Never Judge

"So what is this idea you mentioned that you can't say over the phone?" Cedric asked.

"Ian, I don't know if you are aware of it, but I have a little hobby." Miguel said with a smile.

"I don't think that counts as a hobby. More of an odd interest." Cedric said with a laugh.

"I know more about you than you think Miguel. Working for Cedric forced me to learn everything about his friends." Ian said with a shrug.

"Well this is something that probably was not in any of the files." Cedric explained. "Didn't you find anything odd when you were looking through the businesses that Prince Group was involved in?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah. I thought they were extremely random industries, but for some reason all of the investments were doing better than anyone could predict." Ian said.

"Do you have an idea why?" Miguel asked with a grin.

"Errr, you guys are extremely skilled businessmen?" Ian was 90% sure of his answer, all five managed their family businesses except Miguel. But it didn't seem like a far off idea to think that Miguel was also an astute businessman. 

"That's partially true, but it's mostly because Prince Group invests in companies that are our interests. It has nothing to do with profitability, but I think our passion directed towards those industries helped as well." Cedric said with a smile.

"So what was yours?" Ian asked Cedric.

"Constellations." Cedric said with a shrug. "I wanted to expand into the hotel business, but I couldn't do it since I wasn't twenty eight yet. So we purchased a small hotel chain and grew it to the size it is now." Cedric explained.

"And Miguel's?" Ian asked.

"Veritas Security Inc." Miguel said with a grin.

"What? But isn't that the security agency that the Reyes Group, Saints Hospital, Laurence Corp., Lights Entertainment, and the government use?" Ian asked in surprise.

"Yup. I've always dabbled in security, self defense, and security equipment." Miguel explained. "Our families actually ended up hiring Veritas without knowing that it was owned by us." 

"Wait, so what does this have to do with Nicole's incident?" Ian was now more confused.

"I use a lot of experimental tech at Saints Hospital." Miguel said with a knowing smile.

"Are you secretly spying on your sister?" Cedric asked, shaking his head. He observed the shocked and embarrassed expression on Ian's face. It seemed that there was something that he didn't want others to see.

"Ian, did you do something nasty with Nicole in her office?" Cedric teased, he couldn't resist but maximize Ian's reaction.

"Please tell me there are no cameras inside her office." Ian said as he turned pale with worry.

"No, Nicole prefers to keep her office camera free." Miguel said with a laugh. "I guess now I know why."

"Well we can't have Ian and Nicole's sex tape spreading through the internet." Cedric teased.

Miguel laughed at Cedric's joke while Ian blushed in embarrassment.

"On a more serious note, I placed an experimental camera outside of Nicole's office. It has facial recognition, a microphone and it even detects if a person's depression signifies a threat." Miguel explained.

"That seems like pretty high end tech. Plus by the sound of it, it requires a higher storage than normal. Would the clips from that day still be saved?" Cedric asked.

"Yes. The camera is programmed to automatically save the data to an ultra secure cloud that only I have access to." Miguel further explained. 

"And how sure are you that our perpetrator has not hacked into that camera or storage and deleted all the files?" Cedric asked.

"Because it is seemingly pointed in a different direction." Miguel said with a grin. 

"Can you access those files from here?" Cedric asked.

"Yup. I brought my laptop." Miguel said as he took it out of his bag and set it up on Cedric's desk.

"Ian, do you think you can check with Nicole's assistant who met with her right before her water broke?" Cedric asked.

"Sure, I'm on it." Ian said with a nod as he dialed a number.

"Mr. Lim, how can I help you?" Nicole's assistant asked. She had always been respectful to Ian, not because he was her boss' husband, but because he was quite popular among the assistants of the top companies. Being the assistant to the Reyes Group CEO meant that you were one of the best, if not the best in the field. 

"Do you keep a record of Nicole's meetings?" Ian asked the assistant, he didn't want to bat around the bush and went straight to the point. There was of course, another reason. He knew that this assistant as well as Miguel's assistant had a crush on him. He didn't want to give them hope. He was already a father and he hoped to be a husband soon.

"Yes sir." The assistant excitedly said. Any time she could be of service to Mr, Lim made her happy.

"The day she gave birth, do you have a record of who met with her?" Ian asked in a cold tone after witnessing her excitement.

"Yes sir. I can send it to your email if you want." The assistant said.

"I'll text you an email address. Send it there." Ian said as he dropped the call. He quickly typed Cedric's work email and sent it to the assistant.

"You don't have to be so cold towards her." Miguel told Ian as he typed on his laptop.

"It's best if she doesn't get her hopes up." Ian said with a shrug.

"Why?" Cedric asked.

"My assistant and Nicole's are both obsessed with Ian." Miguel said with a laugh. "Ian, Nicole knows you would never flirt with her."

"I'd just rather avoid any misunderstandings." Ian told Miguel. "Have you accessed the file?" Ian asked as he looked over Miguel's shoulder.

"Yeah." Miguel said as he turned the laptop to face everyone.

"Well, the assistant having a crush on Ian came in handy. She sent the files quite quickly." Cedric said as he scrolled through the document.