Never Judge

When Ian entered Cedric's office he looked up and saw the other man's annoyed expression, Cedric knew that it couldn't be good news.

It had been a week since Benedict and Camilla started living at Aiden's old house. They had been reporting to him remotely as Cedric had instructed.

He made sure that they put up an illusion that they got their money from the Ortiz wealth, rather than through working for Cedric. 

Cedric had expected Lucius' men to approach Benedict within that week, but it seemed that they had chosen to wait.

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed again?" Cedric teased as Ian walked up to him.

"No, but the Chans have been nagging non-stop." Ian complained as he sat across Cedric.

"What is it this time?" Cedric asked. 

"Everything." Ian said as he massaged his temples, he was clearly getting annoyed by his future in laws. "They keep asking when Nicole and I will get married, then they go on saying, if we aren't going to get married yet, then maybe we could give them another grandson. GRANDSON!" Ian said angrily.

"Well, you know how traditional the Chans are, even if they have changed a little over the years, they still have their biases." Cedric said with a shrug as he returned his attention to the work on his desk.

"You know what annoys me the most?" Ian asked.

"What?" Cedric answered without lifting his head to look at his friend. 

"The fact that they want me to manage the Chan businesses after Nicole and I get married." Ian said in a clearly annoyed tone.

"At this rate, you and Nicole are never going to get married." Cedric said with a laugh. He knew that Nicole and her brothers had worked so hard to break that tradition of the Chan family. Nicole would risk everything, even her relationship, just to change that prejudice her family held.

"I promised Nicole that no matter what I would be with her." Ian said with a nod as he placed a tablet on Cedric's desk. "We don't need to be married for us to be together."

"That's all great Ian, but is this the only reason why you barged into my office?" Cedric asked his friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course not." Ian said, shaking his head. "I came in because of this, another annoyance for you." Ian pointed at the tablet in front of them that flashed an invite on the screen.

"What's this?" Cedric asked, Ian knew that he wasn't exactly a fan of events like these. He only attended those that were extremely important. 

"Normally, Camilla would be our representative for events like these, but since you are trying to start a rumor about her falling out with you she can't" Ian said with a shrug.

"Why do I need to be the one to attend?" Cedric asked as he looked at the invitation. It was an invitation to the Gizmo Awards Night, Cedric knew that this was one of the biggest events in the tech industry. "Just get the marketing head to attend or someone else." Cedric said pushing the tablet back to Ian.

"Lucius Ting will be there." Ian announced, catching Cedric's attention once more.

"Why?" Cedric suddenly asked.

"Arch Group will be recognized as the most promising newcomer." Ian said with a shrug. "An award that Mor Co. also won after the rebrand you did, if you can recall."

"That felt like ages ago." Cedric said with a sigh. 

"You know, it's barely been four years." Ian said, shaking his head.

"I know, so much has just happened in these past few years." Cedric said as he studied the invitation. "If I'm not mistaken, there are the awards ceremonies then the party after."

Ian nodded, confirming Cedric's memory of the event. 

"I doubt I will get the chance to speak to Lucius Ting during the awards ceremony." Cedric said, shaking his head.

"Unless he is seated next to you." Ian said with a sly smile.

"No, that would be way too obvious." Cedric said, shaking his head. "I don't want him to feel like we have been watching him. I want him to be afraid that I don't care."

"I'll make sure he is made to attend the after party then." Ian said with a shrug. "Someone will most definitely insist on introducing the two of you."

Cedric nodded, agreeing to Ian's plan.

"I'll speak with the organizer and see if they can make the after party a mandatory event for winners, especially those that are still trying to build their name." Ian said as he quickly typed something on his phone.

"Make it a charity, the after party." Cedric suggested. "People will always say bad things about those that try to avoid charities. And since we know he is adopted, focus it on children who were abandoned at an early age."

"Should I involve Ram in this?" Ian asked Cedric.

Cedric nodded in response. "He will be pissed if we don't include him. Plus I want the media to hype up the charity event after, I want to pressure Lucius Ting to attend."

"Have you patched things up with Adrianna?" Ian suddenly asked.

"She's still mad, but things are better, why do you ask?" Cedric explained, shaking his head. He didn't like it when he and his wife fought, but this is one time that he couldn't give in.

"Well you need a date for this event." Ian said with a shrug. "And I don't think bringing someone else will sit well with Adrianna."

"I'm guessing bringing my sister along is out of the question?" Cedric asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"You could, but I doubt Ayanna would agree to go with you." Ian said with a laugh.

Suddenly Cedric's phone began to ring. He was surprised to see that it was Benedict. The man didn't usually call this early in the day, so something must have happened.

Cedric nodded, signaling Ian to call Mae and Dave, the two were also quite heavily involved in this matter.

Cedric answered the call and placed it on speaker just as his assistants entered the room.

"I'm assuming something happened." Cedric said before Benedict could even speak.

"Yes." Benedict said. "My sister is here with me."

"Hey Cedric." Camilla said over the phone.

"Hey Camilla, I'm surprised you haven't killed your brother." Ian teased over the phone. "I know my siblings and I would be at each other's necks if we were stuck in the same house for over a week with nothing to do."

"Well, I'm not like you." Camilla teased back.

"You have news?" Cedric asked, retuning the conversation back to the topic.

"Yes." Benedict confirmed. "Lucius' men have approached me. They invited me to have dinner with him."

"When?" Cedric asked. 

"Tonight." Benedict informed him.

"Go to it, and bring Camilla with you." Cedric told Benedict. "You don't need to wear a wire, just make sure to tell me everything that is discussed. The timing of this is perfect, he will be boasting during the awards night." Cedric said with a grin.

"You want him over confident at Gizmo?" Camilla asked.

"Yes, the more confident he is, the more he is likely to slip up." Cedric confirmed.

"We'll call you after dinner." Camilla said as she dropped the call.