Never Judge

"Sir?" A stunned Matteo David asked. 

Matteo was the son of Juancho David Sr., he wasn't smart like Tricia Sanchez and he grew up quite differently from his friends. After giving birth to him, his mother placed him up for adoption, no one wanted to take the young Matteo so he grew up in the orphanage where he met a lot of unpleasant people. A year before aging out, his mother had a change of heart and went looking for him. She found an incredibly difficult young boy. Juancho David Sr. tried as much as possible to push away his other family but he ended up looking for them when he realized that his only son, Juancho David Jr., was turning into a disappointment. Matteo might not have been book smart, he was however, streetsmart. On top of this, growing up in one of the worst slums in the country he had made friends with a lot of people from the gangs. He often used these connections especially when he started working in his father's company. 

"I'm sure, you've heard all the rumors about me being some cold, harsh CEO. I swear people watch too many dramas where the CEO is painted as some cruel unfeeling person." Cedric said with a laugh. 

With Cedric's sudden change in behavior Ayanna's friends finally relaxed. They lifted their heads and looked Cedric in the eyes as he spoke.

"I'll make this simple." Cedric began. "You are all my sister's friends, and because of that fact I am giving you all an opportunity to prove yourselves." Cedric looked at all of them as they leaned forward with interest. 

"You aren't naive not to know that companies can rise and fall due to either our support or our withdrawal." Cedric explained. "But I need to know that you can be trusted and that your loyalty will be to the Reyes Group. I won't be asking you to do anything drastic against your company, no that's not how we work."

Cedric could see that his promise of not harming their family businesses calmed a worry in them. 

"Sir we trust Ayanna, and by extension we trust you." Matteo David answered for the group.

"Why don't we start with you telling me how you met my sister?" Cedric asked.

"Brother, this is not necessary." Ayanna argued. "Why do you need to know all of that? I could just tell you."

"Ayanna." Cedric gently warned. 

"It's no problem Ayanna. We can tell your brother how we met you." It was Krista Von that spoke up this time. Krista's mother was a singer and actress, her mother was eighteen when she captured the eye of David Von, a businessman with mixed foreign blood. At the time David Von was already married and had an older son. His wife was incredibly demanding and even beat him, he was at an event when a young singer caught his attention. She had grown up living in a different home from her father but knowing that her parents actually loved each other.

"Tell me." Cedric said.

"It was our first year in university and the five of us quickly became friends, our mothers did after all know each other." Krista Von said with a smirk. "A lot of people actually wanted Ayanna to be in their group, not because they knew who she was, but because she was pretty. She didn't talk to other people that much, the only one she spoke to was Nicole Chan, but Nicole was from another major so whenever we would have class she would just leave. One time we had a group project. We thought everyone would jump at the opportunity to have Ayanna as their groupmate, but surprisingly they avoided her."

"They thought I didn't have the brains to help and that I would just rely on others." Ayanna said flipping her hair.

"The groups that did want her were all full, they were mostly playboys who just wanted to date her. We were the only one that could take in another member. So we invited her to join us." Krista continued to explain. "Ayanna never really told us who she was. We just assumed that her family either owned some small business or held high positions in a company. We were surprised that when we did our project she wasn't the typical rich kid who didn't have much to contribute. She actually ended up carrying us through that project."

"We had to make a business plan about an assigned company, the company was Elisia Malls, so it was no issue." Ayanna said, rolling her eyes.

"So from that day onwards we started hanging out." Krista said, finishing her story.

"And you never one thought that she could be the daughter of the Reyes Clan?" Cedric asked. 

"It's such a common surname, even a beggar on the street could have the surname Reyes." Tricia Sanchez explained. "Plus who would think that the child of the biggest conglomerate in the country would settle to study at a local University. You guys usually study abroad before coming back to do a take over."

"When did you find out who she was?" Cedric continued to question.

"During graduation. It was Erik that first spotted it." Matteo David explained."We were all lining up to do that whole marching in of graduates when your parents arrived with Ayanna. I think she thought that everyone was too busy to notice but several of us saw her get off the black Rolls Royce and kiss your parents before running up to us."

"We exposed her as soon as she arrived." Erik Garcia teased. 

Erik was not the only illegitimate child of his father, as a matter of fact he had three other full siblings, one older and one younger. After his mother had given birth to his elder sister she quit modeling and started living as Ernesto Garcia's mistress. While his older sister and younger brother were content to simply live leisurely and spend their father's monthly allowances Erik wanted more. Ernesto didn't want him interfering in the family business at first, but when Erik applied to work at their company in secret and was hired, Ernesto saw how much of an asset this illegitimate son actually was. So Erik was allowed to stay in the company and work his way up. When Cedric mentioned that he knew about Erik, Ernesto Grarcia promoted him to a key role.

"I swear brother, it was so fun seeing everyone else's reaction when they realized who I was." Ayanna said laughing. 

"When they realized how big a mistake they made in underestimating Ayanna they all tried to befriend us. Many of the rich kids even offered us jobs in their companies, but of course we knew better." Matteo David said.

Cedric nodded. At least they didn't lie to him, they admitted that befriending Ayanna was a happy coincidence rather than lying.

"That's all." Cedric finally said. "But before you leave, there is a file that my assistants will hand each of you. In it are plans that I want you to execute in your own companies, you cannot tell anyone about them or where they came from. I expect to see progress in a month."

"Of course sir." Paolo Juan was the first to respond to Cedric's instructions. 

Cedric and Ayanna stood up and walked the group to the door. Ian and Camilla were already waiting for them carrying five folders.

When they left Ayanna gave her brother a puzzled look as he took off his disguise.

"What?" Cedric asked his sister.

"That was too easy." Ayanna told her brother.

"It wasn't the only test." Cedric said.

"The files?" Ayanna asked as she made herself comfortable on the couch. 

Cedric sat across her and leaned back. "Those projects aren't just any projects. They are high value ones that their companies have no capability in executing. They have three options, first is to admit to me that they can't do it, at which point I don't see any use for them beyond taking revenge. The second is for them to sell the project to another company and pass it off either as their own or to tell me that they passed it on. If they do that I'll know that they aren't loyal. Projects like that should not be shared." Cedric explained as he took a sip of his coffee.

"And the third?" Ayanna asked.

"Make it happen. If they do that then they are of use and can be trusted." Cedric finally said. "After today, we will know their worth."