Chapter 82

Adrianna loved white roses, so Cedric sent white roses to her house and office everyday, he had personally gone to the shop and arranged for the deliveries. He also wanted to make sure she was eating well, so everyday at thirty minutes to noon Cedric would order Adrianna's favorite food and have it delivered to her office.

Day in and day out, Cedric stared at his phone, hoping Adrianna would send him a message, thanking him, or maybe forgiving him, or just anything, but Adrianna continued to ignore him.

Before anyone had realized it was Christmas eve. Cedric normally didn't spend Christmas with the Hernandez's, in fact it was the one time of the year he got to spend with his family. In the past he simply told Adrianna that he was going to visit his older sister in the town he grew up in. He would then be picked up by the family driver and be reunited with his parents, sister, and friends.

This year he was hoping he could celebrate Christmas with them and his wife. Of course events on Kashmere island proved that it was impossible for them to spend Christmas together. Adrianna still refused to speak to Cedric, so Cedric stayed away and gave her some space.

Christmas eve had a big role in the holiday festivities. Traditionally the Reyes, Laurence, Sebastian, Abad, and Chan families would all gather in one house and would exchange gifts as the clock struck midnight. It was also with them around that President Jose Sebastian would greet the nation with a live Christmas message.

This Christmas was going to be truly different for Cedric. Ayanna had, in the past week, managed to drag him to go Christmas shopping. She complained the whole time about how she should just have taken Cedric's card and left him at home since he was busy sulking and that you could see his sad face through his disguise.

Cedric had no intentions of revealing his identity to the public just yet, and he wanted to know if Adrianna would be comfortable with the public knowing who he really was. So Cedric went out with his family and friends still in disguise.

At 6pm on Christmas Eve the guests began to arrive at the Reyes home, it was their turn to host it this year. Each family brought food and gifts, and soon enough the whole house had become lively.

"It's been really sad and cold here the past few days Nicole!" Ayanna complained.

"How could it be sad, you live here!" Nicole teased.

"It's because my brother walks around like there is a rain cloud over his head. I'm so annoyed with him." Ayanna said, taking a seat on the couch.

"Now Ayanna, be more considerate towards your brother." Priscilla Reyes scolded her daughter. She understood Adrianna to some extent. She too married someone that had to go through poverty training, although she knew Emilio Reyes was the whole time they were together.

"Mom! He drove my sister in law away!" Ayanna complained.

"Ayanna, you'll understand when you fall in love." Her aunt Amy Laurence teased.

"I won't fall for a guy that can bully me." Ayanna declared.

"I think the only guy you'll end up with is one that could tame you!" Ray Laurence teased.

Ayanna threw a pillow at his direction.

"Why don't you boys go get Cedric, he's probably on the balcony of his room again." Priscilla Reyes told them.

"He's still moping, auntie?" Alexi Sebasitan asked.

"He's been smoking and drinking a lot, and my brother only does that when something is bothering him." Ayanna explained.

"We'll drag him out." Ray said with a wink, leading the boys up to Cedric's room. Of course all of them were very much familiar with each other's houses. They grew up visiting each other and playing. Even after Cedric had begun his poverty training they would all still visit the Reyes house.

After five minutes the boys came down with Cedric flung over Ray's shoulder looking extremely pissed off.

"He was being difficult, so we decided to just bring him down." Miguel laughed.

"Auntie Priscilla, he's really light. I don't think the Hernandez family fed him well." Ray teased.

"Oh shut up!" Cedric said as Ray dumped him on the couch next to Ayanna.

"Don't worry. I'm sure your uncle Jose brought the sashimi Cedric loves. You really do find the highest grade tuna this time of year Jose!" Priscilla said, praising Jose Sebastian as the fathers came back from Emilio's office.

"Just some perks of being president Priscilla." Jose Sebastian said.

"Come, let's eat! Maybe you boys can convince Cedric to both eat and smile a little more." Emillio Reyes said leading the group into the dining room.

The boys had to drag Cedric to his seat and pinned him between Ray and Ram who were the most fit.

"Cedric, stop being a party pooper! It's Christmas and you know how much I love Christmas so stop ruining it!" Nicole scolded.

"Nicole is right Cedric. We don't get to all sit on the same table all the time." Katerina said in a rare moment of agreement with Nicole.

"Wow, Nicole and Katerina both teaming up to bully Cedric. It's a Christmas miracle!" Miguel teased and everyone laughed with him, even Cedric.

Emilio cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and raised his glass.

"Before anything, I am thankful that once again we are all here. As Cedric's first Christmas truly being home, I hope next year there will be more of us at this table." Emilio said, winking at Cedric. "To family and friends."

Everyone raised their glasses with a smile. Even if they had been complete in the past it was still very different from today. Back then Cedric could only tell them stories about what he was going through and they couldn't do anything to help. It was also because of Cedric's stories that the other boys became grounded and chose not to flaunt their wealth.

That night the families exchanged gifts, sang songs, and drank together. Cedric stared at the small pile of gifts his family and friends had prepared for Adrianna. He was touched that they had taken the time and made the effort to buy her something, even if there was a very small chance of her showing up that night.

"You know it will melt if you keep staring at it." Katerina teased.

"Hey Katerina. I just wish she could celebrate Christmas with us." Cedric sighed.

"She just needs time to process things Ced. You did lie to her, you lied a lot. And I'm sure she's questioning everything now. She's asking herself which things were her, and which were you just pulling strings." Katerina explained.