Never Judge

"I've been next to you this whole time? How could I have caused any problems?" Eric asked.

"It's not you. Someone managed to get a list of all the people you have dated in the past and published it online." Ram told Eric.

"I'm a human being, of course I date." Eric said as he treated the news like it was not a bother to him.

"The last person on the list is Calathea Carpio, and according to the post you guys are dating. Someone managed to snap photos of you and her today." Ram said, shaking his head.

"Easily deniable, what else is out there." Eric refused to give into the gossip.

"Well, another post came out saying that you were in love with Calathea when Katerina Sebastian got in between the two of you. It also said that you and Calathea are currently trying to rekindle your love but Katerina is stopping it." Ram told Eric as he passed his phone over to show his friend the news.

"Sh---. I need to call Katerina. I have to warn her." Eric quickly took out his phone to call Katerina.

"Too late. She was at an event with her father when the post became public. The media at the event swarmed her, luckily her security detail acted fast enough and she was able to leave without a scratch. People are now cursing her online, calling her a homewrecker." Ram explained and he recounted what his assistant said over the phone.

"I'll go to her now. She's probably at her house and not at the presidential palace." Eric stood up and left.

"Mr. Eric and Miss Katerina?" Julia slowly asked.

"It's complicated. I can't even explain." Veronica said with a sigh as she typed on her phone to check up on Katerina.

Eric was right, Katerina didn't go to her parent's home, instead she went to her own house in the Plains Villa Community. She found the house too large to live alone in so she would only come to stay here once a week or when she needed some privacy. The Plains Villa Community was an exclusive community where the rich and famous lived, the security was quite tight as only a limited number of vehicles could enter. Aside from Kateria, this was also where the Chan siblings had built their shared home, in fact Katerina and the Chans were next door neighbors. They had all decided to buy properties here because it was developed by the Reyes Group and it was Ayanna's firs project for Krisanta Land when she had joined the company. 

"Is she here?" Eric asked the maid that had opened the door for him.

"She's in her room Mr. Chan." The maid was quite familiar with Eric Chan, aside from living next door he had often visited Katerina when she stayed at the Plains Villa Community.

Eric nodded at the maid and ran up to Katerina's room. He knocked and Katerina let him in.

"Are you alright?" Eric asked as he entered her room.

"Yes. I'm used to things like this. I'm not as sensitive as Nicole." Katerina said in a cold tone.

"I'm going to straighten things out tomorrow. I promise." Eric said as he stood behind her.

"I'm not your girlfriend. You don't need to explain things to me." Katerina told Eric.

"No, but your opinions matter very much." Eric said in a calm and sweet voice.

"I don't understand why you had to come over, you could have just called. Now go home. I need to call Cedric, it seems his threat to the Carpios didn't work." Katerina lightly pushed Eric out of her room.

When Eric had finally left Katerina called Cedric. He was also puzzled on why his threat didn't work on the Carpios. He promised Katerina that he would have the issue investigated the next day.

With Cedric's assurance there was nothing else that Katerina could do. So she simply prepared for work the next day and went to bed, she was quite excited about her client tomorrow, it was Adrianna.

When Katerina got to Island's Inc. early in the morning, people who saw her walking in quickly snapped photos. She was the president's daughter and yet she chased after an actor, people whispered about how shameful she was for trying to steal another woman's man. 

It also just so happened that while Katerina was making her way up to Adrianna's office another piece of rumor about her was released on the internet, it was a list of all of her ex-boyfriends and how Katerina Sebastain had had multiple casual relationships in the past. Of course no decent journalist was willing to pick up the news, so everything remained as hearsay and as gossip on the internet, but people didn't care, they still talked about her and judged her.

When she finally got to Adrianna's office she was greeted by a smiling very pregnant Adrianna.

"How many months are you already?" Katerina asked.

"Don't you guys have a countdown till my due date?" Adrianna teased as she was pretty sure the girls had a countdown on how long before she gave birth. 

"We actually do. Two months to go." Katerina said with a smile.

"How are you holding up Katerina?" Adrianna asked. She had seen all the rumors online and Cedric had told her that Ram and Eric were doing their best to get rid of the rumors.

"It's really nothing new." Katerina said with a shrug. "The only difference is that there is a bigger audience." 

"Oh Cedric said to watch Eric's press conference. Let's watch before going to work." Adrianna said as she turned on the TV in her room. 

It seemed like they had just tuned in right on time as the news anchor announced that they would be broadcasting Eric's statement live. 

The press conference was held in front of the Lights Entertainment compound. There was a platform for Eric to speak and as he came out from the compound with Ram, Adrianna and Katerina could hear the screams of his fans.

"Weren't you one of those before?" Katerina teased Adrianna, who blushed in embarrassment.

When Eric finally stood on the podium the crowd silenced. 

"I'm standing before you to clarify a few things. First of all, most of that released list is true. During my time as an actor I have dated several women, but I failed to find the right one. It is normal for a human being to want to be loved and to want to love, I hope my fans can respect this. Second, I have never been involved with Calathea Carpio in any way in the past, we have simply met a few times. And finally, the rumors about me and Miss Katerina Sebastian are not true. I know Miss Katerina to be an outstanding woman and she would never do what the rumors are accusing her of. I ask everyone to please stop judging an excellent lawyer based on the rumors you've read online." Eric said as he stood in front of the crowd. 

"You may ask your questions now." The head of Lights Entertainment's PR department announced.

"What do you have to say about the latest rumors on Miss Katerina's dating and S-- life?" A reporter boldly asked.

"I think that's a matter for Miss Katerina to comment on. But to me Miss Katerina will always be an outstanding woman." Eric replied. He had always been good at answering the press' questions.

"Is there any chance for Miss Calathea and you? Some fans have remarked that you could be quite the couple." Another reporter asked.

Katerina who was sitting in Adrianna's office wanted to barf at the idea.

"I am not attracted to Miss Calathea Carpio in any way." Eric flatly answered. 

After this no one else dared ask Eric any questions related to his love life. They simply stuck to asking him about his next movie and his next show. 

"This got boring, I think we heard what we needed to." Adrianna said as she turned off the TV.

Katerina and Adrianna quickly settled on work, Adrianna wanted Katerina's legal advice on several issues that Island's Inc. was now involved with. Cedric had initially set up a capable legal department when he purchased Island's Inc. for her but she sent them back to the Reyes Group.

When Katerina and Adrianna were almost done an assistant knocked on the door.

"Mrs. Reyes, a Mr. Tony Tamano is here. He doesn't have an appointment but he said you would be willing to see him." The assistant said.

"Let him in." Adrianna called out.