Never Judge

Cedric nodded as he agreed with Nicole, people have killed for much less in the world.

"Based on what we can tell so far, someone wanted to get their hands on Andrew Chan. What we don't know is why." Cedric explained.

"Dad doesn't talk much about Uncle Miguel." Eric said with a frown. "But I'm sure they were close, if they weren't why would he name his second born after him."

"I can check the hospital records if Uncle Miguel was working on something before he left." Nicole said as she thought thoroughly of the situation. "Maybe it wasn't someone from inside the family that was after him, maybe it was an external factor."

"I doubt the dads would have acted so secretly if it were an external force." Miguel said as he shook his head. 

"I'll keep you guys updated if I find out more, but for now we need to keep investigating every possible angle." Cedric told his friends.

"Cedric, I think it might be time to tell the dads that we have been investigating this." Miguel said as he paced across the room. "You told us that our fathers were investigating this issue long ago, maybe they have information that we are missing."

Cedric remained silent as he considered Miguel's suggestion.

They had spoken to their fathers once before, and they lied. They said Andrew Chan was dead, only for Cedric to find out that they knew the boy had survived all along.

They also knew about Marisa and Fernando and they never told them.

They had been keeping an eye and helping Fernando and his family all those years, but Cedric couldn't understand why.

Couldn't Fernando have pointed them towards the right direction? Or did Fernando also lie to their fathers about Andrew's death.

It was possible, unlikely, but still possible.

Cedric was frustrated that Fernando passed away before they could talk to him. He was pissed off that they couldn't save the man who also just so happened to be his assistant's father.

There were so many unanswered questions but they kept hitting a brick wall, as if this mystery was something that refused to be solved. 

"Do you think we can trust them to tell us the truth?" Cedric asked his friend.

As much as he worried that their fathers would lie to them again, they weren't left with much of a choice.

"I don't think they will lie if the truth won't hurt us. Plus at this point, they know that no matter what we say we will continue to investigate the matter. So they might as well confess everything to us." Miguel added.

"We all know that they lied about Andrew Chan being dead." Eric said with a frown. "They should know that their secrets can't be kept forever, the truth will come out eventually, whether we seek it out or not."

"Dreading your own secret coming out soon, Eric?" Miguel asked his older brother with a laugh. 

Eric sighed and shook his head.

"They threatened to release my identity to the public today." Eric told Cedric as he shook his head. "I really don't understand why those sexist pricks think that my sister can't run the hospital. She's been doing it for years at this point."

"I think they are afraid of the next family head not being a Chan anymore." Miguel said with a grin. "Something I don't see the point in."

"They are so stuck in their traditions and practices that they can't see that they are hurting family." Nicole said as she shook her head. "I love Ian and I would love to marry him, but not this way. Not with how my family is acting."

"Yeah, talk about confusing." Eric said as he shook his head. "One minute they want you to marry Ian then the next they don't want the next head of the family having Lim as their surname."

"They think if I marry Ian the Lims and the Chans will merge." Nicole said with a sigh. "I don't even know what to name our kid, I'm not in the mood to think about how the two families will combine."

"If it's any consolation, the Lims are a very small family now." Cedric explained. "Just Ian, his siblings and Camilla and her siblings." 

"Tristan is a good boy, he is brilliant and he has a mix of both his parents' ingenuity." Cedric said with a nod as he thought of the little boy. 

"He is one!" Nicole said angrily. "I don't want that kind of pressure on my son. I want him to choose his own path, just as all of us had that chance."

"No one will force the kid, Nicole. We are just saying that he is a good candidate, regardless of his last name." Miguel said with a smile as he tried to soothe his sister's temper.

"Sorry, it's the pregnancy." She said with a frown.

"So what do we do?" Eric asked as looked at Cedric.

"Find out if anyone was after uncle Miguel. If he had offended anyone in the family or if someone simply didn't want Andrew's mother in the family." Cedric told his friends. "I'll talk to my dad, we can have a little gathering and confront them there."

"We'll see if dad can give us any information." Miguel said with a nod. 

"Try pressuring your grandfather into doing a DNA test with Lucius Ting as well." Cedric told Miguel. "I know you are his favorite and he might be swayed if you ask him Miguel."

"I will try." Miguel said with a nod.

"Thank you." Cedric said with a nod as he got up to leave. "I'll tell you guys when the dads all agree to meet and speak with us."

"What do you plan to do with Lucius Ting now?" Nicole asked Cedric.

"Take him down and make him regret ever messing with us.." Cedric said with a grin as he opened the door and walked out of the room.