Never Judge

Cedric sat in his makeshift office in the hotel as he scrolled through the latest news on his bribery scandal.

He was quite surprised at how the public had reacted, and when Dave had reported that there was no impact on the sales of the Reyes Group, he wanted to laugh. 

It seemed that people thought he was either already getting favors from the Sebastians or that he didn't even need to pay for such a poor piece of property.

Clearly the public was now thinking more critically than people gave them credit for. If this had happened in the past, they would have blindly listened to the rumors and accused Cedric instantly of being corrupt.

The articles online and the comments amused him even more, when he had gone to sleep the night before the internet was already a buzz talking about him.

At first he had been worried that the longer they let the story fester, the worse it would look for the Reyes Group, something he was clearly wrong about. 

This morning the narrative seemed to have shifted, the media was not targeting him but rather his aggressors.

The internet was littered with articles trying to figure out why the Barons would dare accuse Cedric and not release proof. And even if initially it had been a whistleblower report that accused Cedric, the truth came to light overnight. 

The articles and posts read:

[The Baron Family: Those Who Accuse Without Proof]

[CEO of the Reyes Group Doesn't Need To Bribe According to Analysts]

[12 Hrs in and No Proof Has Been Released]

[Where Is The Proof? Reyes Supporters Ask]

[Reyes Group Remains Silent]

All of these articles had come from news agencies and members of the media that were in no way associated with the Abads or Cedric and his other friends. It seemed that no one would have to step in to clear his name.

"What's so funny?" Ian asked as he entered with Cedric's schedule in hand.

"I'm just reading the articles and comments on this whole bribery issue, it's quite amusing." Cedric told Ian as he turned his laptop around for the assistant to see.

Ian grinned as he looked through the articles on social media as well as the comments.

"Well the Barons still haven't released the proof that you did in fact try to bribe them, people are doubting them now." Ian said as he handed Cedric the tablet he was holding. "Even the comments are in your favor, you might even have a fan club now." Ian teased.

"Now all we have to do is to wait till they release their edited video and show the world the real one." Cedric told his assistant as he scrolled through his schedule.

"They have to release it at some point, if they don't this will reflect extremely badly on them." Ian said as he shook his head. "I can't believe how stupid they were to make the accusations without proof."

"They could also be waiting for us to react, but at this rate, I might have to stay here for a month. I really don't want to do that." Cedric grumbled. He already missed his wife and son, and he knew that the company needed him back at the capital.

"The media is already pressing them without our intervention, it's only a matter of time till they give in." Ian said as Cedric handed him back the tablet.

"When does Seth arrive?" Cedric asked as he turned his laptop back to face him.

"He got here an hour ago, he's setting up his base of operations on the third floor." Ian informed Cedric. "We'll go and meet him once Ray arrives." 

"You told Ray?" Cedric asked. He had initially kept this matter from Ray since he didn't feel like he needed such an important person handling this matter.

"He found out." Ian admitted. "There is no way to completely hide our movements in the underworld from the man that rules it. Especially since he keeps an ear out for anything that might involve his friends."

"He's keeping an eye on your mafia family too, isn't he?" Cedric asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ray wants to keep them loyal, me being part of that group keeps them loyal." Ian explained plainly. "They get more favors since I'm associated with them and Seth actually likes Ray. He says he is better than the last king of the underworld."

"You mean uncle Benedicto?" Cedric asked with a grin. The leadership of the underworld had remained with the Laurence family for four generations now and no one dared challenge them. They were not only influential and powerful among the crime families, but they were also friendly with the who's who of society.

"He was still the king when I was in the mafia, he's much more ruthless, but Ray scares people more for some reason." Ian said as he sat down on a couch. 

"Honestly, Ray has more influence outside of the underworld than uncle Benedicto ever had." Cedric mumbled as he noticed something odd on social media.

"But Benedicto was seen as this tough ruler of the gangs and the mafias, Ray is just a mystery to everyone." Ian said as he thought of the situation.

"There is more danger in the unknown, people do not like to risk it when they don't know what they are up against." Cedric told Ian.

"I guess you're right." Ian said with a nod.

"Ian come here, look at this." Cedric said as he waved his assistant over. "It seems like the Barons are trying to leak proof of the conversation." 

"What do you mean they are trying?" Ian asked as he walked over to Cedric's desk.

"They upload it one minute then it gets taken down, I can't even watch the whole video." Cedric complained as Ian made him scoot over from his laptop.

Ian looked at it for a while and watched as a video got posted and every time he would press play it would vanish. 

"Do you think you could have a hacker fan?" Ian teased. "Let me go get my laptop and check something out. I'll also call the team back at R tower to check this out." 

Cedric nodded as his assistant walked out.