Never Judge

Mien was in awe as they walked through the CEO's floor to Cedric's office. 

"Say it." Mae told Mien with a laugh as quickly looked back at them, realizing that he did not mask his amazement. 

"The Reyes Group offices look amazing!" He said excitedly. "I've been to a lot of headquarters of global companies, but none can compare to R Tower. It's really elegant and futuristic."

"Thank you." Cedric said with a smile as Dave opened the door to Cedric's office for them. "My childhood friend, Veronica, designed the place."

"Veronica the designer slash architect?!" Mien asked in shock.

"I thought you did your research about us?" Cedric asked with a raised eyebrow as he turned to face Mien.

"I did, but I didn't look that far." Mien said with a shrug. 

Cedric laughed as he sat behind his desk, gesturing for everyone to be seated as well.

"Coffee or Tea?" Ian asked Mien. "Or would you like something stronger?"

"I think he might need something stronger with what we are going to tell him." Cedric said with a laugh.

"I don't think it's appropriate for me to be drinking." Mien said shyly.

"It's okay, Mien." Mae said with a smile. "Ian and the boss are just finding an excuse to drink before dinner."

"Whisky it is!" Ian declared as he walked over with their refreshments.

"I'll pass." Dave said as he took out a wine glass and a bottle of wine for Mae. "I'm driving the three of us to Solaire. I can't drink and drive."

"What happened to your driver?" Cedric asked his assistant.

"I didn't think we would need him tonight." Dave said with a shrug as he sat next to Mae. "Plus someone has to stay sober to show Mien to his room."

"Alright." Cedric said with a nod not wanting to further question his assistant.

"You said you had something to tell me?" Mien managed to ask as he emptied his glass.

"Relax Mien, we don't want you to get drunk tonight. Just some liquid courage for what we are about to tell you." Cedric said with a laugh as he noticed the lawyer was nervous.

"It's not everyday that someone tells you that they know more about you than you do." Mien told Cedric. "Wait, that doesn't make sense. I swear sir I'm smart." He said with a panicked expression. 

Cedric and his assistants couldn't help but laugh at the awkward young man in front of them. 

"Don't be a stranger, Mien, just call me Cedric." He said as he struggled not to laugh.

"I'm so sorry Cedric, it's just I don't want to embarrass myself in front of you or your assistants." Mien said as he said as he scratched his head.

"Well you have now." Mae teased. "Don't worry, we don't see you as anything less." 

Cedric nodded, agreeing with what his assistant had just said.

"I guess since you know everything about me there is no use trying to act all formal." Mien said with a slight laugh.

"Of course we don't know everything, but we do know a lot of things." Dave told Mien with a grin. 

"We know who your parents are, where you studied, who are your friends, and most importantly who caused the greatest pain in your life." Ian explained.

"The greatest pain. . ." Mien said, repeating Ian's words slowly.

"Do you know what we are talking about?" Mae asked as she leaned forward. 

"I guess you could say that the greatest pain to my life was my dad's death." Mien said with a frown as he recalled the painful memory.

Cedric and his assistants gave Mien a few moments to gather himself as he thought of the recent pain that Fernando had helped him get over.

"The truth is, after my father's death, the second most painful thing to happen to me was Fernando's death." Mien said with a frown. "I thought I had found a second father and a friend."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Cedric said with a frown. 

"My dad might not have been my biological father, but he loved me just the same." Mien told Cedric and his assistants. "He treated me like a son."

"Do you remember your biological parents?" Cedric asked.

"I don't." Mien said, shaking his head. "All my dad said was that he was my father's brother and that my dad died when I was young."

"And your mom?" Cedric asked. 

"He never spoke of my biological mother, I just assumed that he wasn't on good terms with her, that's why she was never brought up." Mein said with a shrug. 

"Mien, we're sorry to be the ones to break this to you, but your adoptive father didn't die of natural causes." Ian told the young man who was seated across from him.

"What?!" Mien said in surprise. "That's impossible, I saw his body, he wasn't harmed." 

"Mien, your father died here, in this country. We had it investigated and we found out that there was foul play involved." Ian revealed, shocking Mien. 

"His body didn't come from here, it came from another country, how is that possible?" Mien asked.

"Mien, your dad and Fernando were not strangers." Mae said as she placed a hand on the lawyer's shoulder.

"That's - that's -" Mien tried to speak but he was so overwhelmed with emotions that he did not know what to say.

"Impossible?" Dave asked. "It seems impossible and yet here we are."

"Dave!" Mae scolded. 

"I'm sorry, what I mean is, Mien, we used the best sources that we could. Your father and Fernando were in contact." Dave explained. "As a matter of fact Fernando was the one that paid for your father's ticket to come here."

"How? Why?" Mien asked. 

"We don't know yet, but I hope that our visit to Fernando's family tomorrow will shed light on the matter." Cedric explained.

"I want to find whoever killed my father." Mien said as tears fell from his eyes. 

"And we will find them." Cedric said with a nod. "We will help you find that person and we will help you bring him to justice."

"Now I understand why Fernando approached me, I thought it was so odd for a stranger to want to share a table." Mien said with a frown.

"Mien, don't think any less of Fernando, I think he truly cared about you." Mae said.

"I just want to get to the bottom of this and find out the truth." Mien said with a sigh.