Never Judge

Cedric sat back as he listened to what Camilla and Benedict had to report. It seemed that everyone was quite eager to hear them as the room turned quiet.

"We knew that there was something that didn't quite align with his story. Something felt off between Lucius Ting meeting our brother and Aiden funding his business." Benedict explained through the camera.

"So they didn't just meet by coincidence?" Cedric asked. He knew that the official story the Lucius was sticking with was that he and Aiden had met at school and years later, Aiden had approached him wanting to invest in his business.

"No." Camilla said, shaking her head.

"I knew it!" Miguel said. "The odds of them just meeting by coincidence were way too low. Not only is Aiden older than Lucius, but it also seems too easy that Aiden just so happened to enroll in the same school as Lucius."

"According to Lucius, it was Aiden that approached him." Camilla explained. "At that point, Aiden had already known who Lucius was and he knew that Lucius craved one thing, to meet his biological family." Camilla said with a frown.

"What's wrong?" Cedric asked as he noticed her expression. 

"Lucius wouldn't have turned out this way if our brother had not manipulated him, twisted his perception of his biological family." Camilla hissed.

"Lucius isn't Uncle Miguel's biological son." Cedric said, catching the siblings by surprise. They had not been informed beforehand on the latest development, this was the first time that either of them was hearing this new bit of information.

"A DNA test was done?" Benedict asked over the call. Of course only a DNA test could definitively confirm if Lucius was Andrew Chan or not. 

"No, but we have reason enough to believe that he isn't our cousin." Eric said with a shrug. 

"You guys are all scientists and doctors, shouldn't you Chans believe in proof. Real scientific proof that Lucius is not your cousin?" Benedict asked, surprised at how easily Eric, Miguel, and Nicole had accepted the Lucius was not their cousin.

"Our father confirmed it, Benedict." Ray said with a frown as he tried to explain the situation to the man on the other end of the call. "They knew from the start that there was a possibility that Andrew Chan, that's the name of uncle Miguel's son, had survived. They used all their resources and they still came to the same conclusion. The boy is dead, buried with his mother."

"And you don't want more proof?" Benedict asked as he looked at the people at the other end of the screen. Despite the distance Cedric could feel Benedict's disbelief, he knew that he and his friends often craved for the truth, the whole truth, all of the facts and nothing less.

"Look, Benedict, we are also exploring other possibilities." Cedric explained with a sigh. "There will be a DNA test, once Lucius goes too far the Chans will demand a DNA test, but until then, we need to let Lucius think that we don't know the truth."

"And what if Lucius is telling the truth?" Benedict asked. "What if, by some miracle, he is in fact Uncle Miguel's son?" 

"Then I will take my birthright." Eric suddenly said, taking everyone by surprise. 

"Don't be so shocked." Eric said with a laugh. "We all know that the easiest way for us to stop Lucius Ting from potentially taking over the Chan family is for me to claim my birthright as the eldest son."

"You don't have to do this." Nicole said as she pleaded with her brother.

"I don't think I do." Eric said with a shrug. "But it's a worst case scenario kind of thing. If we don't have a choice then I'm ready. At this point of my career there isn't much that I want, all I want now is to be with the woman I love." Eric said as he looked at Katerina.

"Oh please, we all know your career can go much further." Ram said as he rolled his eyes. "Don't for one second think you can fool us, yes you want to be with Katerina, but you haven't even really gone international yet. You have offers from Hollywood and Korea to act. You even have some from China, you will be throwing all those opportunities away."

"You never told me about those." Katerina said with a gasp as she glared at Eric. 

"Darling, I never wanted you to think for one moment that you were holding me back. You aren't Katerina, this is my life and my choice." Eric insisted. 

"And if we hadn't made up?" Katerina asked. "Would you have pursued those opportunities?"

Eric hesitated for a moment, he knew that Katerina already knew the answer to her own question even before she had asked it. 

"Y- yes." Eric said as he looked down.

"This will be a last resort, a desperate move." Nicole told her brother in a stern tone. "You giving up your career, something you've worked so hard just to have a shot at, will only happen if we have no other choice."

Eric froze for a moment, he had repeatedly promised that quitting his career and coming home would be a last resort, but something in him kept nagging at him. Telling him that he needed to step up for his family, so he hesitated.

"Eric, promise your brother and sister, please." Katerina begged.

"Yes, I promise." Eric said as soon as he saw the look of worry on Katerina's face. Katerina Sebastian who was always cold and poker faced in public was now on the verge of tears, begging her boyfriend to think of himself. Eric couldn't help but agree to what she wanted.

Eric pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately on the lips, making sure to savor every moment he had her in his arms.

"Could you guys please not make out in front of us?" Alexi complained as he turned away from the kissing couple. "What else did you learn Camilla?" Alexi asked as he dragged the conversation back on topic.