Never Judge

"The boss is out." A bodyguard told Alexi.

It was their cue that they could leave.

​​

"Sir, the boss said to tell you to take the furthest exit from the main entrance." One of the bodyguards informed Alexi as he got into the car.

"Will he meet us at the Reyes Mansion?" Alexi asked. He couldn\'t thank Cedric enough for helping him with the mess he had made. 

"Yes." The bodyguard said with a nod. "The boss will first go to the Mountain View mansion then head over to the old Mansion in a different car."

"Alexi, let\'s go." Katerina said from the back seat. 

Alexi nodded and hopped into the driver\'s seat. When they had arrived at the basement parking he had to look twice to figure out which was Cedric\'s car and which were ordinary cars owned by the employees and some guests.

The car was so well disguised that if you weren\'t looking for it you would think that an ordinary person was driving it. On the outside there was nothing spectacular about the sedan. It was a white car with a few bumps and scratches. But when you opened the door and saw the interior, it was quite luxurious. 

"Clearly the interior was your idea Miguel." Alexi said as he started the car.

"Well he can drive something that looks dingy on the outside but is still luxurious on the inside." Miguel said with a shrug. "He doesn\'t have to sacrifice comfort for safety."

"My first car looked just as bad as this." Nicole said. She was seated at the back between Katerina and Selina. 

"Your first car was a BMW, Nicole. How could it have been as bad as this?" Miguel asked as he turned to face her from the front seat.

"Well when you and Eric decided you didn\'t want anything to do with the family business dad decided to train me. He took away my car and made me commute to work." Nicole explained. All of the families had their own ways of teaching their future heirs the value of hard work. "When I had earned enough I took out a loan from the bank and bought a red sedan." Nicole said with a shrug.

"That\'s how spoiled you are Alexi." Katerina said with a laugh.

"Dad still kept me on a budget." Alexi argued.

"Shouldn\'t we get going?" Selina asked before Katerina could reply.

"Yes, we should." Alexi said as he stepped on the gas and headed for the furthest exit. "Keep an eye out. I don\'t want some crazy paparazzi jumping in front of the car."

The girls at the back simply nodded as they each observed a side of the car.

As they ascended the ramp, Alexi almost stepped on the breaks. He thought that there would be no people waiting at the exit. He was shocked to see at least twenty people eagerly watching the exit.

"Keep driving." Miguel instructed him. "If you slow down they will think that something suspicious is going on."

Alexi nodded as he maintained his speed.

As they exited some of the paparazzi turned to observe the car coming out of the parking area. When they noticed that it was just a common worker\'s vehicle they turned back around and continued chatting among themselves.

"Wow, this car really helps you fly under the radar." Katerina exclaimed as they created distance between them and the hotel.

"Oh wow." Nicole said as she looked at her phone. "Cedric really has quite an imposing aura whenever he\'s in disguise."

"Is that a live stream?" Alexi asked from the front seat.

"Yup. Wanna hear what\'s going on?" Nicole asked. 

"Sure, it\'ll be nice to know that Cedric is safe." Alexi said with a nod.

Nicole made the volume of her phone louder and they could hear the voices of the paparazzi and the members of the media calling out to the CEO of the Reyes Group. They all had many questions, but the CEO ignored them.

Then they heard it, \'As a married man do you also believe that rich men should be allowed to have mistresses?\' a reporter asked.

"That\'s gonna trigger him." Miguel said.

"Why?" Came Selina\'s voice all of a sudden. "Isn\'t it normal for rich men to have mistresses?" 

"Not us baby." Alexi said from the driver\'s seat. "And most definitely not the members of the Reyes Family. They don\'t go into arranged marriages and they all get married quite late. So by the time they are married they are sure about the person they want to be with."

"So do you think he will get mad at the question?" Nicole asked.

"It\'s more than just his principles." Alexi said with a sigh. "He thinks uncle Emilio has a mistress."

"What?" Nicole asked.

"Yeah. He discovered a suspicious home in uncle Emilio\'s name." Alexi explained. "He\'s been observing the home and he has seen a woman coming and going to that house."

"How sure is he that it\'s a mistress?" Nicole asked.

"He isn\'t, but the timing is very questionable." Miguel said with a shrug.

"You know this too?" Nicole asked.

"Cedric voiced his worries a few times." Miguel said.

"Do you also believe that rich men should be allowed to have mistresses?" They heard the reporter ask agin.

"No." Came Cedric\'s clear answer from the phone\'s speaker.

"See, I told you he would be against it." Alexi said, his comment clearly directed towards Selina. "I wonder what else he will say. This matter is one of Cedric\'s bottom lines." 

"Whether rich or poor you remain loyal." They heard Cedric add. "Relationships are not a game or a bargaining chip, they involve real people with real emotions. I promise you all this, I will always remain loyal to my wife. I love her with all my heart, she is my life. And I promise you, my friends are the same with their relationships."

"And that is how much he loves Adrianna." Nicole said with a smile.

"He is right." Alexi added. "Relationships are not some game for rich men to play. They involve real feelings and real people."

"Then why did you play the whole city?" Selina suddenly said as she quickly gasped and covered her mouth.

"Ha, she got you there Alexi." Katerina said with a laugh.

"Those weren\'t relationships." Alexi hissed. "Plus no one ever overlapped."

"Cedric really hates disloyalty." Miguel said with a sigh. "That\'s why he is so suspicious of his dad right now."

"Because he thinks his dad has a mistress?" Nicole asked.

"Nicole, the evidence is just too much. It\'s clear uncle Emilio has a woman at that house." Katerina told her friend.

"You knew about this too?" Nicole asked.

Katerina simply shrugged.

"Guys, uncle Emilio does not have a mistress. We need to get to Cedric, now. Before he says something that could ruin his relationship with his dad." Nicole said.

"Fine, fine." Alexi said as he quickly changed the direction he was driving towards.

"Where are you taking us?" Katerina asked.

"Mountain View." Alexi replied. "The bodyguard said that was where Cedric was headed, so let\'s meet him there." 

As Alexi spoke he stepped on the gas and headed towards Mountain View.