Never Judge

"Cedric!" Emilio Reyes III greeted as his son approached. "I thought you would miss tonight." He told his son. 

"No dad, I wouldn't." Cedric said, shaking his head. It was clear that his father had heard of the altercation that happened in his office between him and the Chan elders.

"Adri, you are glowing!" Emilio Reyes praised as he stood up to hug his daughter-in-law.

"Thanks, dad." Adrianna said with a smile.

"Charles, Gracia, I heard you applied some of the things we taught you earlier." He said with a grin as the couple laughed at his comment. 

"She was a friend." Gracia Hernandez said, shaking her head. "When she got married, she changed, she was suddenly so obsessed with these parties and knowing the right people."

"So like you then?" Charles Hernandez said as he looked at his wife with a sad expression.

"Like the old me." Gracia Hernandez said with a nod.

Cedric was proud of how far his mother-in-law had come, she was no longer the hateful woman that cared only about money and position. She had changed since her own father tried to sell her daughter off to Mark Chu.

"When Cedric sent the majority of the Hernandez clan away she started to avoid me like the plague." Gracia Hernandez said with a shrug. "When Cedric's identity came out she began to try and make contact with me. She called and even visited my old salon."

"But you moved to my mom's salon." Cedric said with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yes, but the stylists at the old one were like family to me, so I would have lunch or coffee with them from time to time. It was through them that she had reached out." Gracia Hernandez said with a shrug.

"I'm sorry you lost a friend, Ma." Adrianna said as she hugged her mother.

"No, she wasn't a loss." Gracia Hernandez said, shaking her head. "All of this let me realize how fake my old friends were. Most of them vanished the moment news broke out about the Hernandez clan."

"Let me guess, most of them came crawling back when Cedric revealed his identity?" Ian's father, Richardo Lim asked.

"Yes." Gracia Hernandez said with a nod. 

"Don't worry, we Lims have gone through the same thing." Richardo Lim said with a sympathetic smile.

"If I'm not mistaken though, Ric, you had it the other way around." Emilio Reyes reminded his friend.

"Uncle, I don't think -" Ian started to say before his father stopped him.

"It's alright Ian, it has been years, and we are in a much better place." Richardo Lim said with a nod. 

Ian simply nodded and took a seat next to his father. Cedric watched as Nicole sat next to Ian and held his hand in an attempt to comfort him.

"When the Lims lost everything we too realized who were truly our friends and which were simply people who wanted to ride along with our wealth." Ric Lim said with a shrug. "Of course in your case you turned out richer than they thought. In our case, we had lost everything. It's a time I hate remembering, but it is what it is."

"Things are better now." Ian mumbled and nodded. 

Cedric felt bad for his friend, it was no mystery to him what Ian had gone through, over the years Cedric had peeled layer after layer of Ian's defences and eventually got him to tell his story. Cedric felt bad for Ian, he had already suffered so much and all Cedric could do now was to try and help him.

"Uncles! Aunt Gracia!" Miguel greeted them as he approached their table. 

"Ah Miguel, it's good to see you out of your doctor's coat." Ric Lim greeted as he smiled at the young man. 

"It's good to be in a more casual setting, even if 80% of our guests decided to go ultra formal." Miguel mocked with a laugh as he looked around at the guests that looked like they were attending some grand ball.

"That's what you get when you invite anyone and everyone that just wants to climb up the social ladder." Nicole said as she rolled her eyes. She had been trying for years to change how events in the Chan household were conducted, but her relatives were just way too stubborn.

"Well Nicole, we still need to suffer through the whole night." Miguel said with a laugh. "Dad is looking for us, grandpa wants to do this whole speech and he wants us on the stage." 

"Ugh, I'm so jealous of he who must not be named." Nicole grumbled as she got up.

"Who? Voldemort?" Ian asked with a laugh.

"Haha, so funny, come on, you're going up there with me." Nicole said as she pulled on Ian's hand getting him to stand up.

"Okay, I'm jealous of him too now. Why do I need to be part of this?" Ian asked.

"Because you are my husband." Nicole said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Did you just. . ." Ian said as his jaw dropped.

"Not yet, but might as well call you that." Nicole said, rolling her eyes. "Now will you go with me?" 

Ian was more than happy to agree after Nicole had called him her husband.

As the Chan family gathered on the stage, Eric and the Sebastian family suddenly appeared behind Cedric. 

"I'm so glad I don't have to be up there." Eric said with a laugh. 

"Your siblings were just discussing that." Ian said with a laugh, making sure that bystanders couldn't hear their conversation.

"Where's Ram?" Cedric asked as he looked around for the Abads, he soon found the Abads and the Laurences walking up to them. The two tables at the front were reserved for their group.

One of the Chan sibling's second cousin was the host for tonight, she was wearing a sensual dress as she looked at Alexi.

Cedric laughed when he noticed that the girl was trying to catch Alexi's attention.

"Is that an ex?" Cedric asked Alexi who had taken a seat on their table.

"I don't have exes, but I might have slept with her. I'm not sure." Alexi said with a shrug.

"It's not fun hearing that." Selina complained as she frowned.

"I promise, I never liked any of them, they were just a way for me to cope." Alexi told her as he planted a gentle kiss on Selina's lips.

"You've changed him a lot." Katerna said with a smile. "My brother is much nicer now."

"Shut up Katerina." Alexi hisses, making Katerina laugh even louder.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming to my grandfather's party." The host said with a smile. "My granduncle, our former family patriarch, has something to say before we bring out the cake and wish him a happy 74th birthday."

The guests all clapped as the old man walked forward and took the mic from his grandniece. 

"I have an announcement to make." The old man said with a smile. "A lost member of the family has returned to us."

Cedric quickly looked to Eric in shock, he hadn't expected the Chan family to move this fast. By the look on Eric's face it seemed that Eric didn't know that this was going to happen either.