Never Judge

Adrianna had an extremely hectic day. The loss of several partners made a lot of departments worry and adjust their plans. At one point she lost her temper and shouted at her Finance head.

"We didn\'t lose out major projects! Why are you sounding alarm bells as if those five partnerships would bring us big money! Don\'t create mountains out of mole hills!" Adrianna said as the Finance head raised flags on the partnerships not pushing through.

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The Finance head ended up leaving her office, worried that he wouldn\'t have a job to return to the next day. 

"I don\'t understand why you all keep complaining about those five deals! One deal with the Reyes Group is enough to cover for all five of those and you keep emphasizing those five." Adrianna scolded all of the company heads in one meeting.

She ended up dismissing all of them and telling them to focus on the bigger deals with the Reyes Group, Saints Hospital, and Breeze Air. She sighed at the thought of these partnerships, at first she considered scrapping them since she only got them because of Cedric, but when she got to talk to her mother-in-law Priscilla Reyes ended up reprimanding her. 

She recalled that they were having tea on the rooftop space one day when Adrianna had voiced her concerns to Priscilla.

"Adrianna that\'s foolish." Priscilla scolded her daughter-in-law with a loving tone. "All those companies, even if they are owned by Cedric\'s friends, have professional teams assessing each and every project and partnership. They don\'t do things just cause they are friends."

"Mom, I just want to achieve things because of my skills and not because of the people my husband knows." Adrianna tried to explain.

"Adrianna, the reason the rich remain rich is because they are smart about things. Don\'t listen to those foolish shows or novels that say CEOs throw thousands into a small coffee shop because their crush works there. We do not work that way." Priscilla proudly explained. 

"But mom, you did that take down cause a wife offended me." Adrianna argued.

"That too was a business play. Imagine if everyone thought they could just say rumors about us. Wouldn\'t our stock prices drop?\' Priscilla paused to let Adrianna think. "I just set an example, and now they won\'t dare say things like that."

"Alright mom, I won\'t drop the deals." Adrianna sighed in surrender.

Adrianna, who was sitting at her desk, smiled. Her mother-in-law really was an amazing person, not only did she care about her family, but she was really smart too. She was now Adrianna\'s idol and inspiration.

"Olivia, Mia, please come in." Adrianna called for Mia and her other assistant, Olivia.

The two women came in with notepads ready.

"I want everyone focused on our bigger projects. Have all the department heads report to me on the status of all those partnerships." Adrianna ordered. "Then Mia, give Veronica\'s assistant a call, we\'re supposed to have a partnership, but I never really acted on it. Check if she has any free time to discuss that."

Mia quickly noted what Adrianna had just said. Of course Adrianna could just talk to Veronica about it at home but she also wanted the optics coming from Veronica going to Island\'s Inc. then there was the matter of the work that needed to be done, she needed certain employees to help Veronica out and bringing them over to Mountain View was not an option.

"Mrs. Reyes. It\'s almost time for your doctor\'s appointment. I\'ll get the car ready." Mia said as she waited for Adrianna to dismiss them. 

"Alright. I\'ll pack up and be down in a while." Adrianna said sending them out.

In the hospital, Adrianna waited for Cedric in Nicole\'s office. Cedric had become so worried about her safety and comfort that he asked Nicole to let her stay there while she waited. Nicole on the other hand had no issues with it. She was more than willing to hangout with Adrianna.

"Are you busy Nicole?" Adrianna asked.

Nicole was at her desk reviewing some papers.

"Not really. I\'m just studying up on the operation my brother and I will be performing. It\'s light reading." Nicole said with a shrug.

"Really? That\'s light reading?" Adrianna asked looking at the complicated scans and graphs on Nicole\'s desk.

"It\'s an easy operation, we\'ve done it many times. The patient is just a rich client that\'s why he asked for Miguel." Nicole explained.

"Distract me. Tell me, how are things going with Ian?" Adrianna asked.

"Woah! Why me?" Nicole said with a laugh, she didn\'t know if Adrianna was joking or she was serious.

"There are a lot of things going on at work. I want to talk about non-work stuff." Adrianna complained.

"Fine." Nicole got up and sat next to Adrianna on the couch. "It\'s been amazing. Sure it\'s a bit tough since we both spend so much time at work, but I really love him." Nicole said with a bright smile.

"That\'s great. He\'s a good guy, I\'m glad you guys found each other." Adrianna complemented.

"We talk everyday, even if we are tired from work we make it a point that we still video call at night. It\'s funny cause sometimes I fall asleep while on the call and I wake up to see him watching me. Sure it sounds creepy, but I find it sweet." Nicole said with a giggle.

Before Adrianna could say anything the door to Nicole\'s office opened and Cedric arrived with Ian in tow.

"Hey Nicole, thanks for taking care of my wife while she waited." Cedric said as he approached the two women. He hugged Adrianna and kissed her on the lips then placed a hand on her belly. "How are my two angels?" Cedric asked.

"We\'re fine. Shall we go see the good doctor now?" Adrianna smiled at her husband.

"Sure." Cedric said, releasing his wife and walking out while holding her hand. "Ian you can stay. I think both you and Nicole deserve some alone time. We\'ll be back in thirty minutes. Make it count." Cedric teased as they left the couple in the office.

"You\'re such a bully to them." Adrianna scolded.

"Adri, they need to maximize the time they can spend together. I\'m just creating opportunities for them." Cedric explained.

"What if one of the elders or board members walks into Nicole\'s office?" Adrianna asked.

"They won\'t. It\'s golf day today. Dad\'s at Nationalia so all the bigshot businessmen are there to suck up to him." Cedric told his wife as they walked to Dr. Santos\' clinic.

"Isn\'t that on Wednesdays?" Adrianna clearly remembered Wednesdays being the day her mother-in-law and mom would go to Nationalia to wait for their husbands to finish a round of golf.

"Today they play 18 holes, on wednesdays they only play 9 because the moms are waiting for them. Ah here we are." Cedric said as they entered Dr. Santos\' clinic.

"You\'re stressed, and stress is bad for the baby." Dr. Santos said as she read the results of Adrianna\'s examinations.

"Adri, just let Uncle Matthew handle Island\'s Inc. for the meantime and rest." Cedric told his wife sweetly.

"Do I need to stop working doc?" Adrianna asked.

"Not really. You just need to take it easy, delegate." Dr. Santos told the couple.

"I\'ll make sure of it Doc. Thanks." Adrianna said with a smile as they left.

Over the next few weeks Adrianna did as she promised. She gave some of her work to Uncle Matthew or Henry. She would come into the office an hour later and leave an hour earlier. She could feel her load lifting and her mood improving.