Never Judge

The party hosted by the Lobos suddenly grew out of proportion. From the initial families that they had invited, more people had called asking for an invite.

The biggest come on, the Reyes Family that was currently staying at the Lobo Mansion. 

It wasn't just the local elites that had come over to the Lobo Mansion, even those from neighboring provinces begged their friends to get them invites or to bring them as their plus ones.

For a province like theirs, it was rare for people like the Reyes family to come over and stay. They knew that the only reason why the members of the Reyes family were there was because a daughter of the Lobo family had married the head of the Reyes family.

Many of the local socialites were nervous, just a few years ago they mocked the Lobo family thinking that Adrianna Hernandez had married a poor man. 

They laughed at her, saying she failed to maximize her most desirable asset, her beautiful face.

Today the tables had turned, they were all now begging to get on her good side. Some families even went as far as preparing gifts. 

There was no birthday or celebration, but it was tradition for them to offer something to people who were from outside their province as a reminder of their visit.

"Brother, how did this party get out of hand?" Gracia Hernandez, Adrianna's mother, scolded her older brother. She had left it up to him to send out invitations for tonight.

"Auntie, I'm sure it's fine." Amanda Lobo said, placing a hand on Gracia Hernandez's shoulder. "We just need to check with Cedric what he wants to do,"

"What do I want to do with what?" Cedric asked as he came down the stairs from the third floor of the mansion. "Why are you suspiciously huddled there like you did something wrong?" Cedric asked in a cold tone.

He didn't mean to sound so harsh, he was just quite exhausted and having to deal with new problems gave him a headache, add to that the fact that the Lobos had not been the kindest to him in the past either.

"Dad invited too many people." Amanda complained, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, that's it?" Cedric asked, laughing at how serious they looked over such a small problem.

"I thought you wanted it to be a small gathering?" Adrianna asked as she came down and joined her husband and relatives.

"I did, but that was just because I thought the Lobos would be worried about telling too many people that Jam was murdered by Aiden's orders." Cedric said with a shrug.

"My dad clearly doesn't mind." Amanda said, making Cedric grin.

"Has our guest of honor arrived?" Cedric asked as he tried to take a look down the grand staircase that led to the Lobo Mansion's ballroom.

The house was an old one, it was built to host events and parties for the creme de la creme of society. 

Generations ago, a Lobo family ancestor who was also governor of the province would hold parties and events at the mansion. 

They required a large venue, and thus the extravagant ballroom was built.

In recent years it wasn't used as much. The Lobos had become more private individuals. Add to that the rise of events facilities in the province, the Lobos rarely used the ballroom.

They did however, continue to maintain its splendor. So whenever they hosted events, the venue had always been one of the highlights that guests came for.

"Amanda, why don't you and Tony head down and welcome the guests?" Cedric suggested. "Uncle Ivan and Auntie Patricia can join you as well."

"We'll help them welcome guests too." Gracia Hernandez suddenly said, surprising Cedric.

"Mom, you and dad don't have to." Cedric told his mother-in-law. "You can just rest till the main event."

"No, no Cedric." Gracia Hernandez said, shaking her head. "I was born here remember? I have friends I want to say hi to."

"It also helps that you can boast about your son-in-law now as well." Adrianna said, teasing her mom.

"Adri! Of course not." Gracia said, desperately trying to save face in front of her son-in-law.

"There is no shame about wanting to boast about my son." Emilio Reyes III said with a laugh as he joined them. He was accompanied by Adrianna's father, Charles Hernandez, and their grandson Yoyo.

"I don't want to shove it in people's faces." Gracia said, blushing in embarrassment. "I remember the people that used to do that to me, just imagine how they are regretting it now. Plus being around you guys has taught me a lesson in humility."

Cedric smiled at his mother-in-law, she had come a long way from the hateful woman she used to be.

"What if Emils and I accompanied you?" Charles Hernandez told his wife with a sly smile.

"Now that is going overboard." Amanda said, laughing at her uncle. "I think the people here would have a heart attack if they got introduced to uncle Emilio."

"Well I'm just an ordinary retiree now." Cedric's father said with a shrug as he gave them a mischievous grin.

"Will Yoyo be joining us?" Gracia asked. She knew that Cedric and Adrianna were keeping their son as far away from the public as possible. They wanted to give him a low profile life, they wanted him to live normally and have normal friends.

"No." Cedric said, shaking his head. "He will stay here with me." Selina said as she showed up to take Yoyo from his grandfather.

"Since people now know that Selina and Alexi are dating, she can't be seen here. If they know she is here they will assume Alexi is here as well." Cedric explained.

"Jose really goes overboard on his kid's protection." Emilio Reyes said, shaking his head. "I can't blame him, the whole country would be at risk if anything happened to his children."

"Yoyo and I will have a lot of fun." Selina said as Yoyo ran up to her and hugged her.

"Make sure he sleeps at his bed time." Adrianna reminded Selina who simply smiled and nodded.

"Well, we'll go ahead and face the hungry social climbers downstairs." Amanda jokingly said as she spotted Tony arriving.

He had gone home to fetch his family and had just arrived with them.

Cedric and Adrianna bid everyone goodbye, they would be joining the party as soon as Grandpa Ortiz arrived. Till then they could only watch as people tried their best to suck up to their relatives.