Never Judge

When the van finally left, Cedric turned to speak to Aiden.

"Did you come here because you wanted to or because you were forced?" Cedric asked.

​​

"My grandfather arranged it." Aiden confessed.

"And your parents didn\'t stop the arranged marriage?" Cedric knew it wasn\'t uncommon for parents to go along with what the elders wanted, but in recent years more and more were opposing arranged marriages among the rich families. They simply chose to encourage matches through different means. 

"My parents passed away when I was young. They died in a freak accident. My grandfather is all I have in this world now." Aiden told Cedric with a shrug.

"As you saw Amanda has someone else." Cedric pointed out.

"I like her." Aiden said. "The moment I laid my eyes on her I knew that I wanted her." The young man confessed.

"Aiden, my younger sister doesn\'t like you back. You can\'t force her." Jam added.

"Jam is right Aiden. You can pursue her, but you can\'t force her." Cedric said with a nod.

"I only went along with the arranged marriage because my grandpa said so." Aiden said with a sigh. "But, I didn\'t expect Amanda to be so captivating. I will definitely pursue her." Aiden said with a renewed conviction.

"I still need to ask you to leave, but I do wish you the best. Even if I\'m Tony\'s friend, I hope Amanda chooses the man she really loves." Cedric said with a nod.

"Thanks." Aiden said as he flashed a smile at Cedric and Jam. The young man took out his car keys and left.

"Let\'s go!" Jam excitedly said as he turned towards the elevator.

"Not so fast kid." Cedric said with a laugh as he made a call.

"Bring an NDA to the parking." Cedric ordered.

Within five minutes Ian came out of the elevator holding an envelope. He was actually already in the private room when Cedric called and had to go up to the top floor and back down just to bring what Cedric wanted.

"Sign." Cedric told Jam as Ian handed the boy the documents.

"Is this what you were saying cousin?" Jam asked as he read through the documents.

"Either you sign or I send you to the hotel." Cedric warned Jam.

Jam quickly took the pen from Ian and signed the document.

"Ask Constellations to reserve three rooms for Adrianna\'s family. They\'re already on the way." Cedric told Ian. Ian quickly did as he was ordered and made a call.

"Wow. You can reserve a room that fast?" Jam asked as he gave Cedric back the documents.

After making sure that all the documents were signed properly Cedric handed them to Ian and walked to the elevator.

"Are we allowed to use this one? Isn\'t this the CEO\'s elevator or something?" Jam said in a panicked tone as he observed the much finer lift.

"It\'s fine." Cedric said.

When they finally got back to Nouveau the manager was already waiting, he bowed and greeted Cedric as Mr. Reyes, and walked him to the private room. Cedric knew that the patrons wouldn\'t find it odd to see him walking up to the private room, many of them witnessed how he was actually friends with the five princes, others had already run a search on him and the other guests who had caused a commotion, they would probably have already stumbled upon the rumors between Adrianna and the Reyes Heir. 

"Will I send your drink sir?" The manager asked. 

Cedric simply nodded and pushed the door in and entered with Jam and Ian. 

"Brother you\'re back!" Ayanna happily greeted as soon as the door closed behind him. She was seated next to Ram and Adrianna, taking a sip of wine.

"You brought Jam with you?" Adrianna asked. "Isn\'t that risky?"

"He signed an NDA." Cedric said with a grin as he regained his normal composure.

Jam who was standing behind him was stunned and confused.

"Out with it Jam." Amanda said as she chuckled. 

"I\'m confused, what\'s going on? Who are you really?" The second question was clearly addressed towards Cedric.

"I\'m your cousin-in-law." Cedric said with a laugh as he walked over to the seat at the head of the table, next to Adrianna.

"Cedric…" Adrianna warned.

"Fine. My name is Cedric Reyes, my sister is Ayanna Reyes, and my parents are Emilio and Priscilla Reyes. I\'m the Reyes Heir." As Cedric said this he winked at Jam and laughed.

Jam\'s jaw just dropped and he couldn\'t even say a single word.

"You signed an NDA." Ian reminded him as he took his seat next to Nicole.

"He made you work again?" Nicole said with a pout as Ian lowered his lips to kiss her.

"I just brought down a document. Not work, a favor." Ian said with a smile.

"Relax Jam, sit next to me. I just found out myself too." Amanda said with a gentle smile.

"And you knew?" Jam asked Tony as he took his seat.

"Tony figured it out." Cedric said from the other end of the table. 

"OH MY GOSH! Everything I said to you about the princes, I mean about you guys!" Jam was wide eyed with embarrassment as he covered his face.

"You didn\'t say anything bad, relax." Cedric said with a laugh.

"Ooooh, what\'s this about?" Ram asked grinning from ear to ear.

"He\'s our number one fan." Cedric said with a laugh. "I\'m his favorite and you\'re the least." Cedric teased.

"No, Mr. Abad, that\'s not true. I never said that." Jam said in a panic.

Ram just laughed at the younger man\'s reaction. "He should be your favorite, he\'s your cousin-in-law." Ram reminded Jam.

"We aren\'t mean people you know." Alexi said with a shrug.

"That\'s a lie." Katerina said from the door as she walked in. "Oh, we have guests." She said as she eyed Jam and Amanda.

"Where\'s my brother?" Miguel asked as Katerina walked over. 

"Trying not to be seen." Katerina laughed as she took a seat. 

"You have a brother?" Jam asked, quickly picking up on what Miguel said.

"Yup, he should come through the door soon. Anyway, what Alexi said was right, we aren\'t mean people, but only to people we like." Miguel said with an innocent looking smile. 

"So many questions…." Jam finally said, making everyone laugh.

"Don\'t worry Jam, you\'ll get used to it." His aunt Gracia said in an attempt to comfort him. 

"We\'ve already eaten, so you don\'t need to wait for us." Cedric told his friends with a nod.

As if on cue the food arrived and was served. 

"Hey Tony, you\'ve got a little competition coming your way." Cedric warned the other man.

"How so?" Tony asked.

"The Aiden kid seems to be smitten with Amanda, so he plans to court her." Cedric said with a laugh.

"It\'s true Tony." Jam said, quickly backing his idol up.

"Don\'t worry, he won\'t be able to steal me from you." Amanda said as she gently placed a kiss on Tony\'s cheek.

"Woah, who\'s the new couple? Oh hey Tony." Eric said as he walked in.

"You\'re - you\'re - you\'re Eric Chan." A stunned Jam Lobo managed to day.

"Yeah, I know who I am, but who are you?" Eric asked as he walked over to Katerina. "Miss me, love?" Eric said as he kissed her on the lips.

"Is it bad that I find it awkward that someone I think of as my older brother is locking lips with my younger sister?" Alexi asked with a disgusted look.

Eric just laughed at him and focused his attention back on his girlfriend.

"You asked me who my brother was, kid? This is him, my older brother Eric Chan. Eric, meet Adrianna\'s cousins, Jam and Amanda." Miguel said with a nod.

"Ah, the other hypocritical side. Nice to meet you guys, it\'s great that you aren\'t like your parents." Eric said with a wink making Amanda blush and Jam\'s jaw drop.

"Eric, be nice." Katerina warned, making Eric laugh.