Chapter 22

At lunch, Ian accompanied Cedric to the country club to meet with his father.

Emilio Reyes had just finished 9-holes with the Laurence, Sebastian, Abad, and Chan family patriarchs and was once again tanned from playing golf the whole morning.

"Hey dad. You haven't even retired and you're already spending your mornings in the golf course." Cedric teased as he took a seat across his father.

"Give me a grandchild and I'll be here less often." His dad teased.

"Adrianna and I are not in a hurry dad." Cedric laughed.

"So what's this issue with Elisia Mall you messaged me about last night?" Emilio asked his son.

"Dad, have you been giving the Hernandez family a hard time on this project?" Cedric confronted his father.

Emilio smiled.

"Well there is very little I could do for you from afar. Those Hernanandez's refuse to accept you. What right do they have to look down at the heir of the Reyes Group?" Emilio said with a twinkle of anger in his eyes. He did not fully agree with poverty training, but he did understand the need for it. He himself went through it as a young man and he became a better person and businessman because of it.

"They're giving the project to my wife." Cedric said with a grin.

"I thought they were family, do they dislike her that much?" Emilio asked his son.

"Mostly Fredrik and his kids. I think they are threatened." Cedric admitted to his father.

"This makes me glad that your mom is the only child of her generation. No scheming cousins." His dad teased. Priscilla Clarin-Reyes, Cedric's mother continued to run her family business despite having married into one of the richest families in the country. As a matter of fact she sometimes seemed busier than her husband. When Ayanna had grown up she had helped in managing both the Clarin and Reyes businesses giving her vast knowledge in different industries. As the last Clarin their businesses would eventually be merged with the Reyes group making it much larger than it already was.

"Not all her cousins are bad dad." Cedric said.

"They all don't like you right?" Emilio asked his son. Cedric could only nod in reply.

"Dad, I don't want to just hand it to Adrianna. Her family will get suspicious." Cedric told his father.

"Don't worry, I know what to do. You do know that you could have just told me all of this over a phone call, right?" Emilio asked his son.

"I missed you dad." Cedric smiled.

"Well, while you are here, let's sign some transfer documents. Your sister got hers at 20 so you should get your shares by now." Emilio called Marco So, his assistant over.

"For the first batch, 25% of Krisanta Land, 10% of Elisia Corp., 15% of Manila Bank. Sign them." Emilio said as Marco handed Cedric a pen and the documents.

"For the Clarin Holdings your mom still owns 100% of all of it, but of course she plans to eventually pass it down to you and Ayanna." Emilio explained.

"If you want anything done with Elisia Malls you just need to tell me and your sister over the phone. I know the Hernandez family has been eyeing expansion through our malls for a long time now. If it's something as small as this partnership just ask Ian or Camilla to give the Vice President a call." Emilio told his son.

Elisia Malls was the largest mall chain in the country. They had over 50 malls spread out in the largest cities and provinces. It was a business under Elisia Corp that was owned by Reyes Group. At Ayanna's request she had given up shares in Krisanta Land and Mor Co., in exchange for more shares in Elisia Corp.

At Island's Inc, Adrianna was holding a meeting with the team that was initially handling the Elisia Mall project. They were telling her how the management of Elisia Corp. had been blocking them at every turn.

"Miss Adrianna, there is really nothing we could do. Elisia Corp. is owned by the Reyes Group. For some reason they seem to be blocking any improvement we make. They have raised our rent 2 times this year. Honestly, we have more to lose in this than they do." One of the team members confessed.

"I got one of the assistants to speak once, and according to her the order to block any project from Island's Inc came from the very top." Another member told her.

"Why would the president of Reyes Group want to suppress Island's Inc. We are just a small company compared to them." Adrianna wondered out loud.

"Miss we actually wanted to ask if anyone from the Hernandez family has managed to offend anyone from Reyes Group." A shy girl asked.

"I'll look into that, for now could you set up a meeting with me and the management of Elisia Malls?" Adrianna asked.

"Miss Adrianna, I don't think I need to call them." The girl said slowly.

"Why?" Adrianna wondered at this girl's odd behavior.

"I just got a message from the manager's assistant. They want to meet with you later today to hear your pitch." The girl said, showing the message on her phone.

Everyone in the room was shocked. They had been working on this project for years, and yet the exact same day that Adrianna is placed as the project head it seems that the ban on Island's Inc. was just lifted.

"Quick, prepare the documents. Tell them we'll be there by 4pm." Adrianna told the team.