Never Judge

"Your brother didn't die twenty years ago." Mae said. "My friend and I knew him." She said as she pulled Mien forward. 

The man stared at Mien and Mae for a while, he was rendered speechless by what Mae had just revealed.

"Impossible." The man said after a long silence.

"Sir, what's your name?" Mien asked.

Cedric suddenly realized that he never even asked for their names, no wonder they were so hostile towards him. 

"Max, and my mother is Joan." He said with a slight smile. 

"Hi Max, my name is Mien and this is Mae." Mien said as he extended a hand for Max to shake. The man took it, making Mien smile.

"Mien and I both met Fernando in Singapore." Mae explained. "I met him almost a month ago and Mien met him a few weeks before that."

"Miss Mae, that's just not possible." Max said, shaking his head as he refused to accept what Mae had just told him.

"Max, please tell us about your brother?" Cedric decided to ask when he realized that the man would not believe him.

"My brother, Fernando." Max said with a frown, the topic was clearly still a difficult one. "Like many people from our province, Fernando wanted to get us out of this place. So he looked for scholarships in the capital."

"What did he study?" Mae asked.

"He took up nursing in a prestigious university, that's where he met his wife, Maria." Max explained.

Mae looked at Cedric, wide-eyed at the new piece of information they had just found out. Cedric simply nodded, as if telling Mae to calm down.

"After graduating my brother got his dream job, he was hired by the Chan family to work at Saints Hospital. After earning quite a good sum, he bought us a house in the provincial capital." Max said with a sad smile. "Our life was getting better."

"What happened?" Mien asked as he looked at Max with pity.

"I don't even know where to start, my brother was doing so well, but he wanted a better life. You see, his wife was pregnant and he didn't want his child to suffer the way he did." Max explained. 

"My brother was very well trusted by one of the Chan siblings." Max continued. "The thing was he offered my brother a job that paid well, but had too many risks. Fernando never told me what it was, but soon after he flew to Italy."

"His child and wife, do you know where we can find them?" Cedric asked Max.

"Sadly, no." Max said with a frown. "One day we heard that my brother had died. I rushed to their home in the capital, but my sister in law and her son were gone."

"Did they tell you how he died? Did you see his body?" Mien asked. 

"They said he was involved in a bar fight, but due to his injuries he was barely recognizable." Max explained to them. "At first I refused to believe it, my brother was a good man, he would never be involved in such a ruckus."

"What changed your mind?" Cedric asked.

"At that point my brother had been gone for five years, people change." Max said with a shrug. "The Fernando I knew back then could be someone else entirely. He was alone in a foreign country, he must have looked for ways to spend his time."

"If we do a DNA test and show you his body, will you believe us?" Cedric asked Max.

"Yes, of course." Max said with a nod. "It's far-fetched but why not? My mother has been mourning his death for years, it won't change anything."

"Ian." Cedric said with a nod as his assistant stepped forward.

"I will need to take some DNA samples from you and your mother. Please explain it to her as well." Ian said in a calm tone as he tried not to panic the old lady even more.

Max nodded and took a moment to think of how he would break the news to his mother.

Cedric and his companions watched as Max struggled in his mind to figure out how to tell the fragile old lady.

After a few minutes, Max took a deep breath and turned to his mother. He took her hand in his and began to speak in their local language.

It didn't take long for the old lady to begin to tear up, it seemed Max had decided to tell her that her son could possibly have lived longer than they had thought. 

Mae took out a pack of tissues and handed it to Fernando's mother. 

Max said something and the old lady reached out and placed her hand on Mae's cheek, catching the young assistant by surprise.

The old lady said something then looked to her son to translate for her.

"My mother says thank you." Max said with a smile. "She said you are very pretty, she is glad that my brother had met such beautiful souls before his death and that he didn't die alone."

At Max's words Mae began to tear up, she felt guilty that Fernando had actually died alone in his home. She didn't have it in her to tell his family the truth so she simply nodded.

"My mother thinks you are telling the truth." Max said as he turned to Cedric. "I am not fully convinced, but I will give it a chance." He said with a nod.

"Take their DNA samples." Cedric instructed Ian, who took out the kit that the doctor had given them.

Prior to leaving the capital, Ian had made sure to learn how to take DNA samples without contaminating it. His girlfriend, Nicole, had even been the one to teach him and she made sure that he knew how to do it properly. 

The Chans had even set up the local Saints Hospital to be able to do the DNA test for Cedric and his group.

Once Ian was done collecting the samples and sealing them in the special case he had brought along, he turned to Cedric to ask what to do next.