Never Judge

Cedric came up beside Miguel and laughed. 

"It seems Nicole is choosing to be a rebel." Cedric said as he watched the couple storm away.

"Raphael, have the guards chase after our daughter!" Lucy Chan told her husband. She was worried that since Nicole's emotions were at a high, Nicole might get into an accident.

"Do you seriously think we can talk any sense into her? I'm more worried about how we will handle the board when they find out that she is pregnant and the father is an assistant." Raphael Chan said as he sighed and massaged his temples. "I don't mean any offense old friend." Raphael said, turning to Richardo Lim.

"In our state now, my family cannot stand next to yours." Richardo Lim told Raphael Chan. "I understand that you worry about how your board members will see my son."

"Uncle Raphael, Ian is a good man. He is decent and hardworking." Cedric was quick to defend his friend. "He will take care of Nicole."

"Yes Raphael." Emilio Reyes said supporting his son's statement. "Ian has a bright future ahead of him. I am certain that with him at the helm, the Lims will rise to their former glory. You should let him follow his own path, do not try to press the young couple."

Raphael Chan smiled and shook his head. "I have no issue with who Nicole loves, as long as he loves her and not her money. He could be an actor for all I care."

"Dad, I'm an actor, it's like you're saying we actors have no dignity." Eric grumbled.

Raphael Chan laughed at how silly his son sounded. "You know I've never had anything against the career you've chosen. But the board has always looked down on the profession. All I am saying is that regardless of the man's background, your mother and I will support whomever your sister loves, we are just protecting her from the people who's outdated beliefs could drive someone to death." He explained to his son. Most of the guests were aware of what the elder Miguel Chan had suffered and none of them wanted their children to go through the same thing. 

"Cedric!" Adrianna shouted from her seat.

Cedric immediately ran to her side when he heard the worry in her voice.

"Honey what's wrong?" Cedric asked with a worried look in his face. His eyes scanned her and his son's body to see if either was hurt.

"I'm not hurt, but look." Adrianna said as she handed him her phone.

When Cedric saw what was on Adrianna's phone he was surprised. It was a new gossip website that seemed to have just gone live today and the first post was a photo of Ray and Ayanna hand in hand, the image was taken right after they got their marriage license and you could see Cedric waiting for them outside.

The headline read, 'Reyes-Laurence Nuptials push through, insensitive or romantic?'

Cedric scrolled as he saw various readers commenting. Many were hating on Ayanna and Ray for pushing through with their wedding despite an employee having committed suicide recently, some were even warning them of the bad luck such an incident would bring to the couple. Several other commenters were asking if they had eloped because Emilio Reyes had refused to let them get married due to the recent incident.

"Ram, look at this." Cedric said as Ram walked over to take a look.

"This website is new." Ram said as he scrolled up and down to take a look at the contents of the website. "How could they have possibly gotten these photos, didn't your people clear the area before you arrived?" Ram asked, he knew Cedric was currently very paranoid when it came to his family's security.

"They must have gotten through somehow. It's either that or there is a mole." Cedric sighed as he refreshed the page to see more of the comments.

"How dare they curse Ray and Ayanna's marriage." Ram spat as he read through the comments.

Right after Ram said this his phone began to ring. It seemed his people had discovered the site too and were asking Ram if he had any information that they could use as well. Ram wanted to shout at the head reporter over the phone, how dare he assume that Ram would abandon his friends for a quick story, they should know by now that he would never do that. 

"It's on social media as well already." Ram said as he dropped the call.

Cedric handed his wife back her phone and scrolled through his own. True enough people were already cursing the couple and telling them how insensitive they were. Cedric looked up and saw that his sister had already seen what people were talking about, he watched as a tear rolled down her cheek.

To their surprise, when they refreshed the page again a new article appeared: 'Alexi Sebestian's Woman?' It came with a photo of Alexi clearly kissing a woman, everyone in the room knew that it was Nurse Jen, he had been trying to get her attention the whole time.

"Alexi, I don't know if this news will hurt you or if it will help you." Ram said as he showed Alexi the article.

Nurse Jen who was also at the venue gasped when she saw the article. She looked up at Cedric to get his permission to take the rest of the day off.

"Jen, don't leave on your own." Alexi begged as he gripped her wrist. "It's not safe."

"How did this website get these photos? The kiss was clearly one from a few months ago." Cedric had also witnessed that incident, it was somewhere in the Mountain View community. "We need to investigate all of our staff, if there is a mole I feel like it would be among them." Cedric added. He wasn't happy about suspecting his people, he never liked doubting them, but the situation they were in was quite unique and it called for a different approach.