Never Judge

Ayanna's office wasn't much like Cedric's. Where Cedric's was plain and barely held any personal items, Ayanna's was filled with photos of her, her friends, and her family. 

On her desk was a framed copy of her wedding photo with both her parents, Ray's parents, as well as Cedric and his small family.

Cedric smiled as he looked at the photo, it was a memory of a much simpler time. Back then their mother was still alive and the only thing stressing Cedric out was the syndicate.

How he wished that he could turn back time and bring those more peaceful days back, how he wished he could bring his mother back to life and tell her how much he loved her. 

He didn't really have much time with his mom when he was older, he was either away with his poverty training or he was busy with work. Cedric couldn't help but feel regret whenever he thought about how he couldn't protect her. How she was so painfully and suddenly taken away from them.

Cedric also couldn't help but recall how bad he felt the moment he heard about her accident, all the regret from being angry at her and his father for keeping her illness a secret. 

As time went on and Cedric grew older, he realized why his father and mother chose not to tell him or Ayanna that she was sick. As a father he understood their need to protect their children from painful truths, no matter how old they got.

"Mr. Reyes?" Dave asked with his head bowed and eyes down cast. 

Cedric could see that he was not his usual happy and confident self as he placed Cedric's laptop on the table.

Unlike the other items in the office, these two went with Cedric wherever he was. Cedric never trusted to leave it anywhere alone, except in his own home.

"Thanks Dave." Cedric said with a nod as the assistant took a step back.

When Dave simply nodded in reply, Cedric knew something was wrong. Dave was normally the talkative one and Cedric had to ask him to stop talking and to focus on work.

"Dave, is something wrong?" Cedric asked as he powered up his laptop. "Did you and Mae fight this morning?"

"No, sir, it has nothing to do with Mae. We are doing well." Dave informed Cedric.

With his statement there were other tell-tale signs that Cedric could pick up, one of which was the fact that Dave had addressed Cedric formally despite there being no one else in the room.

Aside from in public, his assistants only addressed him formally when he was mad, which rarely happened since he was quite pleased with their work and behavior. 

"Dave, I'm not mad." Cedric finally said as he looked at his assistant.

"You aren't?" Dave asked as he was clearly shaking, afraid of offending Cedric again.

"Dave, why do you think I'm mad?" Cedric asked as he gave his assistant a curious look. Cedric couldn't help but feel amused, this was the first time that he was noticing how another person reacted to his words and actions.

He normally ignored it when people were afraid or nervous around him, he always associated it with the fact that he was a rich man and that was generally how people reacted to the rich. And yet here, in front of him, was his assistant who normally didn't care.

Dave was from a rich family and had good enough ties with Cedric to know that he wouldn't burn a bridge just because he was momentarily upset.

It seemed that Cedric was now learning how to project what he wanted the way his father used to. The only people who never seemed to get intimidated with his father was his soon to be cousin in law and his mother. 

"Out with it, Dave." Cedric ordered as he pushed as he tried to get his assistant to speak.

"Well, sir, Mr. Reyes, Cedric." Dave said as he struggled with his words.

"Dave, calm down, it's just me." Cedric said as he tried to seem nicer and much kinder than earlier. "I'm not mad."

"But, but, but you said we needed to have a chat." Dave said as he looked like a child that was in a lot of trouble.

Cedric laughed at his assistant and shook his head. 

"No Dave, I'm not mad. I said we needed to talk because we need to discuss how to move forward." Cedric told Dave. "I have a plan and I can't get proper inputs from you if you are acting like a worried child." He scolded.

"Sorry about that, Cedric." Dave said as he slowly recovered his confidence.

"Good, now that you aren't acting like some fumbling idiot, can you go and check if Guan Ming's plane has landed?" Cedric asked his assistant who nodded and stepped out of the room.

Cedric leaned back as a plan began to form in his head. 

Wu Jun was clearly up to something, the fact that he had the presence of mind to bug Cedric's office meant that there were bigger aspects at play. 

What Cedric needed to figure out was if Lucius Ting was involved in the matter and also how to react since Lucius Ting was aware from the very beginning that Guan Ming was Cedric's friend. 

While Cedric was deep in thought, Dave and Mae both entered the office.

"Did you make sure he didn't leave a trail of bugs in the office?" Cedric asked Mae.

Mae nodded and stood in front of Cedric. 

"As soon as Dave informed of the security  breach we had the security team sweep all the hallways he passed." Mae said with a nod.

"I won't ask you who placed Wu Jun alone in my office because there is no point in crying over spilled milk." Cedric told his assistants as he tried to instil in them a lesson that they needed to learn and remember. "I just want you all to realize how lucky we are that I do not leave confidential documents in my office."

"It won't happen again, sir." Dave responded.

Cedric knew that Dave was now taking the fall for Mae. He was quick to respond and was clearly hiding something. 

"Any news on Ming?" Cedric asked as he diverted the topic back on track.

"Yes, his plane just landed right before we came in." Dave informed Cedric.

Cedric quickly took out his phone and dialed Guan Ming's number. Cedric knew that the sooner Guan Ming found out that Lucius Ting had known the whole time the better it would be.

Another thing that Cedric needed Guan Ming to know is that Wu Jun had come to the Reyes Group.

After a few rings, Guan Ming finally picked up the call.

"Why are you calling so early, Cedric?" Guan Ming grumbled as Cedric could still hear the sound of airplanes in the background.

"This is urgent and important." Cedric told his friend.

"If it's so urgent then just ask the car you sent to take me to your office." Guan Ming grumbled. 

"Ming, what car?" Cedric asked as he turned pale and started to gesture to his assistants.

"You didn't send the white luxury car that's waiting on the tarmac?" Guan Ming asked as he stopped in his tracks.

"No Ming, that isn't one of mine.." Cedric said as he heard a loud explosion at the other end of the call.