Never Judge

After the ceremony, the guests from the church headed to the reception in Maharlika Hotel. Most of those who weren't related by blood to the couple went straight to the reception instead of joining the ceremony earlier that day.

Before entering the function room, Cedric led Adrianna and her parents to a separate room where Maureen Cordova and her team were waiting again. ​​

"Retouch." Maureen greeted them with a smile. It was the first time she had to sneak into an event just to give her client a retouch, but she wasn't complaining. If she had gone through the front door people would have mobbed her either for an autograph or to get a design out of her, so Cedric's low profile ways suited her just fine.

After a few minutes fixing the makeup and hair of the mother and daughter pair, she ran some checks on Adrianna's dress just to make sure that there were no issues. With her nod of approval Cedric thanked her and led the family out and into the reception.

As they arrived they were led to their table, as Cedric expected, despite being part of the Hernandez family, Adrianna's family was relegated to a spot where the least important people would be placed.

When they entered the function room, a lot of heads turned. Women began to whisper among themselves, and men seem to be smitten. It was all because of Adrianna. Not only was she gorgeous and dignified, but the gown she wore was clearly recognized by the women in the room.

"I thought you said you wanted me to wear something low profile?" Adrianna whispered to her husband.

Cedric, who hated the fact that men were now daydreaming about his wife, pulled her into his arms and kissed her, as if to say that she was his. He then leaned over to whisper to her. "I blame the girls for this."

Cedric then led the family to their seats on the side. Despite being away from the main group everyone still observed Adrianna and her simply dressed husband. Of course, unknown to the other people in the room, Cedric's clothes were all custom made in Italy. He just chose to wear a simpler cut and color.

As the room filled, everyone was excited to meet some of the more famous and powerful guests that the Chu and Hernandez families had invited. Among the guests were Mark's friends who were well known second generation heirs that splurged like there was no tomorrow. They had all arrived in flashy suits, with men's jewelry that were in the hundreds of thousands. But they were nothing next to the most awaited guest, Raymund Laurence.

He was a man they could only meet by chance, in events such as these where they were lucky to be invited. Many of the young women, and some men, were dejected to hear that he was dating Ayanna Reyes, the daughter of the rich and powerful Reyes clan. But there were some that were truly thick faced and found this as an opportunity to try to be his mistress. According to gossip Ayanna was barely in the country as she was taking further studies in America.

The guests waited for quite a while, since both families agreed that they had to wait for Raymund Laurence to arrive before starting the event. Cedric was talking with his wife when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Ray Laurence: Has it started yet?

Cedric Reyes: Nope. I think they're waiting for you.

Ray Laurence: Hahahahaha. Such suck ups. I had to pick something up, are there seats left on your table?

Cedric Reyes: Of course, we aren't exactly the favorites here.

Ray Laurence: Great. Save me two.

Cedric Reyes: You didn't!

Ray Laurence: I'm going to this event and we're having fun.

Cedric Reyes: You stir things up too much!

Ray Laurence: We just arrived. See you in a bit.

A few minutes after Ray told Cedric that they had arrived there was a commotion at the back of the function room and people stood and turned their heads to look.

While this was happening Cedric told Adrianna to make sure no one sat in the two seats next to her. Adrianna was puzzled by his reaction but nodded and did as Cedric asked.

Cedric could see the guests taking out their phones to take photos of the people at the back. Cedric simply assumed that this was Ray, who had fetched Ayanna from America just to stir up some trouble during the wedding.

"What's going on?" Gracia said as she tried to see what everyone was looking at.

Suddenly Cedric's phone began to ring.

"Yeah?" Cedric asked.

"We're on the left most table, around four tables from the stage." Cedric told the other person on the phone.

The crowd's stares started to shift towards the left of the room, after a while Cedric, who was still on the phone with Ray spotted his sister holding hands with his best friend who waved to him with the hand holding the phone.

Cedric grinned and dropped the call as he sat calmly.

Upon seeing the pair Adrianna leaned over to Cedric and whispered. "What happened to being low profile?"

"Ray planned this, not me. He'll get an earful later, don't worry. For now, enjoy the looks of envy." Cedric teased.

Ayanna quickly sat on the empty seat next to Adrianna and Ray sat next to her. He simply nodded greeting Cedric.

"I knew this dress would look amazing on you!" Ayanna greeted her sister in law.

"Behave Ayanna. All eyes are on us right now. Do you want to blow your brother's cover?" Ray whispered loud enough for Cedric to hear.

When everyone had managed to settle down from the excitement of Ray and Ayanna being in the room and sitting away from their prepared seats, the host announced that the reception was about to begin.