Never Judge

Ian, Cedric, and Ray spent all night working on a plan on how to get the hostages out of the hotel. At first Ray didn't want to involve the military or the police, but in order to do things right and flawlessly execute the rescue mission, they needed the help.

Unfortunately for them Alexi was not available at the moment as he was still stressing about his proposal to Selina. It was due to happen in a week and he was having issues with the ring, all they could do was settle for the next best option, one that had Alexi shouting at them over the phone.

"It's late." Eric grumbled when he picked up the call coming from Cedric. "Don't you guys sleep?"

"We will, when this is over." Cedric chuckled as he listened to Eric complain and curse over the phone.

"This better be important, what do you need?" He asked Cedric as he closed the door behind him, making sure not to wake Katerina who was fast asleep.

"We need Katerina's help with some government troops." Cedric was prepared for Eric to be mad, and he didn't make a mistake.

"She's fucking pregnant and you want me to wake her in the middle of the night." Eric hissed, but Cedric could hear the door opening at the other end of the line. He simply assumed that Eric walked back into the bedroom to wake Katerina up.

"Kat, Kat, Cedric's on the phone for you." Eric was clearly annoyed as he gently woke Katerina up.

"Tell him to fuck off." Cedric heard Katerina's sleepy voice.

"Unfortunately, love, I can't, it's important." Eric sighed as Cedric waited for him to hand the phone to Katerina.

Eventually Cedric managed to speak to Katerina. When she heard about what they needed, she was suddenly energized and awake.

She sprang into action coordinating with her brother's men as well as her father's.

"Well, she's very efficient." Cedric chuckled as soon as he had ended the call with Katerina. It was already five in the morning and Ian was due to meet with the Rajas that day.

"You need to be on your toes for this meeting." Ray pointed out was Ian yawned on the couch.

"Get some sleep, we will work on this first." Cedric instructed as he pushed Ian out of his office and sent him off.

Ian couldn't protest since he was too sleepy. The previous day had been draining and now he had rushed things.

When Ian woke up, it was already lunch time and Nicole had left a note informing him that she was headed to the hospital to work.

Ian rolled his eyes, annoyed at the thought that Nicole was working. She was due any day now and she was still pushing herself too hard with work.

"Mr. Ian." A maid greeted as Ian walked into the dining room.

There he found Cedric still working on his laptop, typing away.

"Reyes Group or plans?" Ian asked as he sat down next to his friend.

"Reyes Group, we polished the plan at around 8am today. I'll get some sleep and wake up before you leave to meet the Rajas." Cedric explained as he took a bite from his meal.

"I'll head on out then, I need to at least show myself in the office. I'm sure the Rajas are watching." Ian told Cedric as they continued to eat in silence.

He was sure that the Rajas were going to question why he lived in Cedric's Mountain View community, it was unlikely that they would think Ian lived in Cedric's home.

Ian worked for the rest of the day, he avoided learning details of Cedric's plans to save the kidnapped family members. The less he knew at this point the better, he didn't want to risk slipping from his act while he waited for Cedric to save them.

When the clock struck seven in the evening, Ian began to put away his things and make his way down to his car. He would bring only his two bodyguards and no one else.

"Take us to Isla." Ian said in a cold tone as he did his best to drown his anxiety towards this meeting.

Ian was lost in his own thoughts throughout the drive, he looked out the window, watching as familiar sights of the city passed them.

Isla restaurant was located in a beachside town outside of the capital, it was one of the places that Ian owned, but people weren't aware of.

Ian asked his driver to park at the back, not wanting to draw attention to his car. It was already 8:15 pm and he had already been informed that his guests had arrived on time.

"I shouldn't take long, but if things go wrong we need to be ready to leave." Ian informed his driver before stepping out, followed by a single bodyguard.

He was greeted by the staff and led into the main dining area of the restaurant, it had been closed for the night for Ian's use.

Around the table were four men and Bella, the first was someone Ian recognized to be Mr. Nelle, the owner of the film house that hosted the annual award that Eric had first won. He and Cedric had done their due diligence before he left making sure he knew as much as possible about Mr. Nelle.

He was accompanied by two old men and one young one, by the looks of it some of them were related as they looked somewhat like each other.

"Mr. Lim, I'm-" As Mr. Nelle introduced himself, Ian shook his head.

"Mr. Nelle, I know. I do my due diligence when it comes to people around the Reyes family and their friends." Ian's words made a concerned look spread across Mr. Nelle's face, he clearly didn't expect Ian to know anything about him.

"If I am not mistaken," Ian added as he looked at the four other men, as he scoured his memories for their names. "Mr. Chu, Mr. Bautista, and his grandson or son is it? And of course, Miss Bella."

A sinister smile crossed Ian's face as the three other men turned pale, the only one that seemed unbothered by Ian's knowledge was Bella. She had seen first hand how dangerous this man was and she made a note not to show any weaknesses, even if she now worked for him.

"Shall we begin?" Ian asked as he waved a waiter to serve their food and sat down, his heart pounding faster and harder as their plan started.