Chapter 84

That same night Ayanna invited Adrianna out for dinner and drinks. Ayanna was hoping that she could figure out what her brother needed to do to get his wife back.

They were at Hype Bar in a VIP room. Hype was the most popular bar in the country and Adrianna was not surprised to find out that Hype was actually owned by Ray Laurence.

Ayanna was pouring drinks for them when she suddenly spoke

"My brother wasn't exactly brought up in the traditional way." Ayanna said as she drank her wine.

"I get that, but shouldn't he at least try to come home?" Adrianna asked.

"Aren't you still mad at him? I'm sure you won't even let him in if he came by." Ayanna teased.

"I wouldn't but I'd like to see him show up. He's sent flowers and food everyday both to the house and to my office but he could have easily asked Camilla or Ian to do that." Adrianna complained.

"He'll come around I'm sure. Well he's out for a while. Some big business issue in Thailand. Ian had initially been there but the CEO they are talking to wants to speak to brother directly." Ayanna explained.

"And he didn't think to fix things with me first?" Adrianna crossed her arms in frustration.

"He thinks differently Adri." Ayanna said in an attempt to defend her brother.

"We've been together for eight years, and married for four of those. He should know by now what I like and what I don't like." Adrianna complained.

"Have you ever fought like this?" Ayanna asked her sister in law.

Adrianna paused to think back.

"Actually, we've never fought. Cedric always did what I wanted, and I always extended my patience with him because he had to deal with my family looking down at him because he wasn't some rich man." Adrianna came to the realization.

"I guess that's why my brother is kind of at a loss at this." Ayanna shrugged.

"To be honest Ayanna, I realized that I'm not mad at him for lying anymore." Adrianna confessed.

"You've forgiven my older brother?" Ayanna asked.

"Not exactly. I understand why he lied, but now I'm mad at him for everything else." Adrianna explained.

"What do you mean?" Ayanna took another gulp of her wine.

"Cedric knew that I wanted to achieve things on my own, and yet he pulled strings behind the scenes. He gave me the Elisia Corp. project and he was right there in front of me, during that meeting. Then with my uncle Fredrik and cousin John, Cedric asked Alexi and Ram to deal with them. Then he did it again, with all the companies lining up to partner with Island's Inc. since I became VP for Marketing and Sales, he set them all up. Now I feel like I owe my success to him. That I would not have achieved anything if not for my husband. I became the very thing I thought I had avoided by marrying Cedric. I don't even know if I'm even good at what I do or if I am just married to an extremely well connected guy!" Adrianna spoke full of frustration.

"And you think Cedric did all of that for you?" Ayanna asked.

"Of course! How else would I be able to close a deal with Elisia Corp. without any negotiations? Breeze Air is owned by Ray and Saints Hospital is owned by the Chus. Veronica only promised to work with me because Cedric told her to do so." Adrianna explained. "At the moment I still don't know how to feel about Uncle Fredrik and John's case!"

"My brother didn't force Elisia Corp. to suddenly work with you. It was my dad. He placed a ban on all Island's Inc. partnerships because of how they treated you and my brother. Cedric only asked for it to be lifted. Cedric only owns 10% of Elisia Corp., dad owns 50% and I own 25%. The staff at Elisia were the ones that decided that your proposal was good. As for Breeze Air, Cedric just told Ray that you were the new VP, Ray was the one that decided to work with you. The same goes for Nicole and Veronica, no one can order those two around. You've met them haven't you? Nicole even forced my brother to invest in her side project, Cedric can't make them do anything. He might have arranged for them to show that there was no bad blood between the families and Island's Inc. but they could have done that by just showing up to the press conference, Katerina's word was enough. The girls did that cause they like you, and because they think you are an amazing person." Ayanna said in an attempt to boost Adrianna's confidence in herself.

"What about my uncle's case?" Adrianna asked.

"Oh that was 100% the boys. Ced made Ray dig up all the dirt and he gave the information to Ram and Alexi. It was because your uncle and cousins were behind all those rumors about you. It's kind of sweet in their own messed up way." Ayanna shrugged.

"Cedric did that to them for me? He knows I don't like my family getting hurt." Adrianna said with a frown.

"If Cedric didn't do it they would have pushed you over the edge and dragged your name through the mud. Seriously Adrianna, your love for your family is quite toxic at some point." Ayanna flat out said.

"And what about the 30 women under 30 thing? Ram and Veronica own Abad TV. Don't tell me Cedric had nothing to do with that!" Adrianna accused.

Ayanna laughed.

"Ram doesn't control that list. They don't even know that Veronica is Anna Abad. The reporter in charge gave a list to a panel, which does not include any of us, if you were wondering, and they approve the people on the list, including their ranking. Do you know what your ranking was Adrianna?" Ayanna said as if daring Adrianna to ask.

"What?" Adrianna did ask.

"You were 8th. Just before Beatrice, Francesca, and Carmen, that's why they kept targeting you." Ayanna explained.

"I didn't get a copy of the ranking." Adrianna said, confused.

"If you've been on the list or had a manager you would have found a way to get the rankings, but it was your first time and you don't have a manager, so you couldn't have gotten a list." Ayanna explained.

"Adrianna, you are better than you think." Ayanna said with a smile offering Adrianna a toast.

Ayanna practically jumped from her seat when someone knocked on the door of their private room. She wasn't expecting anyone else to come.