Never Judge

"Your dad saved me." Ian confessed.

"My family has always been well off. As a matter of fact my dad and your dad were really good friends growing up, they still are." Ian recounted.

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"And where are your parents now?" Cedric asked.

"I still live with them." Ian said, Cedric simply nodded in reply.

"Long ago the Lims were on the same level as the Reyes', the Sebasians, and the Laurences, growing up my dad had everything he wanted. He never wanted for anything, if he did he got it. My mom was the same, she and your mom went to the same school, traveled the world together. Even when I was a child we had everything. Our business was doing great, but then things aren't always meant to run smoothly and tragedy just struck one after the other." Cedric could feel the pain in Ian's voice. He did remember Ian from his childhood, they had gone to the same school but they were never close. Ian always seemed to have a world of his own. Although Ian had friends it seemed he was still different, he seemed smarter and better than those that were around him in school.

"Do you think we could have been friends back in school?" Cedric suddenly asked.

"You and the other four were inseparable. You wouldn't have let me hangout with you guys. Plus I was at a difficult point of my life back then. Back in elementary, my family's fall had already begun." Ian teased.

"What happened to your family?" Cedric probed.

"I remember when I was a child, my grandparents had a schedule, Monday's grandma would be in the casino, after meeting with her friends there they would pick me up from school and we would go to the golf course to watch grandpa, dad, and my uncle play golf, I would get bored and they would send me to my golf lessons. On Tuesdays, those were boring days, mom and my aunt would take me to piano and voice lessons with this national artist, I can't even remember his name anymore but we studied him in class. Wednesdays we would book a cinema to watch a movie, dad didn't like using the home cinema and preferred to watch in the mall, once someone attempted to kidnap me so they would book the whole cinema after that. Thursdays were French and Chinese lessons, I hated those. And every friday we would go to Maharlika hotel to have dinner and ice cream, I remember a man I would call Lolo Aguilar, I thought he was just some bum in the hotel who played his harmonica in the dining area, apparently he was a national artist for visual arts, he liked me so much that he would often sketch me while I played with this charcoal pencils, I still have those sketches you know, they are his unpublished work. Everything was going well, the business was booming and our company was set to expand. One day my grandpa made a bad business decision, that decision accumulated and accumulated till that one loss became hundreds of losses. My father was already telling him that he could help, that my grandfather needed to trust my father with the family business at one point." Ian had a sad face as he told Cedric his story.

"At the time, we thought that was the worst, but it wasn't. My grandfather trusted a cousin of his to run a part of his business, my father was already against it from the start, he told my grandfather that this cousin of his was already stealing money, my grandfather refused to listen. In two years, all of the money for that part was gone, and to add to that we discovered that my grandfather's cousin had taken out so many loans from banks in my grandfather's name that the banks were already knocking on our door. And one day they just took everything." Ian took a deep breath as he remembered that day. He remembered his father was on the floor crying, he had always seen his father as a strong man, but that day his father just gave into it all.

"It must have been hard." Cedric understood what Ian had to go through to an extent.

"It wasn't even the end. Soon after my father's younger brother got sick, it was cancer, stage 4. We pulled what we could. I spent most of those days in the hospital, watching my family go through the fear of losing a loved one. My uncle was strong and he made it. We thought, for sure things would get better, but it didn't. My grandfather and grandmother both got sick at the same time next. My mom and aunt gathered all the jewelry they had left, including my parent's wedding rings. They sold it and used it to pay for my grandparents' treatments. My grandparents married for love, but my grandfather still looked towards other women. He had four other families outside of his marriage with my grandmother, each family with at least two children. He gave them houses, properties, and sent them to the best schools. When my grandfather's other families heard about our fall and about my grandfather's sickness they all came knocking. At first I thought it was to help or at least to visit my grandfather. I was wrong of course, they came to collect." Ian again paused to take a deep breath. He hadn't told this story to anyone in a while and it was quite difficult for him. He was good at keeping these emotions at bay, hiding his problems and soldiering on, that was after all how he had been raised.

"They were afraid my grandfather would die and they would not be able to get what they wanted from him. My father and his siblings eventually managed to chase them off, they threatened to let the public know, my family, at this point, didn't care anymore. When they saw that they realized to just wait in silence. We got lucky, I guess, my grandfather and grandmother got better, but they were different, my grandmother was demanding and distrusting, while my grandfather who had once stood at the pinnacle of the business world not couldn't even stand on his own two feet." As Ian told his story tears began to gather in his eyes.

"We lost our business, our cars, and we almost lost our home. My mom and dad tried to find whatever work they could, but people kept saying they were over qualified. And for the jobs they were qualified for, well people rejected them since they had been working in the family business and had no jobs outside of that. There were days that we didn't know where we would find our next meal, back in school I would go days with just eating one meal. Despite everything I got lucky. I got a sports scholarship and was able to study at a good university. I was always focused on reaching my goals, to get back what we lost." Ian explained.

"What about your mother's family?" Cedric couldn't help but ask.

"They are the worst of all. When we had nothing and were barely eating they turned their backs on us. When they saw me walking over fifty kilometers just to get to school they just drove away. To them my vengeance will be different. We were family. You never turn your back on family." Ian explained. Cedric could feel Ian's anger and his pain, no wonder his father had taken Ian under his wing and given him the tools to succeed.

"Are your grandparents doing better now?" Cedric asked.

Ian frowned and said, "My grandmother passed away six years ago, my grandfather died a week ago."

Cedric suddenly felt guilty for not knowing about Ian's grandfather. "I'm sorry Ian, I didn't know."

"It's okay sir. At least now he is in peace. I just feel sad that they won't see how successful I will become." Ian said.

"Call me Cedric. You used to just call me Cedric, so no need to change in private."

"Alright Cedric. Oh we are here." Ian stepped out of the car and opened the door for Cedric.

"Have a good night, Cedric."

Cedric nodded and headed in. Unbeknownst to him, Adrianna, who was still awake on the second floor of the house, saw Cedric arrive in a brand new White Rolls Royce Ghost.