Never Judge

"Julia, why?" Adrianna pleaded over the phone.

"What  do you mean, why, Adrianna?" Julia hissed as she questioned her friend. "Are you asking me why I loved him? Why I married him? I never questioned why you married Cedric when it was against all logic. I supported you."

"No, of course I would never question who you loved. Why didn\'t you tell us?" Adrianna asked her friend.

"Because I was ashamed of it. I fell and I fell hard." Julia said with a sigh. "At first I wasn\'t sure that I loved him, then as time went on I found myself wanting to constantly be around him."

"So why didn\'t you tell us that you were married or about the child?" Adrianna asked.

"I was embarrassed." Julia said in a sad tone.

"You loved someone and your child was the fruit of that love. There is nothing to be ashamed of Julia." Adrianna said as she tried to comfort her friend. 

"Adrianna, don\'t you see? Don\'t you understand?" Julia said as her tone turned hysterical, catching Adrianna off guard. "He left me with our child. He abandoned me. After telling me he loved me he vanished."

"We would have supported you, we would have helped you." Adrianna told Julia over the phone.

Seeing his wife\'s distress Cedric walked over and began massaging her shoulders. Adrianna could see his worried expression as she began to tense up from the conversation she was having with Julia.

"I didn\'t want the child." Julia shouoted. "That stupid kid was a curse, a curse on my life. He looked so much like his father, every moment I looked at him I remember that stupid man."

"Julia, it\'s not the child\'s fault. It wasn\'t his choice who his father was." Adrianna told her friend. "You chose to have him with that man, you can\'t just dispose of an innocent life like that."

"And what was I supposed to do Adrianna?" Julia asked.

Adrianna remained silent, she knew anything she said would simply be used against her. Julia was way past reasoning with. She was full of anger and hate.

"See, you can\'t even say anything!" Julia screamed.

"Adri, you don\'t have to do this. I\'m worried." Cedric whispered as he watched his wife\'s strained expression. It was clear that the conversation was taking its toll on her.

"No. I\'m fine." Adrianna said as she shook her head.

"What the fuck, Adrianna?" Julia\'s words were laced with the feeling that Adrianna had betrayed her. "Your husband is there with you?"

"What do you expect me to do, Julia?" Adrianna asked as she let out a sigh. She wanted to just give up on Julia, but she knew if she did she would lose this friend forever. "They contacted the Reyes Group, Cedric was concerned. My husband was worried about my friend."

"Tell that stupid husband of yours that I don\'t need his concern!" Julia shouted.

"Julia, why don\'t you tell us the name of your husband. Maybe we can track him down." Adrianna told her friend as she tried to remain calm. 

"You can\'t, he gave me a fake name." Julia told Adrianna. "I tried looking for him, that\'s why I was here. I wanted to find him and maybe make amends."

"So you decided to find him before finding your son?" Adrianna asked.

"That boy died a long time ago." Julia said in a sad tone.

Adrianna could hear the guilt in her voice. Clearly after she had given him away and he had died she regretted it.

"My dad gave him away to some janitor at a school at the other end of the capital." Julia said in a somber tone."From what I heard, the janitor died and the child was abused and died."

"Julia. . ." Adrianna started to say, but she didn\'t know what to say.

She knew what it was like to be a mother. She knew what it was like to love unconditionally with your whole heart. 

She had a son, and she couldn\'t imagine losing Yoyo. 

Of course she would never have given Yoyo up. She could never stomach losing any of her children, she loved all of them, including the unborn twins she carried.

"You don\'t need to pretend to feel sorry for me." Julia said in an angry tone. "I made my choice. I sent that child away and I am suffering from the consequences of my actions."

"Still, Julia, that child was your son." Adrianna said with a frown. "You are allowed to be hurt, you are allowed to feel sad."

"Tell that to my father." Julia hissed.

"Julia, did you want to take him back after sending him away?" Adrianna asked as she realized it might not have been Julia\'s choice to give up her son for good.

"Promise me you won\'t tell dad." Julia said in a very serious tone.

"Julia, it\'s been over a year since I last spoke to your dad. Every time we meet he is after some sort of partnership with the Reyes Group or Islands Inc. Even if I wanted to tell him, I wouldn\'t, it\'s just too annoying." Adrianna said as she assured her friend.

"A week after I sent my son away, I regretted it." Julia admitted. "I asked my father if I could go take him back but he didn\'t allow it. He said it would be an embarrassment to the family."

"When did he die?" Adrianna asked.

"Two years after I gave him up." Julia told Adrianna. "He was four." She said in a sad tone.

Cedric hugged his wife in an attempt to comfort her. Julia had not only lost the child\'s father but she was also forced to give him up.

Julia was as much a victim in this as her son.

"Maybe we can put up a memorial for him." Adrianna suggested.

"My father would be against it." Cedric could hear the hesitation in Julia\'s tone. And yet he could also hear the hope it carried.

"Julia, your father doesn\'t need to know." Adrianna assured her friend.

"Will you really do it for me?" Julia asked in a shaky voice. It seemed that she was on the verge of tears.

"Yes, Julia, of course." Adrianna told Julia. "Now why don\'t you tell me his name and the father\'s name. Who knows, we might be able to find your husband."

"I\'m not sure Adri." Julia said.

"Please, trust me, trust us." Adrianna begged her friend.

Cedric was at a loss to why Adrianna was trying so hard to help someone that clearly didn\'t want it. But he knew it wasn\'t his place to question her, he was simply there to support his wife.

"Alright." Julia said as they could hear her taking a deep breath. "I haven\'t spoken their names in years." 

From the tone of her voice Cedric and Adrianna could tell that she had begun to cry. It must have been a truly big moment for her.

Unfortunately she was still a guest of the Esteves Group.

"My son\'s name was Dominic Chan." Julia revealed, catching Adrianna by surprise.

"Dominic Chan? Are you sure?" Adrianna asked her friend.

"Yes. Why?" Julia asked.

"That\'s the name of Miguel\'s and Veronica\'s adopted son, of course it\'s Chan because he took Miguel\'s last name. The coincidence is just too intriguing.." Adrianna said with a laugh.