Never Judge

Cedric placed a hand on his wife's back as she began to sob. Her best friend had just shattered her heart, broken it into a million pieces with just a few words.

"I'm sorry." Cedric told Adrianna. He couldn't help but feel bad for his wife and at the same time he felt that he was partially to blame for the way Julia had treated Adrianna. She was stuck in between her best friend and him.

"Cedric, you don't need to apologize for anything." Adrianna said, shaking her head. "She was like this last time too." Adrianna said with a sigh.

"What happened last time?" Cedric asked. "You never told me about last time."

"It's because we didn't know each other back then yet, silly." Adrianna said with a laugh. "We thought she had learned, it's been years."

"How long ago?" Cedric asked.

"Well, we were fresh out of highschool back then, she went somewhere to take the summer off. I forgot where." Adrianna told him. "It was supposed to be just the summer, then apparently she met a man and decided to study there to be closer to him."

"And her parent's didn't stop her?" Cedric asked, confused as to why Julia's parents had allowed her to stay in a foreign country with a man they did not know.

"We always assumed that he was some rich and powerful man, either an heir of something or maybe even an old boss who was a widower or someone that was not married." Adrianna explained. "The only way her parents would agree is if the man was important."

"Then he probably was." Cedric said with a nod as he encouraged Adrianna to continue her story.

"At first, we thought it was a normal, love filled relationship." Adrianna explained. "She would still contact us from time to time, but eventually she stopped talking to us. The only reason she gave back then was because he didn't trust her when we were on the phone."

"He was controlling and jealous?" Cedric asked, to which his wife replied with a simple nod.

"We never got to meet him." Adrianna told Cedric. "We only heard about her new love, then she stopped contacting us. We kinda hoped that Julia would give us a call some time, but the call never came."

"But she came back, right?" Cedric asked. She definitely came back and she came back single, so what happened with the man, Cedric wondered.

"She was gone for two years." Adrianna said with a frown. "When she came back she was broken and in tears. She didn't want to face any of us."

"This was still before we started dating." Cedric said slowly. 

"Yes, it was right before." Adrianna told him with a nod. "By the time you came into the picture we had found a way to distract Julia so that she wouldn't think of the man. And as we hoped, time healed her pain and helped her move on." Adrianna said with a shrug. 

"I'm guessing you never found out about the man?" Cedric asked.

"No, but she would talk about him a little. She would tell us how sweet and caring he was at first, how he lavished her with his attention." Adrianna explained. "She even went as far as saying that something happened which changed his demeanor towards her."

"She never told you what happened to make him change?" Cedric asked his wife.

"No, she would simply make us drop the topic." Adrianna told him with a shrug. 

"Did you try asking her parents?" Cedric asked, to him this was the natural course of action he would have taken if any of his friends were in the same predicament.

"We did, we tried to talk to her mom and dad but they just told us to drop it." Adrianna explained to Cedric with a frown. 

"So this man was definitely powerful." Cedric said with a nod. "Do you think she was a rich man's mistress?" Cedric asked.

"I wouldn't put the idea off of the table, it's a possibility." Adrianna said with a nod. "I mean, why would she keep it a secret if it was just an ordinary relationship?" Adrianna asked, airing her doubts and hesitations.

"Do you want me to look into it?" Cedric asked his wife.

"No, don't." Adrianna said as she shook her head, refusing his offer. "It's in the past, plus I doubt you would get any proof now."

"Okay." Cedric siad, agreeing to her request. "Why don't we go home? You should rest." Cedric pointed out.

"I'm not tired." Adrianna told him as she rolled her eyes, annoyed at Cedric being overprotective.

"We should at least go home." Cedric said with a laugh as he helped his wife up from her seat. 

"Cedric, do you think we could pick Yoyo up from school?" Adrianna asked her husband with a concerned look on her face.

"Adri, if people knew that Yoyo was studying there, then he wouldn't be able to live a normal life. We spoke about this." Cedric reminded her with a frown. She wasn't the only one having a hard time with their situation, but this was the alternative to Yoyo going into poverty training. 

"I know we spoke about this Ced, but it makes me sad that we can't even pick him up after his first day in school." Adrianna said with a frown.

"It makes me sad too, Adri." Cedric said as he held her hand and interlocked their fingers. "Why don't I try to think of something with Leon later?" Cedric asked his wife.

"Alright." Adrianna said with a nod.

"But this is only for today. You can't keep picking our son up from school, it's for yours and his safety." Cedric said in a stern voice as they exited the private room and walked to the elevator.

They were greeted by the staff who bowed and wished them well. Cedric gave them a rare smile and nodded back as he passed by.

When they finally made it into the elevator, his wife looked up at him and nodded.

"Alright, just for today Ced." Adrianna told her husband. "Just for today, I won't do this next time."

"Good." Cedric told her as he planted a kiss on the top of her head, he was happy that she peacefully agreed.