Never Judge

When Cedric walked into the room he was accompanied by his father, Emilio Reyes III. Carlos De Dios and Chris Garin were both on their knees and quite beaten and bloodied.

"Hello Carlos." Emilio Reyes said in a cold tone that made even Alexi and Cedric shiver. "You've met my son right?" Emilio said pointing at Cedric.

"Uncle Carlos and Chirs had lunch with me dad. They were quite accommodating to the people that wanted to make the Reyes Group fall." Cedric said with a grin.

"I should let you deal with them Cedric. Carlos did, after all, try to kill you." Emilio said looking at the man on the ground.

"This is impossible!" Chris shouted hysterically.

"How? I'm standing before you aren't I?" Cedric looked down at his former classmate, someone that bullied and mocked him for years. "Alexi, Katerina, and my father have all acknowledged to your face who I truly am. Do you dare deny their words?"

"How could you be the Reyes Heir? I��ve known you my whole life. You came from a poor family. Father this is a lie!" Chris said hysterically as he struggled to point at Cedric while keeping his body up. He had been beaten so badly by the police under Alexi and Katerina Sebastian's command that he could barely stay upright.

"You've known me since high school Chris. Didn't you wonder where I came before that? I just suddenly appeared in our school with no family. Isn't that suspicious?" Cedric asked as he looked mockingly at Chris Garin.

"Shut up Chris." Carlos shouted at his son.

"You know it's funny Carlos. Despite growing up away from you your son not only managed to make an enemy of the same family but he also carried the same rotten attitude you had." Emilio said as he looked down on Carlos De Dios.

"Alexi, get rid of them." Cedric said in a cold harsh tone. 

Alexi nodded at the police who in turn dragged the screaming father and son pair out of the room. They would be thrown into prison where they would not only spend the rest of their lives away from the world, they would also be tortured and beaten as their punishment for making an attempt on the Reyes Heir's life.

"I'll go ahead. This was too much excitement for an old man." Emilio Reyes teased when they were left alone in the room.

"Alright dad. I'll see you later at home." Cedric said with a nod as his father left trailed by several guards.

"You've got this syndicate issue settled, what next?" Alexi asked Cedric as he lit a cigarette.

"I have a few grudges I need to settle." Cedric said with a shrug.

"What do you need?" Alexi asked his friend. He was sure that Cedric wanted a more personal touch in this matter.

"Katerina's awesome lawyering skills, Ray's scary thugs, your political influence, and Ram's media." Cedric was grinning when he told them that he would be needing their help.

"Poor Miguel, he has no use." Katerina said with a laugh. "Just say the word Cedric, we'll do what we can to help."

"The Chans have their own issues to settle right now. Martin and Carissa were the nephew and niece of Cora Manalo, the woman their Uncle Miguel loved. It's up to them if they want to ask for forgiveness or tie loose ends. Either way, their choice." Cedric shrugged as he recalled his discussion with Miguel a few nights ago. 

"Why don't we discuss those grudges over dinner? I'm sure Ray would be more than happy to empty out the bamboo room for us." Alexi suggested as he took out his phone.

"Sure, why not?" Cedric said as he moved to take his leave. "I'll see you at 7pm tonight. I need to get back to R Tower to work."

"You're still going around as a regular employee?" Katerina asked, she had expected Cedric to drop the act and move back to managing Mor Co. after the issue with the syndicate was settled.

Cedric laughed and grinned. Of course to their friends the thrill of remaining ordinary eluded them, they were used to being the center of attention their whole lives. "This time I actually have to return as the Reyes Heir, there are some things that need to be fixed." 

Camilla and Ian had accompanied Cedric to the police station and had brought with them a change of clothes of their boss. Cedric dressed up and fixed his hair, as he looked at himself in the mirror he couldn't help but grin, when he was all dressed up he really did look like the heir to the country's largest conglomerate. It was funny how a person's clothes could change how they looked, Cedric never placed much thought into what he wore, but as the Reyes Heir his sister had made sure to carefully curate every piece of clothing in his closet. 

"Why didn't you go after the small companies that bought information and projects from the syndicate?" Ian asked his boss when they finally got into Cedric's car.

"Because I have a different plan for them." Cedric said as he read through the tablet Camilla had just handed over to him. "I have dinner tonight at the bamboo room with the others. Make sure my schedule is clear enough so that I can pick up my wife from Island's Inc." Cedric told Ian.

"Yes sir." Ian said with a nod as he checked Cedric's schedule. 

When they finally rolled up to the driveway of R Tower, people's attention were quickly diverted to the expensive car that had arrived and it's security convoy. 

Inside Cedric took a deep breath and nodded to his staff as he placed on his glasses and face mask. Ian and Camilla got off first as the driver ran over to Cedric's door to open it for him. His security team also moved quickly into place creating a clear path for him to enter the building.

The crowd that was composed of passers by and Reyes Group employees quickly snapped photos of the illusive heir. No matter how hard the girls shouted Cedric just kept looking forward and walked into R Tower. 

Inside he took his private elevator up to the top floor. There were only six offices on that floor, two of which were often empty since they were reserved for members of the Reyes family that managed their business interests abroad. 

When Cedric arrived on the top floor he took off his mask and glasses and was greeted by a grinning Ayanna. Aside from the assistants and secretaries Ayanna was the only one in the office. Both Emilio and Priscilla had decided to take the day off in order to celebrate getting rid of Carlos De Dios.

"Mom was incredibly happy when she left earlier." Ayanna said as she greeted her older brother. 

"Carlos De Dios and Chris Garin will be locked up for a very long time." Cedric told his sister with a nod and a grin.

"Ray told me he would deal with them while they were in prison. His men will make sure they don't forget who they tried to offend." As Ayanna said this Cedric could see the anger burning in his sister's eyes. Ayanna always had a temper, and getting engaged to Ray just gave her an even more powerful tool to execute her enemies. "Will you be picking up my sister in-law for dinner?" Ayanna asked her older brother. 

"Yes. I'm guessing you wanna come." Cedric told his sister who in reply nodded vigorously.

"I swear, you act like a child when no one is around." Cedric said as he rubbed his sister's head and walked to his office followed by Ian and Camilla.