Never Judge

Cedric gave the young lawyer some time to gather his thoughts before speaking again. 

It was clear that there was an internal struggle going on inside Mien's mind. 

"Mien, if you need people to talk to, we will be here." Mae said with a nod as she looked at the young lawyer.

Cedric raised an eyebrow as he noticed Dave frown as Mae reached out and held Mein's hand. He turned to look at Ian, who simply shrugged and ignored what was happening.

"The manager of Nouveau just informed me that Yoyo and Adrianna have arrived." Ian told Cedric as he looked up from his phone.

"How about Ayanna and Ray?" Cedric asked, inquiring after his sister and brother-in-law. 

"They're already downstairs, they were waiting at Ayanna's office." Ian said as he placed his phone away.

Cedric nodded as he got up from his seat, making the others in the room stand as well. 

Ian quickly walked over to the door and held it open for Cedric.

"Mien, I know we are strangers to you." Cedric said as he stopped in front of Mien on the way out of his office. "But, I have a gut feeling about you. Something in me is telling me to help you and trust you."

"Thank you, Cedric." Mien said with a sad smile. "I didn't expect such a welcome from you and your group. To be honest I thought you would be quite wary of me."

"We were, but we've checked your background and found out that you have been telling us the truth from the start." Cedric told Mien. "Add to that the fact that my assistant here seems quite fond of you." Cedric teased.

Mae's eyes widened for a moment as she was taken by surprise by Cedric's comment. 

Cedric also didn't miss the scowl on Dave's face as Cedric mentioned Mae's closeness to Mien. Clearly there was something going on between his two assistants, something he had missed out on.

"Cedric, thank you." Mien simply said with a bow.

Cedric nodded and led their group out of his office and down to Nouveau. 

The manager greeted Cedric and his group as he led them to Cedric's private room. The restaurant had been closed for the night since Cedric didn't want anyone catching a glimpse of Yoyo or Mien.

He felt that Mien didn't need the attention of the media in the capital. 

Of course, Cedric was also trying to protect his own son's identity.

There were two reasons why he didn't want everyone to know how Yoyo looked as he grew up, and the tradition of the Reyes Poverty Training wasn't even his main concern.

He wanted Yoyo to have a chance to discover who he truly wanted to be and what kind of future he wanted to have. Cedric didn't want his son to grow up with all the pressure that society would put on him if they could follow his every move.

Cedric had seen how it had affected his friends, setting unrealistic expectations and having them live under a microscope their whole lives.

It was either you caved into those expectations, or you threw caution to the wind and didn't care at all about what the public had to say.

"Daddy!" Yoyo screamed as he ran up to his father.

Cedric quickly knelt down and hugged his son tightly.

He had been so busy recently that he didn't have the time to be with his son as much as he wanted. 

It was clear that his son felt his absence as well, as he hugged Cedric tightly, afraid to let go. 

"Yoyo, there is someone I want you to meet." Cedric said as he stood up, still hugging his four year old son.

(I adjusted his age. I noticed I was still referring to him as a three year old despite Yoyo having celebrated his birthday already.)

"A new friend daddy?" Yoyo asked as he gave Mien a curious glance.

"Yes Yoyo, a new friend." Cedric said with a nod. 

"Mien, this is my son Yoyo." Cedric told the lawyer as Yoyo waved at their guest.

"Hi Yoyo, nice to meet you." Mien said with a smile. 

"Yoyo, this is Mien. He is a friend of Mae's." Cedric said as he introduced his son to the lawyer.

Cedric couldn't help but take a quick glance at his other assistant, Dave, who was once more frowning. It seemed that Dave didn't like Mien. 

"Hi Mr. Mien." Yoyo greeted him with a smile. "Thank you for having dinner with us." The boy said in an adorable voice.

"Thank you for having me over, Yoyo." Mien told the child with a smile. 

"Come, let me introduce you to my sister and brother-in-law." Cedric told Mien as he led the man over to the table. 

  "Mien, you know my wife, Adrianna." Cedric said as he placed Yoyo down on the seat next to his wife. 

"Mrs. Reyes, you are stunning as always." Mien praised.

"Please, just call me Adrianna." She told him.

Mien simply nodded and smiled.

"And this is my sister, Ayanna Reyes - Laurence, she is my second-in-command here." Cedric said as he introduced his sister to the young lawyer.

"My brother has told me so much about you." Ayanna said as she shook his hand. "I hope you enjoy your stay in our country."

"Thank you Mrs. Laurence." Mien said with a smile. "It seems the capital is full of good looking people." Mien praised.

"Please, call me Ayanna, Mrs. Laurence is my mother-in-law." Ayanna said with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Ayana." Mien said in a respectful tone.

"And this is my brother-in-law and one of my best friends, Raymund Laurence." Cedric said as he introduced Mien to Ray. 

"Interesting. . ." Ray suddenly said as he looked at Mien from head to toe.

"Ray?" Cedric asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"You didn't give me his file so I didn't know until now." Ray said with a shrug earning him confused looks from everyone else.

"Sorry sir, but do I know you? Do you know me?" Mien asked, clearly confused by what was going on. 

"You don't know me, but I've heard a lot about you over the years." Ray said with a sad smile. 

"Sir?" Mien asked.

"You're Cheng's son." Ray said, catching Mien by surprise.

"Yes, how do you know my dad?" Mien asked, clearly confused about what was happening. 

"Cheng worked for me." Ray announced, shocking everyone, including Cedric.