Never Judge

Asia's wedding was planned to be grand. It seemed that despite the rumors of Asia plotting her way into the family both the Hernandezes and the Chus still wanted to make a show of force during the wedding.

The list of guests included several political and business personalities that the family was notoriously close to or that they associated with, most famous of which was Raymund Laurence. With the dating rumors about him and Ayanna Reyes going around, everyone wanted to get a chance to talk to him and get close. If it were true that the Laurence and Reyes families were going to be bound through marriage it would make both families rise higher than they already were.

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Maureen arrived early in the morning at Mountain View. She was quite familiar with Emilio and Priscilla Reyes so she greeted them warmly. She met Cedric a couple of times when she was younger so she was comparatively quiet when she met him.

"Maureen, dear, this is Cedric's mother in law. Do you mind having your team do her makeup and hair too?" Priscilla asked Maureen.

"Of course Auntie! You and Ayanna are one of my top clients. Just think of this as a freebie." Maureen said with a wink.

Cedric was somewhat relieved that his mom and Adrianna's got along quite well. At first he was worried that his mom would treat them poorly after they had treated him in the past. He personally just wanted to move on from those days.

It also came as a delight to Cedric that since moving into Mountain View, Gracia seemed to have been pacified by both the wealth and power there as well as through her interaction with Cedric's mother.

The ceremony was set for 4pm that afternoon with the reception to follow at 6pm in a venue not far from the Church. As part of the bride's family, Adrianna's family had to attend the ceremony, they left in two separate cars. Since Cedric was still keeping his identity a secret he took the Audi instead of his favorite Rolls Royce.

When Cedric saw Adrianna in the dress she was wearing he regretted sending her over to Maureen's. She was so beautiful that he knew all eyes would be on Adrianna rather than on the bride. And Cedric was right, the moment they entered the church for the ceremony everyone couldn't keep their eyes off Adrianna.

Cedric, feeling quite jealous, held Adrianna by the waist and pulled her closer to him.

"I think you're more beautiful than the bride." Cedric whispered.

"The bride isn't even here yet Cedric." Adrianna told her husband.

"Nope. Look, everyone's eyes are on you. I'm starting to regret letting Maureen dress you." Cedric told her.

"Hey, behave. Uncle Matthew is coming over."

"Adrianna you look amazing!" Matthew said, greeting his niece.

"Thanks Uncle Matthew." Adrianna said politely.

"Adrianna, is that a Maureen Cordova gown!" Margaret said with a gasp as she approached. Margaret always had a loud voice and upon hearing this some relatives of the Hernandez and Chu families turned to look at Adrianna, this included Katrina Chu, the groom's sister.

"Oh, no, no, cousin. It probably just looks the same." Adrianna said in an attempt to avoid attracting people's attention.

"It's original." Katrina Chu said as she approached.

"Katrina Chu, I think I would know if what I was wearing was a Maureen Cordova original." Adrianna said, still trying to avert people's attention.

"I saw that gown win in New York last month. It's never been seen in public so it can't be copied." Katrina told Adrianna. "Why are you trying so hard to deny that you wore a Maureen Cordova gown to my brother's wedding? There's nothing wrong with it." Katrina said with a shrug as she left.

"Adrianna, how could you get a Maureen Cordova award winning gown? And you know that Asia has always dreamt of wearing a Maureen Cordova." Margaret told her cousin.

"Margaret, hush, it's starting." Henry Hernandez told his cousin as the groom entered.

Henry was initially asked to walk his sister down the aisle, but he refused. Asia and Henry didn't get along so well and recent events drove them farther apart.

During the ceremony, Cedric noticed that Mark Chu kept stealing glances at his wife. This led Cedric to act more intimately with Adrianna. He would whisper sweet things into her ear making her smile or giggle or kiss her. Cedric didn't like that other men were looking at his wife.

During the wedding Asia noticed Mark sneaking glances in a different direction. She would pinch him or pull his sleeve to get him to focus. When she got the chance she saw her cousin, Adrianna, wearing a dress that looked very familiar.

When the ceremony was over, Asia managed to get a better look at Adrianna, and Adrianna could feel her cousin's burning glare. Asia had suddenly realized why the dress was so familiar, she had seen the dress in a fashion article, it was the very same one that won awards in New York for Maureen Cordova.

When Asia and her new husband Mark walked down the aisle out of the church Asia was already fuming inside and Adrianna could see it.

"I was disturbed when Mark was sneaking glances at you, now I'm worried that Asia seems to be unable to keep her eyes off you." Cedric whispered to his wife and took advantage to kiss the side of her head.

"You heard what Margaret said right?" Adrianna asked her husband.

Cedric just nodded in reply.

"It's your fault. You asked the sisters to take me to Mau and now I'm pretty sure my cousin wants to rip my dress right off me." Adrianna told him.

"Then I guess I should keep you next to me at all times now." Cedric teased.