Never Judge

After discovering Camilla's treachery, Lucius Ting moved from his old apartment to one across town, one that the Reyes Group or any of their allies had no access to.

It was not an easy task since their group had allies everywhere and it was quite difficult for Lucius Ting to find a businessman willing to stick his neck out for him.

Everyone knew he had crossed Cedric and his friends, and everyone was aware that the five princes and their friends were done being nice to Lucius Ting.

When Lucius first met the man sitting across him he was suspicious.

He knew that with Camilla gone, Cedric Reyes was possibly seeking out another way to plant a mole in his inner circle.

It seemed quite suspicious to Lucius Ting when a man named Pete approached him and offered him a place to stay and his support. It was way too convenient.

"Fuck!" Lucius Ting shouted as he threw a glass across the room, hitting the wall and shattering to a thousand pieces.

"Relax, not all is lost." Pete told Lucius Ting as he waved a maid to give the owner of Arch Group another glass and to pour them more wine.

"Not all is lost?! Not all is lost?! You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Luciust Ting screamed hysterically.

News had just reached him that ninety percent of his international partners had just terminated their contracts with him.

At first he was hopeful that he could sue them in court, but his lawyers soon brought him even more devastating news. It was he that owed them money.

"Do you have any fucking idea who I am up against now?!" Lucius Ting asked as the man across him remained calm.

"Guan Ming, one of the richest men in the world, and possibly one of the most influential." Pete said with a shrug as he continued to sip the beverage in his hand.

"Exactly." Lucius Ting said as he glared at Pete. "If it were any other man I would say there is a chance, but Guan Ming? You've got to be kidding me."

"You did deceive him." Pete told him in a casual tone as he looked out the window. "I'm sure he is pissed off with that. Plus according to what my men found out he is very good friends with Cedric Reyes. I doubt he would look at you kindly."

"And yet you keep telling me not all is lost!? What the fuck!" Lucius Ting was hanging on a thread, he was slowly losing it as the world around him unraveled.

"My backers say that they have a proposition for you, but you will need to do everything they ask for." Pete told Lucius Ting as he waited for the other man's answer.

"I've followed what they've asked me to do for years, are they seriously questioning my loyalty now?" Lucius was furious about the possible doubt in his backer's mind.

"They aren't doubting you, Lucius, you are family to some of them after all." Pete told him as he looked away. "They just think that they might be asking too much this time."

"I've literally lost almost everything in my life!" Lucius Ting shouted. "My sister has been arrested and deported to the one country I can't go, the woman I thought I would spend the rest of my life with betrayed me, and now my company is about to fall."

"First of all, you were warned about Camilla Montero. She is loyal to the Reyeses and the fact that you thought her biological older brother's death could change that fact proves how stupid you can be." Pete spat in a poisonous tone. "You were warned and you refused to listen."

"That is a mistake I never denied." Lucius Ting replied in a low voice.

"The fact that you fell for her was the very reason that you are in the situation you find yourself in. You brought about your own fall because of love." Pete said with a chuckle as he waved for the maid to pour him another glass.

"I get it, I fucked up." Lucius sat down as he tried to calm himself, he knew he could let his emotions rule him any longer. If this kept going he might end up punching Pete.

"I don't think I need to bring up the other decisions you made that were pure foolishness, now do I?" Pete raised an eyebrow as he waited for Lucius to respond.

Hesitantly, Lucius nodded, he hated admitting the fact that he made a mistake, especially to a messenger like Pete.

"So what do they want me to do now?" Lucius asked as he patiently waited for his next orders.

He hated thinking of them as orders, but the more he was told to do something in exchange for a favor, the more it felt like he was being given orders.

"The people I work for said they would bring you closer to your sister and they would even tell you where your wife and son are, all you have to do is nothing." Pete said with a grin as he knew his words would infuriate Lucius Ting.

"Nothing? You've got to be kidding me." Lucius grumbled.

"Nothing until you know where your wife is, after that you are free to fly to her and chase her." Pete explained to him.

"And my son?" Lucius asked. He had always wanted them to become a family again, but he also wanted to punish his wife for running from him.

"I think you would rather take your wife first, you can always make another child with her." Pete said with a shrug.

"I can always just get another woman into my bed if all I wanted was a child." Lucius Ting said angrily. There was only one person he wanted as his wife and he needed his son too. They were a family.

"Relax, you're forgetting we are on the same side here." Pete told him. "You know what, as a sign of good fate I'll tell you where your son is and then you figure out how to get him out. Deal?"

Lucius Ting eyed the man across from him, he knew this was some kind of game or trap, but he couldn't help but fall for it.

"Deal." Lucius Ting couldn't help but agree and give in, it was his son.

"Remind me again, what was your son's name?" Pete asked as the sides of his lips curled up to a sinister smile.

Lucius glared at him, he knew the answer and yet he was taunting Lucius Ting.

"Dominic." Lucius' voice was soft and pained, he longed to call his son by his name again.

"Dominic Chan, correct? You gave him your biological last name, not your adoptive one?" Pete asked as he waited for Lucius' response.

The man simply nodded in reply not wanting to continue the discussion longer than he had to.

"Did you know that your cousin, Miguel Chan, and his wife Veronica adopted a boy by the same name?" Pete asked.

"I do, he goes to the same school as the boys that I suspect to be mine." Lucius recalled seeing his cousin dropping off and picking up a little boy wherever he stalked the school.

"Wait- No-" Lucius couldn't believe the thought that had just passed his mind, it was impossible.

"Dominic Chan was adopted by Miguel Chan and his wife from the same school where your father-in-law had so heartlessly left your son." Pete revealed. "Your son has been living under your cousin's roof for months now."

"No!" Lucius shook his head, unable to cope with what he was hearing. If that were the truth then his son was either at Miguel's home or at Mountain View mansion. Two places he could not get to.

"It's up to you now if you want to take him back.." Pete said as he got up and left, leaving Lucius Ting to wrestle with his thoughts and decision.