Never Judge

"I can't believe that he would betray us, that he would side with the Rajas in all of this and act as their agent." Katerina asked angrily as she stared at the designer who sat at the otherside of the one way mirror.

"You should calm down." Eric rubbed her shoulders as he tried to calm his fuming fiance.

"Calm down?! Calm down?!" Katerina raised her hands in the air in anger as she stomped across the room and sat down.

"I'm not surprised she is that mad." Nicole said as she entered the room, followed by Ayanna and Adrianna.

Cedric, Ray, and Ian had stayed behind since they were the ones that were going to interrogate the shop owner and designer.

"Yes, but she shouldn't be acting like this." Eric pointed out as he sat down next to his fiance.

It was at times like these that he was at a loss with what to do. Despite having grown up with a sister of his own, women were still a mystery to him.

"Henry has worked for and with the elite of this country, including our own families, for decades." Ayanna calmly stood across the one way mirror as she looked at the old man on the other side. "He was much more than a designer or a tailor, he was a friend."

Outside Ian frowned as he paced across the room, cursing every so often.

"It's not your fault." Cedric said with a sigh as they waited for the rest of their group to arrive. "Henry has worked with and for our families for generations, we couldn't have known that his loyalties lay elsewhere."

"I encouraged them to go to Henry because I believed we could trust him." Ian continued to blame himself despite Cedric's words. "What if the orders had been something much more dangerous, something sinister? What then?"

Cedric and Ray remained silent for a while before the latter spoke up.

"We cannot look at the background of every man, woman, and child that approaches our family." Ray reminded Ian. "These things happen, and we can't let it stop us from living our lives and carrying out our plans."

"You guys look way too serious." Alexi pointed out as he, Miguel, and Ram approached the three other men.

"Just talking about what happened." Ray walked to the door and held the handle. "Are you ready?" He asked his companions.

Cedric simply nodded as Ray pushed open the door and walked in with Cedric.

Ian, Alexi, Miguel, and Ram joined the others in the room at the other side of the one way mirror.

"Henry." Cedric said in a sad tone as he sighed and sat across the older man.

Henry was a renowned designer and tailor that only catered to the elite of the elite. He didn't make clothes for just anyone and his creations were a sign of a person's status and power in the world.

He was much older than Cedric and his friends, he was a little bit younger than Cedric's father, Emilio Reyes.

"Mr. Reyes." Henry's tone was quite confident. It didn't seem that he was embarrassed at all by his predicament. "I see you got the message meant for you. I'll be honest, it took longer than we expected."

"How long?" Cedric asked as he tried to keep his voice stern. "How long have you been working for the Rajas?" He asked.

Cedric didn't want to show Henry that he had been shaken by the betrayal, but Cedric feared that Henry already knew the truth.

"I don't work for them, Mr. Reyes, I work with them." Henry corrected Cedric in a confident tone.

"Since when?" Ray hissed, repeating Cedric's question.

"They were the ones that gave me the opportunity to be who I am today, I've been with them from the very beginning." Henry said with a grin on his face as he stared directly at the one-mirror.

"Impossible." Cedric hissed.

"You should really study your own personal histories first before choosing your friends, Mr. Reyes. The traitors could be much closer than you think." Henry laughed as Ray gave Cedric a confused look.

Cedric tried not to show his emotions, Ray might not know what Henry was blabbering about, but Cedric did.

Henry was trying to get them to distrust each other, but that was never going to happen, Cedric would never let it happen.

"You are simply trying to divide us with your lies." A calm smile spread across Cedric's face as he sat down across Henry.

"I do not lie." Henry answered.

"Now tell us, Henry, why did you choose to work with the Rajas?" Cedric asked as he continued to move away from the topic of traitors and families.

"They promised me what I wanted in exchange for my loyalty. It was simple and I don't regret it." Henry answered calmly. "Mr. Reyes seems to be the only one that understands the gravity of me having been brought to my position by the Rajas."

"It isn't important." Cedric hissed, losing control of his emotions for a moment.

He didn't want Henry to say what he was planning.

"Really Mr. Reyes?" Henry said with a cold laugh. "Have you not learned your lesson when it comes to lies? Didn't lies almost ruin your own marriage?"

Cedric glared at Henry as he waited to see what the man would do next.

"I'm surprised at how much you trust Mr. Reyes, Mr. Laurence." Henry said with a mocking laugh as he looked at Ray.

"You won't trick us, not again Henry." Ray glared at the man across from him.

In the past they treated Henry with respect mainly due to his skill, but today he was someone else to them.

"Are you sure? Because the family that paid for my education and my first store is someone quite close to you." Henry said victoriously as he continued to stare at the one-way mirror. "Do you dare deny me, Cedric?"

"Cedric, it can't be true?!" Ray said as he looked at Cedric in shock.

"We'll discuss it later." Cedric kept his calm even as Ray began to show his anger.

"Later? So it is true?" Ray looked at Cedric in shock as he realized that his brother in law was protecting someone connected to the Rajas.

"Don't blame Mr. Reyes, even he didn't know that the Lims were part of the founding families of the Rajas." Henry said with a victorious grin as he continued to stare at where he believed Ian was.