Chapter 18

That afternoon at the airport a small group of well wishers gathered at the VIP lounge.

"I can't believe you're flying coach!" Nicole told Ayanna.

"Well, I thought to myself, if my brother could go through poverty training maybe I could learn a thing or two from mingling with people different from us. Think of it as research." Ayana told her friend.

"Ayanna, it's time for you to board!" her father called out.

"Dad, Cedric said he would be here. Can't you talk to Ray to delay it a while longer?" Ayanna asked. The Laurence family owned one of 4 airlines that flew out of the country and Ray managed this part of the family business.

A figure in the distance suddenly appeared, it was Cedric. He waved from afar. Behind him was Ray. It seemed he had gone to fetch Cedric at the entrance.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was really bad." Cedric gave his sister a hug.

"It's alright, at least you're here to send me off." Ayanna smiled. In front of everyone she was a tough business woman, a leader in the industry, but in front of her family she turned into a spoiled little girl.

"By the way, care to explain what that charge to my card was?" Cedric asked, remembering the events earlier.

"We met your wife earlier." Alexi said from behind. "And she was being bullied by someone named Lorisa De Jesus. Ayanna simply dealt with it."

"Thanks Ayanna. And my card back please." Cedric said, holding his hand out.

"I thought you would forget." Ayanna giggled. "I had my driver send the stuff I bought for you to your office. As for what that big purchase was, well I bought watches for all of us! Look we all match now!"

Their friends raised their wrist to show the matching watches.

"And where is mine?" Cedric asked.

"It's with your wife. She'll probably give it to you later when you get home." Ayanna told him.

"Alright. Anyway it's time for you to leave. So come there and give me a hug goodbye." Cedric said, stretching his arms to hug his sister.

"I'll miss all of you! At least I got to meet my sister-in-law before I'm gone for a whole year!" Ayanna said as she began to tear up.

"You don't fool us Ayanna. I'm pretty sure in a week you'll be calling me asking me to cancel a flight so that you can go home." Ray teased her. Ayanna did have a tendency though to ask him to secure her a chartered flight home with one of their planes.

"Hey I'm not as bad as Nicole! She actually flew to Italy on one of your planes to meet a guy that Veronica set her up with!" Ayanna teased.

"But, but, he was cute!" Was Nicole's only answer. Veronica, who had set her up with the guy just laughed behind her.

"Stop delaying the flight Ayanna! I'm gonna lose profits because of you!" Ray said, pushing Ayanna towards the gate.

Ayanna waved goodbye to everyone and boarded the plane.

"I looked up the people that bullied your wife earlier. Do you want me to do anything?" Alexi asked Cedric.

"Not yet. I know who they are, I have bigger plans for them, don't worry." Cedric replied.

Adrianna suddenly gave Cedric a call inviting him out to have dinner with her and her friends. Cedric immediately agreed and asked for his driver to fetch him.

At the restaurant Cedric spotted Adrianna and her friends at a table near the glass wall that separated the restaurant from the mall. He greeted the girls and took a seat next to Adrianna.

"How was your shopping trip?" He asked, knowing full well what had happened earlier that day.

"Adrianna made a new friend!" Natasha was unable to hide her excitement.

"Yeah, the wildest thing happened. We bumped into that bitch Lorisa in a shop and we got saved by THE Ayanna Reyes who was accompanied by the 4 princes and their sisters." Julia told him.

"I still can't believe that we met the 4 princes. If only we could meet the mysterious Reyes heir. I hear he is extremely handsome. I haven't even met him and I'm already in love!" Sofia giggled at the thought.

"Wow. You guys seem to have been lucky today. So how did Miss Reyes save you exactly?" Cedric tried to change the topic since what Sofia just said made him feel awkward.

Adrianna recounted how Ayanna had purchased the watches and banned Lorisa from the shop.

"Here is the watch by the way. I couldn't refuse her offer. She told the sales assistants and the manager that I couldn't return the watch, so I'm giving the other one to you." Adrianna said as she handed Cedric a box. Cedric immediately placed on the watch and grinned. Technically he bought this watch.

At a table across the restaurant Julia spotted a group of guys that looked very familiar.

"Oh My Gosh! Isn't that Jerome Sevila?" Julia pointed out. The girls all turned at the same time to spot the familiar face.

"Remember when we were in high school and he filled his trunk with red roses and asked Adrianna to be his girlfriend?" Natasha said.

"Yeah. He even got into a fight with his best friend Jim over Adrianna. I remember catching that fight." Julia recounted.

"I think he's with AR Fines, the half british football player. Didn't he court you too Adrianna?" Sofia asked.

"Guys, that's ancient history, don't bring it up." Adrianna was worried that hearing about the men in her past would hurt Cedric.

"Don't worry Adri, I still won in the end." Cedric winked at her.

"Look Jerome is coming over!" Julia squealed like a teenage girl.

"Hey girls." Jerome greeted.

"Oh hey Jerome. This is my husband by the way, Cedric. Cedric, Jerome was a friend in highschool." Adrianna introduced them to each other.

"I think we were more than friends Adrianna." Jerome winked.

"That's very inappropriate." Adrianna said flatly.

"I'm sure Cedric here doesn't mind. It's all in the past anyway." Jerome said.

"Look, look, look!" Natasha suddenly said in a panic pointing out of the window.

There were a crowd of girls screaming and some bodyguards clearing the way. Cedric saw a familiar figure, it was Eric Chan, Miguel's older brother.

"I just checked his IG stories! He was at the airport a few hours ago. What is he doing here in the mall!" Adrianna and her friends were huge fans of Eric. Cedric had to endure awkward moments of them crushing on someone he saw as an older brother.

"He is so mysterious!" Julia sighed. Eric kept his private life a complete secret, no one even knew that he was related to Miguel or if he had any siblings. Of course he had the power to keep all his private information a secret since his agency and the country's biggest news network was owned by the Abad family. His extremely clean image led to more women falling in love with him. He was tall, with sun baked skin, black hair, and eyes that seemed to pierce into your soul.

Suddenly Eric spotted Cedric who had been at the airport with him moments ago. He grinned and made his way into the restaurant where Cedric was eating.

"I think he is here to say hi to AR! You guys know that they are both represented by Lights Entertainment, right?" Jerome boasted.

"I heard that the President of Lights Entertainment, Ramon Abad, has the looks of an actor as well." This was the latest gossip that Julia had heard and she was excited to share it with her companions.

"Hey AR, come over here." Jerome called his companion over. AR Fines obliged and came over to their table.