Never Judge

"It's him." Cedric said as he showed Ian and Adrianna his phone.

"What would he want at this time of day?" Ian asked Cedric with a frown. 

It was clear to Cedric that Ian was not a fan of Guan Ming. This didn't surprise him, since Ian thought of Camilla like a little sister, and Guan Ming was the man that had abandoned her for ten years.

"He better not expect her to come running into his arms just because he is back." Ian hissed as Cedric picked up the call.

"Ming! What's up?" Cedric asked in a cheerful tone.

"You fucking bastard, how could you let her do that?" Guan Ming shouted over the phone.

"Wait, what?" Cedric asked in confusion. He had no idea why Guan Ming would curse at him in such a way. "I should be the one mad at you. Why didn't you tell me that the woman you were looking for is my former assistant?"

"Really?! Really?! You have the fucking audacity to be pissed off at me?!" Guan Ming asked Cedric in an angry tone.

"Cedric, I'm here with him." Camilla suddenly said over the phone.

"What the- Camilla, why are you there?" Ian asked in a panic. "What if Lucius Ting sees you?"

"Really, Mr. Lim, that's your priority? That a fucking bastard like Lucius Ting would see Camilla with me? You really are crazy and stupid!" Guan Ming shouted over the phone.

"Wait, Ming, you need to calm down." Cedric could hear Camilla as she tried to get Guan Ming to cool off.

"I'll send a car." Cedric told Camilla and Guan Ming over the phone. "Come over, let's talk. It isn't safe to do this over the phone." Cedric said with a sigh.

"We'll use the service elevator." Camilla told Cedirc. "See you in a bit."

"You better have a good excuse for this Cedric!" Guan Ming threatened as he dropped the call.

"What was that?" Ian asked as he gave Cedric a confused look.

"It seems he isn't happy about Camilla dating Lucius Ting." Cedric said with a sigh as he shook his head and pressed a button to call a maid over.

"Please ask John to take one of the more discrete cars and go to Constellations Resort. He will pick up Camilla and her male companion at the service elevator." Cedric told the maid as soon as she entered.

"Yes sir." The maid said with a nod.

"Oh, and tell him that the man is in a temper, so he better not antagonize him." Cedric said with a sigh as he recalled his driver liked to poke angry bears. 

"Yes sir." The maid said again as she turned and left. 

"So am I finally going to get to meet this mysterious Guan Ming?" Adrianna asked her husband.

"Yes." Cedric said with a nod. "I know the circumstances aren't ideal, and he wasn't exactly nice over the phone, but I swear he is a really nice guy."

"I'll take your world for it  then." Adrianna said with a laugh.

"You still haven't answered my question." Ian told Cedric as he leaned back against the couch. "Why is Guan Ming working with Lucius Ting?" He asked.

"It's our plan." Cedric said with a sigh. "He deals with Lucius Ting for me, I deal with Wu Jun for him. It's a win win." Cedric said with a shrug.

"So what? Was Guan Ming supposed to pull out from his deal with Lucius Ting?" Ian asked.

"Well, the initial plan was for him to pretend to study Lucius Ting's capabilities to be his partner locally." Cedric explained as he took a sip of his coffee. "He was supposed to set crazy standards that would force Lucius Ting to innovate beyond his capacity for services he didn't need."

"So you were going to bankrupt him?" Ian asked Cedric.

"Yes." Cedric said with a nod. "He would have to spend almost all of his investor's money and their profits, just to meet Guan Ming's demands. And all those demands will have no profitable use to other clients."

"That couldn't have been all you were planning." Ian pointed out. Over the years that he had worked for Cedric he knew that Cedric's plots were much more complicated than that.

"Right, yeah, that's not the end of it." Cedric said with a laugh. "Once Lucius Ting has spent so much money just to meet Guan Ming's demands, Ming will suddenly tell Lucius that he isn't happy with their partnership. Then a few days later he will hear that Guan Ming and I signed a deal."

"Is that enough to take down Arch Group?" Ian asked Cedric.

"Yes and no." Cedric said as he shook his head.

"You were going to ask Benedict and Camilla to pull out their investment in Arch Group." Ian said as he realized Cedric's plan.

Cedric simply nodded. 

"Guan Ming was also supposed to release a statement of distrust against Lucius Ting, sealing the deal and ruining his name forever." Cedric said aashe he took a sip from his coffee. "There are very few companies that could survive from a statement like that."

"And you don't think Lucius Ting's Arch Group could survive?" Adrianna asked her husband.

"No." Cedric said as he shook his head. "Arch Group is young, and it is very dependent on the approval of the public and their opinion. They have a lot of investors and if the opinion of the public shits and if they see the biggest investor leaving, then they would react."

"I thought you said the Ortiz's pulling out their investment wouldn't be enough to topple Arch Group." Ian pointed out as he was not confused.

"It isn't." Cedric admitted. "But with Guan Ming's rejection it will be so much worse. It will be more than enough to take down Arch Group."

Just as Cedric finished explaining his plan to Ian and Adrianna, the doors to his office burst open as an angry Guan Ming marches in with Camilla behind him.

"How could you?!" Guan Ming shouted angrily. "Give me a good fucking reason Cedric!" 

"Hello to you too, Ming." Cedric said with a smile.

"Asshole.." Guan Ming cursed as he punched Cedric on the face.