Never Judge

Cedric nodded and quickly changed. Adrianna was surprised that instead of a golf cart there was an actual BMW waiting for them at the driveway of the villa.

When they got to the coffee shop by the beach there were already several guests roaming around. Adrianna spotted Tony Tamano, her uncle Matthew, and Carmen Evangelista among a group of guests that seemed to be gossiping. ​​

When Uncle Matthew saw Adrianna and Cedric he was surprised and called them over.

"Adrianna, Cedric. I didn't expect to see you here." Uncle Matthew greeted them.

"Oh, I got an invite during the 30 women under 30 shoot for Abad TV." Adrianna explained.

"You're in the 30 women under 30 feature?" Uncle Matthew didn't know that Adrianna had gotten an invite to be part of the elite group.

"Yeah." Adrianna nodded.

"Adrianna! So this is the mysterious husband." Carmen Evangelista said as she approached the couple.

"Oh, hi Carmen. Carmen, my husband Cedric and my Uncle Matthew Hernandez, he's currently president of Island's Inc.I was with Carmen during the shoot." Adrianna said introducing Carmen to her companions.

"You were in the same batch as chef Carmen?" Uncle Matthew asked. Unlike Adrianna, Matthew Hernandez knew that the 30 under 30 segment was always shot in batches with the top ten being shot last.

"Yeah." Adrianna nodded.

Before Uncle Matthew could explain what he was saying Tony Tamano had come over to say hi to them as well. Cedric and Adrianna had no choice but to join the group that was seated together.

"I saw his plane arrive earlier today." One of the guests gossiped.

"They cleared the airport when he arrived so no one really saw him." Another guest commented.

"I'm sure he is here. He wouldn't miss an event like this. I heard the whole Reyes family is actually already on the island." Carmen said.

"I heard he's already taken." A young girl said with a frown.

"Even marriages can end, kid." Uncle Matthew said laughing.

"Cedric, you've seen him, haven't you?" Tony Tamano asked Cedric. All eyes suddenly turned to look at him.

"How could this poorly dressed man have seen him?" The young girl said snobbishly. Her name was Vanessa Tan, she was the younger sister of Christian Tan, the meat king as he was often teased. They were the largest suppliers of meat in the country.

"He's the Reyes Heir's assistant." Tony said quite proudly.

"Ewww, what's an assistant doing here?" A girl whispered to Carmen Evangelista. It was loud enough for Cedric and Adrianna to hear.

"Shhh. He's married to Adrianna Hernandez, she made the 30 under 30 list this year for the first time and was in the shoot with us. And you never know with these assistants, look at Marco So, he's been Emilio Reyes' assistant for years and he owns 5% of Manila Bank and 2% of Krisanta Land, both companies are part of the Reyes Group and are valued in the billions." Carmen said to her companion. From the looks of it Cedric assumed that they were cousins.

"Well, yes. I've seen him without his disguise." Cedric admitted.

"Tell me, is he really handsome?" Vanessa asked, suddenly changing her tone.

"That's a bit awkward for me to answer. He's not ugly if that's what you want to know." Cedric didn't feel comfortable saying if he was handsome or not.

"I guess it is. Is he single?" Vanessa asked aggressively.

"Ummm… I can't answer that." Cedric had no intention of letting women know details of his private life. Only his family had the right.

"I guess you signed some papers on confidentiality. Such a loyal dog." Vanessa commented. Adrianna wanted to slap that woman for looking down at her husband, but she restrained herself.

"Let's just go Cedric." Adrianna said, pulling her husband away from the group.

Cedric and Adrianna explored the beach and they swam for a bit. One of the staff noticed they were new to Kashmere and offered to take them on a tour. Cedric and Adrianna agreed.

The employee took them around the various amenities, Adrianna was surprised to see everything on the island. It seemed that you could live and survive on this island without depending on the outside world.

"Miss, do you want to hear a fun fact and rumor about Kashmere?" The staff asked.

"Sure." Adrianna nodded.

"When Miss Katerina or Miss Nicole has an international client, they often meet up here. There is also an ultra high end and ultra advanced hospital here built by Saints Hospitals so that Mr. Miguel Chan can operate on clients that don't want news of their operation to get out!" The staff told Adrianna and Cedric.

Cedric had actually been worried that the staff would tell Adrianna about the private villas or the no landing or flying rule. It wasn't time for Adrianna to find out yet.

When they were at the club house Adrianna and Cedric decided to take a stroll on it's long balcony.

"I'll never understand the world of the filthy rich." Adrianna sighed.

"Why?" Cedric asked.

"They spend so much on privacy and exclusivity, such a contrast from my family. My family would pay to be on the newspapers, they would pay to have people talk about their market value, they would even pay to have the most eligible bachelors chase after their daughters. Families like the Reyeses, the Laurences, the Sebastians, the Chus, and the Abads pay so much to remain hidden, to keep their lives outside of the public eye." Adrianna said.

"I guess at a certain level, fame is no longer important." Cedric told Adrianna as he hugged her from behind. Cedric had grown up in a low profile family, he couldn't find the words to explain to Adrianna why he didn't want the public dipping into every moment of their private lives, but he understood the allure of being famous, he also grew up with people desperate to have their names known.