Never Judge

Veronica stared at Miguel, after what felt like ages Veronica just took the ring and ran to her room. Instead of being depressed or stunned Miguel just burst out laughing.

"You're crazy." Alexi said, pulling out a cigarette. "Relax Ced, I'm just placing it in my mouth. I would never smoke around a pregnant woman." 

"I didn't say anything." Cedric said with a shrug.

"You don't have to. We all know how much you spoil Adri. Seriously, you'll suffocate her." Alexi teased.

"Hmmm, that's odd." Ayanna said as her phone began to ring.

"Ayanna, you're supposed to answer when it rings like that." Katerina teased.

"It's Calathea." Ayanna said, showing everyone her phone.

"Well, answer it and put it on speaker." Eric said in an anxious tone.

"An ex?" Adrianna teased Eric.

"Ha! You could say that." Katerina said bitterly.

"I never liked her back." Eric said in defense of himself.

Ayanna rolled her eyes and placed the call on speaker.

"Ayannaaaaa!!!!" A voice shouted over the phone.

"Hi Calathea, it's been a while." Ayanna said in a straight tone.

"Papa said we are coming home for Anna and Miguel's wedding! I can't wait to see everyone. How is everyone? I saw Eric on the news recently and it seems he's doing well." Calathea said.

When Calathea mentioned Eric, Katerina looked at him, clearly unhappy, Alexi on the other hand struggled to suppress his laughter.

"Everyone is fine Calathea. How is Madrid?" Ayanna asked.

"Oh, same old, same old. I heard Cedric is home, is he really married? Is your sister in law some social climbing bitch?" Calathea asked with a giggle.

"Calathea, it's not good to talk about people that way." Ayanna scolded.

"You're so boring! Anyway, when are you and Ray getting married? Is that real? Was it arranged, or do you really like him? I heard he was gay though, so how does that work?" Calathea asked one question after the other, not letting Ayanna give an answer.

"When are you arriving?" Ayanna asked.

"Oh, I'm already in the Capital. Actually I passed by the Reyes Mansion and the guards said you guys weren't there. Did you move? Did the Reyeses get poorer? The Carpios can help you know, if you have any issues. We've gotten richer, you know, papa just bought us a new mansion in LA, you should visit sometime." Calathea asked.

"The Reyeses are not your problem Calathea, we're doing great. Let's have coffee sometime. Bye." Ayanna said, dropping the call.

"Ugh, Calathea Carpio. I hate her." Katerina said.

"You just hate her cause she likes Eric." Natalia teased her sister.

"Eric and Katerina?" Adrianna whispered to Cedric.

"An old and long story. I'll tell you next time." Cedric told Adrianna.

"Who is Calathea Carpio?" Adrianna asked.

"Eric's stalker!" Nicole teased.

Eric rolled his eyes at his sister's childish attitude.

"Calathea Carpio is the only child of the Carpio family. And the Carpio family, I guess you could say, they are the second or third richest family in the country." Eric explained.

"The debate is if you count illegal assets. If you count those, Ray's family beats them." Cedric whispered to Adrianna.

"Calathea isn't bad." Ayanna explained. "She's just annoying."

"Annoying is an understatement." Katerina spat.

"There was a time that the Carpio family was in talks with the Chan family to engage Eric to Calathea, but Eric chose to leave and become an actor." Ram explained to Adrianna.

"She drugged Eric and tried to sleep with him!" Katerina accused.

"We couldn't prove it." Ray said with a shrug.

"Katerina, it didn't happen. You got there in time. Relax." Eric said, rubbing Katerina's shoulders. Adrianna could see that there was tension between the two.

"Anyway, the Carpio's own almost as much land as the Reyeses, they just don't develop their resources as well. Add to that that Calathea would rather marry a rich man than learn to keep riches within the family and grow it." Kateria explained.

"You know what I find odd, Katerina, the Carpio businesses have been doing better and better the past three years." Ray said. "When did they leave again?" 

"Four years ago. Calathea finished her degree abroad." Katernia recalled.

"I wonder what happened." Ray said thinking back to the past three years.

"Can't you just investigate them?" Adrianna asked.

"The Carpios are different Adrianna. They aren't as easy as the Hernandezes or the De Dioses to investigate. Just like us, they take precautions and we are all familiar with each other's tricks." Ray explained.

Veronica stayed in her room for the rest of the day, when everyone decided to leave Miguel told Eric and Nicole that he would be staying over.

"Idiot, you don't even have clothes." Nicole commented.

"Bring me some." Miguel ordered his sister.

"And what about your operations?" Nicole reminded him.

"I'll still do them. I took an oath." Miguel said.

"Let him be Nicole. If you were Veronica, this would move you." Eric told Nicole.

"Veronica and I are very different." Nicole said as she walked out.

"I'll bring your clothes over later." Eric told Miguel.

"Have dinner here then." Cedric said, inviting Eric.

"Alright." Eric said with a nod as he left.

The last to leave were the Sebastian siblings, unfortunately as they were about to go Emilio Reyes caught sight of Katerina and wanted to discuss a case she was working on for the Reyes Group.

At dinner, Veronica and Miguel joined the Reyes family, Veronica had clearly calmed down and was wearing the engagement ring Miguel had used to propose. She was still acting coldly towards Miguel, but she wasn't saying anything bad to him either.

Eric had arrived a few minutes to dinner and sat next to Katerina who was still in conversation with Emilio Reyes about the case she had just reviewed.

"Oh, Veronica, did Miguel propose to you? That is a beautiful ring!" Gracia exclaimed.

"Thank you Mrs. Hernandez, but it's nothing compared to Adrianna's and Cedric's rings." Veronica said with a gentle smile.

"If you aren't satisfied, I can get you a better ring." Miguel said nervously.

Veronica just shook her head to say that there was no need.

"Where is Ayanna?" Priscilla asked Cedric.

"I saw her go to the door a while ago." Cedric said with a shrug.