Never Judge

Cedric was eating his breakfast when his phone began to ring. He excused himself and walked to his office to take the call.

"Sir, we discovered some developments on the matter you wanted us to investigate." Camilla said.

"I don't trust calls on their security." Cedric reminded his assistant. "Let's talk about it when I get to the office. From there we can figure out the next steps."

"Very well, sir." Camilla said in a respectful tone.

Cedric was about to drop the call when he remembered something. "Camilla, is Ian with you?" Cedric asked.

"Yes, sir. Do you want to speak to him?" Camila asked.

"Yes." Cedric could hear as Camilla handed the phone over to Ian.

"Sir?" Ian asked.

Cedric was sure that if Marco wasn't the one that informed his father about the emergency the previous night it must have been Ian. He had lent his assistant to his father after all since Marco was busy helping Marie out.

��What was the emergency last night that made my dad head over to R Tower?" Cedric asked.

"Sir, there was no emergency. Everything went smoothly last night." Ian confidently answered.

"Alright. I'll be in the office in an hour." Cedric said before dropping the call.

When Cedric returned to the dining room, Ray had arrived to pick up Ayanna, it had become a habit that Ray would pick Ayanna up and take her to inspect their house that was currently being built before heading out to the office.

"Miguel, don't you have an operation?" Ray asked. They knew that a certain duke had arrived in the country to undergo a procedure with Miguel.

"They're still checking him in and running some tests." Miguel said with a shrug as he made himself comfortable next to Veronica. He draped an arm around her shoulder and Veronica leaned her head on his arm.

Their relationship had improved a lot since returning from Kashmere. For one, Miguel no longer slept on the couch.

"Dad, Camilla and Ian found something out." Cedric said.

"Is this the thing I said last time?" Ray asked as he leaned forward.

"You're such a nosy boy!" Emilio Reyes III said with a laugh. "But I guess that's why you're good at what you do."

"Yes, Ray." Cedric said in a more serious tone.

"Tell me what I can do." Ray offered.

"We'll tell you when there is something to do." Cedric told his friend. "For now we are simply investigating."

Cedric then turned to his father, returning to the main topic. "Dad, I'll arrange for us to discuss it with you at the office. I haven't even heard what they found out yet since I don't trust our phone lines." Cedric explained.

"Cedric, I'm pretty sure ours is quite secure." Emilio told his son.

"I'd rather be on the safe side, dad." Cedric said as he returned to eating his food.

When Cedric arrived at R Tower, Camilla already prepared the things he had to look through. He had several meetings in the morning and lunch with his friends Tom and Jo. Tom didn't know about who Cedric really was and he decided that it was best if he told Tom now while things weren't as busy.

"Sir, would you like to go through the information Ian and I found?" Camilla asked as she placed Cedric's coffee on his desk.

"Yes. Tell me first then we'll go to dad with this." Cedric instructed.

Camilla nodded and left. After a while she returned with Ian, she handed Cedric a tablet while Ian placed a stack of files on Cedric's desk.

"Sir we learned that a particular company MT Sumit is behind all negative information circulating about the Reyes Group. This resulted in a decline in our shares." Ian reported.

"And why are we only learning about this negative information now? And what kind of rumors are they spreading?" Cedric asked as he scrolled through the general profile of MT Sumit.

"They went about it smartly sir. They only approached those investors and companies that aren't closely linked with us. They knew that those that have been around us for a long time would have told us." Ian explained. "As for the rumors, one is that the reason why you haven't shown yourself is because you are very incompetent, they say that the Reyes family is so embarassed of you and your abilities that they decided to hide you. With this the investors fear the the Reyes Group will fall as soon as you take over."

"How stupid are these investors Ian?" Cedric asked. "They've seen Mor Co.'s performance. On top of that, if I were really incapable the group can just name Ayanna as it's next head. She has proven herself time and again."

"MT Sumit has also been purchasing shares sir, through a different name." Camilla told Cedric as she pointed at the stack of files on his desk.

Cedric massaged his temples, none of these made sense. Why ruin the Reyes Groups name then purchase shares? And why would the investors believe in what MT Sumit had to say, what sway did they have among these people.

"Look deeper into the issue." Cedric ordered as he handed the tablet back to Camilla. "Find out who is behind MT Sumit and why people turst what they say. According to the profile you gave me they have been around for eight years already, and yet they didn't even trigger any alarms on our end. They may have been a lion in waiting."

"Yes sir." Camilla said with a nod. "Will we take this to the President?"

"Yes. We should at least update my father on our findings." Cedric nodded. "Ian, does my dad have nay meetings this morning?" Cedric asked his assistant who was currently assigned to the elder Mr. Reyes.

"He should be free now sir." Ian said with a nod as he gathered the documents from Cedric's table.

Cedric stood and fixed himself. He made sure to take his disguise with him in case someone had a meeting with his father right after.

Ian and Camilla followed their boss as Cedric made his way to the President's office. He knocked and entered. He found Emilio Reyes III drinking his coffee and talking to Cedric's grandfather, Emilio Reyes II.