Never Judge



Al couldn't turn back. 

He knew that if he looked back, if he stayed longer he would run up to Cara and hug her. 

He would hold her in his arms and never let go.

He was doing this for her, for them. 

"Angelo, let's go." Al said as his companion remained standing, watching as women continued to say goodbye to the man they believed died.

At that same moment, Cara looked at Al's direction and their eyes made contact Cara froze and 

"But Max!" The man called out as he hesitated. "I mean, how often do I get allowed to go to events like these?" 

"Angelo." Al, now called Max, said in a stern tone as he walked away. 

He had to leave now. He didn't know how long he could resist the urge to go back to his family, to abandon this mission and be with the person he loved. 

"Coming." Angelo called out as they got into a waiting cab.

Angelo and Al/Max were quiet the entire time, both lost in their own thoughts.

Al kept replaying images of Cara in his head. 

He thought of how sad she seemed, he couldn't help but wonder if Cara mourned him. 

He wasn't surprised when she didn't recognize him, it was only natural since the accident did some damage on Al, allowing him to effectively transform into Max.

"How could you just leave a life like that?" Angelo finally asked when they neared their destination. 

"I had to go for the people I love." Al responded in a gruff voice. 

"Is it because of that guy?" Angelo had been briefed by Al before the accident on why he needed a new identity.

"Yes." Al said with a nod as they pulled up to a government funded housing complex. 

Max and Angelo were brothers on paper. 

They were waiters in a nearby restaurant trying to make ends meet as they strived to save money for university.

Of course, this wasn't the real story.

Max and Angelo Cortez were made up names, identities that Al had prepared for him and a friend he had made in the underworld. 

The apartment was small, but half of it was already dedicated to investigating and chasing down a man that had eluded Al, his father, and all the people they had sent, Colin Jao. 

"My sister said she is sending a new package." Angelo told Al as they entered their apartment. "She also said to watch your back, it seems that Colin has sent more people to come after your father's identity."

Al nodded as he walked up to his laptop. 

The package Angelo was referring to was not a physical item, it was a big drop of information that people in the underworld sent to Al and Angelo. 

"Pass my thanks to Sora." Al said as he scrolled through the files.

"Will do." Angelo said as he quickly sent a message on one of their burner phones. "She said that your father hasn't shown up in the headquarters since your death, do you think it is wise not to tell the king about this?"

Al closed his eyes and nodded.

He had considered reaching out to his father multiple times, but he knew that if he wanted this plan to succeed Colin had to believe he was truly gone.

"We can't." Al told Angelo. "We need to keep the group small. Plus I don't want my dad to look for me and try to convince me that he can find Colin. We've tried everything, Colin is keeping a close watch on the underworld and our actions. The closest we've ever gotten to finding him was back when I could go undercover, after my identity was exposed, no one could get near him."

Angelo nodded as he kept the rest of his opinion to himself.

Al closed his eyes and leaned back on his seat.

He recalled what had happened when he and Eric learned about Colin's latest movements.

Three months ago

Al sat behind his desk in Lawrence Industries, struggling to understand the document in front of him.

Aside from University, he was also working part time in the family business. 

His father wanted him to learn as much as he could as fast as possible. 

Raymond Lawrence was worried that Colin Jao and the people backing him would discover his identity and come after the Lawrence family soon.

"You need time off from this place." Eric commented as he entered the room, looking around as he observed Al's luggage and school bag that littered the room.

It was clear that Al had practically been living in his office.

"Did my dad send you over?" Al asked without even lifting his head from the documents on his desk.

"No, but everyone is worried." Eric told Al. "You've barely been home, cousin." 

"I have work, school, and the underworld, I honestly have no idea how my dad managed to do this." Al said as placed his hands on his head, frustrated by the amount of work before him and his lack of ability to manage it.

"You need a break." Eric pointed out as he took the documents from Al's desk and read through them.

"What are you doing?" Al asked as he looked at his cousin.

"Yeah, I can't understand this." Eric said, dumping the documents back on Al's desk.

Al was about to respond when someone knocked on his door.

His assistant peaked inside and announced that Hendrick wanted to speak to him.

Al told his assistant to let Hendrick in, he also quickly mentioned that Hendrick was his cousins' assistant and should be let in at any time as long as Al wasn't busy.

"Al." Hendrick greeted with a nod as he entered the room.

He glanced at Eric, nodded to the other young man as well before standing in silence, waiting for the door to close.

It was clear that he carried confidential news with him and chose not to speak until he was certain no one else would hear.

"I was going to tell the boss, but I thought you would prefer it if I came to you first." Hendrick said. 

"Is it about Cara or Colin?" Al asked as he leaned forward and gave his entire attention to Hendrick.

"Both." Hendrick said as he walked up to stand before Al. 

"And?" Al asked as he drummed his fingers on the table, anxious to hear what news Hendrick had that involved both Jao siblings.

"Colin may have discovered where Cara and her Aunt Pandora are hiding." Hendrick informed Al.

He watched as all turned white as a sheet.

What he had feared the most was about to happen. 

Colin would find his sister and aunt and use both of them to manipulate Peter Jao and indirectly manipulate Al and his Uncle Andres Rocci. 

"Are you certain?" Al asked, hoping that it was just a mistake.

Mistakes were rare, but they still happened.

"Unfortunately, our sources are quite definite that it is Colin." Hendrick frowned. 

He was among the few that knew how important Cara's safety was to Al.

Al frowned as he became pensive, thinking of a way to get Cara out safely.

"They found his men watching the estate your father purchased for Cara and Pandora. They've been driving by for weeks." Hendrick further explained. "Yesterday, Colin's new right hand man was the one that tried to confirm if Cara and Pandora lived there."

"Did he succeed?" Eric asked, joining in on the conversation. 

He didn't tell Al, but he still spoke to Cara and Cara was constantly asking about Al's condition.

Cara never mentioned that she or her aunt were being followed, nor did she mention any suspicious individuals lurking around the area they lived at.

"We were already worried that Colin would send someone higher up to check if Cara and Pandora were there. We told Pandora that she and Cara were to stay indoors as much as possible, so no, the man didn't see them." Hendrick informed Al, allowing the younger man to relax.

"They can't hide in there forever." Al said. "I'll come up with something, don't tell my dad."

"Are you sure?" Hendrick was surprised that Al didn't want his father to find out about Colin discovering where Cara and Pandora were.

"I've had my suspicions, but I think there is a chance that we have a leak somewhere." Al frowned. 

"But if there was a spy among your father's people, wouldn't he give Colin the identity of the King of the Underworld by now?" Eric asked. 

This was another part of the puzzle that truly confused Al. He had some theories, but there was no way of confirming things.

"The person might be afraid of telling Colin because of how powerful my father still is without the underworld, or he might just be a subordinate that doesn't know who dad is." Al said as he informed them of his two strongest theories.

"What are you planning, Al?" Eric asked as he looked at his cousin suspiciously.

"I might need to deal with this myself." Al said in a cold tone as he looked out the window slowly planning and plotting his next moves.

Al opened his eyes as he sat in the present, looking at the screen in front of him. It beeped as it informed him the process he had made it run was over.

At the same time, his phone began to ring.

It was an unknown number, but very few people knew this number.

"Hello?" Al said as he answered the call.

"Did you really have to break her heart like that?" Eric asked in a very disappointed tone.

"Don't worry, she has you, she'll be fine." Al said as he smiled bitterly. He was sure that without him around Cara would fall in love with his cousin.