Never Judge

Cedric sat in the living room of his suite at the hotel as he waited for news. He was slowly becoming impatient.

"Ian, how long?" Cedric asked as he drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair.

"They said they would release the results this morning." Ian told Cedric with a sigh as he shook his head and walked off to get the cranky businessman some coffee.

Yesterday they had just found out more on Sapphire Mining's activities. Cedric had to ask Katerina to gather what she could and see what actions she could take against them, delaying her arrival.

Today everything he needed would be arriving. Katrina with the documents and the results of the DNA test. 

Cedric was a hundred percent sure that the test results would come up positive, his question now was, how much was the family willing to trust him and tell him.

They already knew that Fernando had started work at Saints Hospital, that's how he and Miguel met. But maybe Fernando's family knew more about his work with uncle Miguel.

While deep in thought, Cedric's phone began to ring. 

He was surprised to find that it was his father calling. The elder Reyes rarely called, especially when he knew his son was at work.

"Dad?" Cedric asked over the phone.

"Ced, I heard some very disturbing news!" Emilio Reyes III said in a distressed tone.

"What's wrong dad?" Cedric asked, confused as to what would set his dad off in such a panic.

"Did you look more into the death of Miguel's and Eric's uncle?" Emilio asked his son.

"Dad, you guys told us to drop it, do you think we would pursue it?" Cedric asked his father, he didn't want to lie, but he couldn't exactly tell the old man the truth.

"With you guys? Yes it's possible that you would all completely ignore what we said. The case is closed." Emilio Reyes said as he raised his voice at his son.

"And I'm telling you, dad, we listened to you guys." Cedric said with a sigh as he refused to raise his voice to counter his father. "Why would you even think we went against your warnings? Are you spying on us?" Cedric asked, he knew it was bad but it was the only way to distract his father.

"We aren't spying on you." Emilio said in a guilty tone. "We just know how you kids are, saying no doesn't mean you'll listen." 

"Dad, please, just trust us." Cedric said, pleading with his father. "You and your friends should be relaxing at some beach or at the golf course. Maybe go to Mountain View and play with Yoyo for a bit. Enjoy life, you earned it."

"Do not use a patronizing tone on me Cedric Reyes." Emilio warned. "But you are right, you guys are old enough to get yourselves into trouble, you should be old enough to get out of it on your own."

"I don't even know what that means." Cedric said with a laugh as the tension between father and son subsided.

"Cedric, please listen this time." Emilio Reyes said in a sad tone. "Looking into Miguel's and Andrew's deaths will bring you nothing but pain. We've been through it in the past and we don't want you kids to suffer through it too."

"Dad, we're grown ups. Trust that we know what we are doing now." Cedric said.

"Alright, I'll just trust that you listened to us. I'll see you when you get home." Emilio Reyes told his son.

"Bye dad, see you." Cedric said with a smile as he dropped the call.

"How did your dad figure out that we would look into Uncle Miguel's case?" Ian asked Cedric as he handed his friend a drink.

"He's my dad, the former most powerful man in the country, my dad, of course he would know I wouldn't listen to him." Cedric said, rolling his eyes. 

"So nothing definite?" Ian asked as he sat back down. 

"No, he is just doubting that we would listen." Cedric said with a sigh. He really didn't want the parents finding out that they were investigating the matter.

As they were talking a knock came from the door and Ian called out for whoever was at the otherside to enter.

"Sir, the results are here." Dave said as he walked into the room with a man in a lab coat following right behind him.

"You're from Saints Hospital?" Ian asked as the man placed an envelope on the table in front of them.

"Yes, sir." The man said with a nod. "I'm the head of laboratories at the local Saints Hospital. Miss Chan specifically asked that I run the tests and deliver them personally to you."

"I think we should ask Max and his mother to be here." Cedric told Dave with a nod.

His assistant quickly did as he asked and gave Mae a call. 

She and Mien were keeping Fernando's family company as they waited for the results.

"I hope you have good news for us in that envelope." Cedric told the man.

"I hope it is good news, sir." The man said with a laugh.

It didn't take long for Mae and Mien to arrive with Max and his mother.

They greeted Cedric as they entered and were each offered seats at the table.

When everyone had finally settled down Cedric took a deep breath and prepared himself for Mac and his mother's reaction. 

He was well aware that finding out that someone you thought long dead to have lived in secret would come as a shock to the family.

"Sir, if you would, please open the envelope and tell us the results." Cedric said with a nod.

"As you can all see, this envelope is sealed and it has not been opened since I left the hospital." The man from Saints Hospital said as he showed everyone the sealed envelope.

"Please, open it for us and tell us the results." Max managed to say in a shaky voice.

"Sir?" The man asked as he looked at Cedric.

"Do as he asks." Cedric said with a nod. 

The man nodded and opened the envelope.

"According to this there is a 99% chance that all three samples are related." The man announced shocking Max and his mother.

"Thank you." Cedric said with a nod as he glanced at Dave.

Dave knew what he had to do, he escorted the man out of the room.

Cedric knew that the next moments needed to be private.

"We thought they had him killed." Max suddenly said as he burst out sobbing.

This time it was Cedric's turn to be surprised.

"Who would have Fernando killed?" Cedric asked Max.

"The Chan family, he knew something and we thought the Chan family had him killed!" Max's mother managed to say as she continued to cry.