they would get you the perfect dress."

"Alright. Do you think we could have green mangoes? I'm kind of craving for them." Adrianna said.

Cedric called a maid over who brought out the green mangoes Adrianna asked for.

"Is there anything you don't have in this house?" She asked as she savored the food Cedric gave her.

"Adrianna, just tell us anything you want, and we'll find a way to give it to you." Priscilla said before Cedric could answer his wife.

Cedric just nodded in agreement.

Cedric left for work in one of the low profile Audis he had purchased, leaving Adrianna at home waiting for Nicole to pick her up.

After half an hour a pink sports car rolled into the driveway.

"Wow." Adrianna said as she saw the eye-catching car that was followed by two black vans.

Nicole stepped out of the car and smiled at Adrianna. "I'm so happy I get to take you dress shopping. We won't go to the mall. We're going to a designer friend of ours so no need to be low key." Nicole said with a wink.

"I thought the others were coming along?" Adrianna asked.

"They'll meet us there. Hop in!" Nicole said.

Adrianna climbed into the car and the initial two black vans following them were joined by two more in the front and one behind.

After Cedric's accident he had become more worried about Adrianna's safety and had instructed for more visible and undercover security around her.

Nicole pulled up next to an unassuming building in an upscale part of the city. It was a gray building with no windows and a simple glass door at the front.

"Where are we?" Adrianna asked.

"We're meeting with Maureen Cordova. She's actually our favorite designer. Carlos, the one we visited last time, is her apprentice. So we're going to the master now. Oh and she's Veronica's and Ram's cousin." Nicole said as she handed the keys to her car to one of her bodyguards.

Adrianna was familiar with Maureen Cordova, everyone knew the designer to the rich and famous, even her friends were crazy about the designs she made, Adrianna knew for a fact that Asia dreamed of wearing a Maureen Cordova gown down the aisle. Unfortunately for Asia, you couldn't just buy a Maureen Cordova wedding gown. Maureen Cordova didn't make wedding gowns.

When the receptionist saw Nicole she immediately led them to the VIP room. And as a designer to the stars, being among Maureen's VIP clientele was quite the feat. There were only around twenty guests allowed to use the VIP room and most of them were family and friends.

Maureen Cordova was a tall girl who loved wearing high heeled shoes. Despite her thin model like frame she had quite puffy cheeks since she was a chubby child as a kid. She was very lively and almost rivaled Nicole in her energy level.

"Is this the infamous Mrs. Reyes?" Maureen asked.

"Yup, Mau this is Adrianna." Veronica said, introducing Adrianna to her cousin.

"I know a hundred girls that want to go after your husband right now." Maureen teased Adrianna.

"Nice to meet you Maureen." Adrianna said with a smile.

"Please call me Mau. We're practically family. The girls go here all the time and they drive up my value by quite a lot." Maureen said.

"Alright then Mau." Adrianna nodded.

"Now let's see, from Ayanna's message she said you needed a dress that was stunning, simple, and low profile." Mau said as she walked around Adrianna studying her body.

"How about the swan gown?" Katerina asked.

"Nah. That’’s too girl boss. That's your style. Plus that's white, you never wear white to another person's wedding. It's just not proper." Maureen said, shaking her head.

"It's alright if this person is a social climbing slut. Sorry Adrianna." Nicole said. She had heard a lot about Asia. And not just from Ayanna, who kept a close watch on Adrianna's family, but also from business partners and other socialites.

"I can't control the way people see her." Adrianna said with a shrug. Since the incident on Kashmere, Adrianna had been working on slowly changing her attitude towards Asia. Cedric was right, even if Asia was her family, Asia would never have hesitated to harm her.

Adrianna had no intention of slipping into Asia's level, but she was going to stop letting Asia push her around like she used to. And she owed it to the Reyes family to hold her own, when people would eventually find out that she was the wife of the Reyes Heir she had no intention of letting them know that they could treat her like trash.

"How about that black dress? The one that won you that award in New York? I mean it's simple, you never put tags, and I think it would fit Adrianna quite nicely!" Nicole said after thinking for a while.

"You know what Nicole! I think that might just work. The only way people will recognize that I made it is if they are a fashion aficionado." Maureen said as she opened the door to ask one of her assistants to bring the dress over.

Adrianna tried on the dress. When Maureen had the dress brought over Adrianna was actually worried that it wouldn't fit her or wouldn't look nice on her. She was also worried that the dress would be very uncomfortable.

Adrianna was pleasantly surprised to see that the dress not only fit her well, but it was extremely comfortable. When she came out of the dressing room, the girls gasped.

"Are you sure you didn't make this for her, Mau?" Natalia asked as she looked Adrianna over.

"What are the odds that even the sizing is perfect? I intentionally made the proportions a little bit more humane than that of a model's." Maureen said.

"Adrianna look!" Nicole said as she came over and shoved her hands to the side of Adrianna's dress. "It has pockets!" Nicole said proudly.

"It's a practical dress. I had these girls in mind when I made it." Maureen told her.

"I think it looks perfect with the watch and the wedding ring." Katerina commented. "Wouldn't it be perfect with the Suzumi earrings and necklace Ayanna has. Do you think she brought them with her to America?"

"Nah. She never wears them. I'm sure they are in her closet back at home." Nicole said.

"Wow Adrianna. I think you'll look prettier than the bride. Well you look prettier than the bride." Veronica teased.

"Cedric will not be able to resist you." Katerina teased with a wink. "Are you prepared to permanently lose this dress, Mau? I think Cedric will rip it right off her." Katerina laughed.

"I can always make a new one. And it's yours now Adrianna." Maureen told Adrianna.

While waiting for the dress to be packed. Adrianna had coffee with the sisters.

"What do you think about Nicole's car?" Veronica asked with a giggle.

"It's very, umm… Nicole." Adrianna didn't know what to say. It was a nice car, it was just that the color was very over the top.

"That's why we never ride it!" Katerina said bursting into laughter.

"I thought you guys were busy!" Nicole complained.

"Nope! I just don't even wanna go near that car." Veronica told her friend.

"Natalia said it was pretty." Nicole said looking at the youngest girl in the group.

"Nicole, Natalia is nice, too nice and she's also afraid of you. Of course she will say it's pretty." Katerina said, rolling her eyes.

"Is that true Natalia?" Nicole asked with a shocked expression.

"I'm sorry big sister. But my older sister is right. You are a bit scary." Natalia told Nicole who was two years older than her.

"What? What? No!" Nicole said in shock.

Maureen's staff suddenly appeared and said that the dress was ready to be delivered.

"We won't bring it in the car?" Adrianna asked.

"No silly, Maureen has to take it personally to Mountain View to make sure that it is properly stored before the event. On friday she and her staff will come over to Mountain View as well to help you get ready. She's a full service kind of girl." Nicole explained.

"Ayanna replied. She said she actually placed them in Adrianna's closet in Mountain View, she thought it would look better on Adrianna than on her." Veronica told her friend.

"Let's look for it when we get there. Are you still riding with Nicole, Adrianna? I could give you a ride." Katerina offered.

"Yes please." Adrianna said following Katerina out. Everyone laughed as Nicole pouted.