Never Judge

After learning what Aiden had told Emilio, Cedric quickly called the Chan siblings over together with his friends. This news was too big to keep from everyone else.

Unfortunately Miguel and Nicole were still in the middle of an operation, so Cedric had no choice but to wait.

"Sir, Merrick is here." Mae informed Cedric as she brought in some documents that he needed to look through. 

"Merrick who?" Cedric asked with a confused look in his face. He couldn't remember who Merrick was, did he know a Merrick.

"Sir, he's the temporary head of your security team." Mae reminded him.

Cedric nodded as he recalled who Merrick was. He nodded and gestured for Mae to let Merrick into his office.

"Sir?" Merrick asked as he entered the office.

"How is it possible for Aiden Ortiz to sneak into the Reyes Compound and have a lengthy conversation with son?" Cedric asked in an angry tone. "I thought I was clear, no one in or out without us knowing?"

"Sir, that's impossible." Merrick said as a look of confusion crossed his face. 

"How is it impossible? I just fucking told you that the most dangerous man somehow slipped through your men and entered the compound!" Cedric said angrily. His patience was wearing thin as Merrick contradicted what he had just said.

"Sir, no one entered or exited the compound aside from your son." Merrick attempted to explain.

"You aren't hearing me Merrick, our people didn't detect Aiden coming in or out." Cedric said as he pinched the space in between his eyes. He was getting frustrated, he didn't know if he wasn't being clear enough or if Merrick simply didn't understand what he was saying.

"Merrick, find out if we have any loopholes in the security around the Reyes Compound." Cedric told the bodyguard. "I want every possible way in and out of that compound explored. Also, make sure that everything is heightened, I don't want Aiden getting a chance to get close to my family again."

"Yes sir." Merrick simply said with a nod as he waited tentatively for Cedric to dismiss him.

"What are you standing there for?" Cedric asked in an annoyed tone. "Go!" He shouted.

Merrick bowed and exited the office in a rush.

"You'll scare Yoyo!" Ayanna scolded her older brother as she entered his office.

She quickly walked up to her nephew and hugged him tightly, she wanted to comfort him the moment she saw the fear in his eyes.

"Why are you so angry anyway?" Ayanna asked her older brother as she continued to comfort his son.

"I'll tell you later." Cedric hissed as he returned back to his desk and focused on his work.

Ayanna gave her older brother a puzzled look, before finally walking up to him with her nephew in her arms. 

"Cedric, brother, tell me." Ayanna said with a frown. She was worried, Cedric never acted this way, it was completely out of character for him.

"Ayanna, later." Cedric groaned as he kept his attention on the documents on his desk.

"No Cedric, tell me now." Ayanna said in a forceful tone as she slammed her hand on his desk. 

Ayanna ended up scaring even Emilio who burst into tears in her arms, the little boy had never seen his aunt so mad.

"No, no, oh baby don't cry." Ayanna said as she rocked her nephew in her arms.

"Look, just wait for the others." Cedric said with a sigh as he watched his sister try to calm his son down.

"No, you are telling me now." Ayanna insisted as she placed Emilio down on the couch.

"Yoyo, I'm sorry if I scared you." Ayanna said as she combed his short hair. "It's just, your dad got me mad."

"It's okay auntie." Emilio said with a smile as he looked up at her. "Mommy also gets mad at daddy." He said with a laugh. 

"Woah, Ayanna got mad at Cedric? That's a first!" Katerina's familiar voice said as she entered Cedric's office.

"See Ayanna, I told you that you could wait." Cedric siad with a laugh as he placed his files aside.

"Miguel and Nicole aren't here yet." Ayanna said as she looked around the slowly filling room.

"Miguel said he and Nicole are on the way." Veronica informed her with a weak smile.

"How have you and Miguel been Veronica?" Cedric asked as he pulled her into a hug. He knew that the couple had been trying and failing to conceive.

"We visited a specialist and she thinks we are just both stressed." Veronica said with a sigh. "Don't think too much about it."

Cedric simply nodded and didn't probe any further, he respected the couple's need for privacy. It was bad enough that the parents from both sides were looking forward to having grandchildren.

They only had to wait for five more minutes before Miguel and Nicole arrived in Cedric's office.

Cedric let everyone settle down and take a seat, he knew the news that he was going to tell them was quite heavy.

"There was a breach at the Reyes Compound yesterday." Cedric finally said, shocking everyone.

"Was anyone hurt?" Ayanna asked. "Is that why Yoyo is here and not with dad? Who was it?" 

"Everyone is fine, but that is what is most concerning." Cedric said, shaking his head. "If Yoyo didn't come with me here to the office we would never have found out that there was a breach."

"Why?" Ray asked as he eyed his brother-in-law, his worry evident in his eyes. "Who was it Cedric?" Ray asked.

"Aiden Ortiz somehow entered the compound and managed to have a full conversation with my son." Cedric began as he narrated what Emilio had told him and the assistants.

"What did he want?" Alexi asked as he shifted in his seat.

"He had a message, or at least I think this is his message." Cedric said as he thought back to what his son had recalled. 

"Eric, Miguel, Nicole, he knows about your uncle Miguel's son." Cedric announced.

"He has it all wrong, it was a girl." Miguel said with a laugh as he mocked Aiden's message.

"Miguel, he wouldn't have risked going into the compound if he wasn't sure about this." Cedric said as he shook his head. "He also told Emilio that our fathers knew the truth."

"Can't you see he is playing on your doubt again Cedric?" Alexi asked. "He knows you are already doubting them, he is just trying to drive a wedge between you and the dads."

"It isn't just Aiden that has told me that Uncle Miguel's child was a boy." Cedric suddenly announced it was a secret he had been keeping since he hadn't fully confirmed the facts yet. But the coincidence was just too much. "I had Ace do an investigation. The nurse that took care of Uncle Miguel's wife and child said that his child was a son not a daughter."