Never Judge

~To celebrate the 700th chapter of Never Judge, this chapter will be longer than my normal 1k-1.2k word chapters. I hope you all enjoy~

As the night went on Cedric couldn't help but worry that Lucius would retaliate at any moment. Cedric had completely ruined his plans on embarrassing the Reyes Group to the public.

"What's wrong?" Adrianna asked her husband as the last performers bowed on stage.

"I'm just worried hon, nothing is wrong." Cedric said with a weary smile.

"You guys should go home." Ayanna said with a frown as she looked at her brother's and sister-in-law's tired expression.

"We will go home soon so that Adri can rest. I want her and the babies to stay as healthy as possible." Cedric told his sister with a nod.

"And you?" Ray asked his friend and brother-in-law.

"I need to settle some things with Camilla and the others." Cedric told them quite frankly. "You are all free to join if you don't have any other plans tonight."

"It's too late to have plans." Alexi said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you could always go to a bar with Selina." Katerina told her brother with a grin. "I know you miss that, errr. . .scene." Katerina said as she laughed. 

"I have no desire to go to a club unless it is with my friends or my girlfriend. I'm too old for that now." Alexi said as he glared at his sister.

"Selina is calling." Katerina said with a laugh as Alexi's phone began to buzz on the table.

"Thank God. I was so worried, she wasn't replying for a while." Alexi said as he picked up the call and walked away from the table.

Of course Cedric knew exactly why Selina was not replying to his messages. She was first on a call with Francesca and Mau, then later on a call with Cedric. 

And even after that Cedric was sure that she had needed time to collect herself and recover from the painful memory she relieved by telling Cedric and his assistants.

Cedric was worried about Selina, he knew that it had taken a lot for her to tell him and the others her story. He had wanted to reach out but decided against it, thinking that she needed time to recover.

As the night came to a close, Cedric took the stage once more and thanked everyone for joining them. 

He decided to make his closing speech short, promising everyone that the Reyes Group was fully committed to all partnerships and that they would do everything to grow their new partners.

As the night finally ended, Cedric and his friends made their way out of the ballroom, leaving Dave behind to handle the aftermath.

"Ian, something's bothering me." Cedric told his assistant as they walked out of the lobby towards Cedric's car.

"Hmm? What is it?" Ian asked. 

"I expected Lucius Ting to retaliate tonight, but he didn't. Do you have any news on why he didn't?" Cedric asked. 

The fact that Lucius had remained silent the rest of the night still bothered Cedric. He knew the man was not the type to just lay down and quit.

Lucius Ting was the type of person that would fight and keep fighting no matter what, so it came as a mystery to Cedric why he was so silent.

"Your guess is only as good as mine." Ian said with a shrug. "Part of me is hoping that he didn't retaliate because Camilla managed to avoid it."

"I'm pretty sure the siblings had their hand in this." Cedric said with a nod.

"I guess we just need to wait for Camilla's call. Did she tell you what time she would be calling?" Ian asked Cedric as the driver opened the door for Cedric and Adrianna. 

Cedric helped his wife into the car first and told her he would speak with Ian for a little bit more.

Adrianna simply nodded and relaxed in the car, there was no denying that she was exhausted from such an eventful day.

After making sure that his wife was well settled, Cedric closed the door behind him and turned to face Ian again.

"Send Camilla a message, ask her what time she will call." Cedric instructed. "If it's too late, tell her to call tomorrow. We have all had a long day and I'm sure the matter can wait."

"What if it's relevant to the investigation into Louisse?" Ian asked.

"I'm sure it can wait a few hours." Cedric said in a stern tone. "Do you need a ride?" Cedric asked.

"No, I brought my car." Ian told Cedric as he shook his head. "Do you want Dave and Mae to come over too? Just in case Camilla decides to call tonight."

"Check first what time she will be calling, then tell the two to come over as well." Cedric said with a nod as he opened the car door.

"Okay, I'll keep you updated." Ian told Cedric as the latter got into the car and closed the door behind him.

As Cedric relaxed in the backseat, he pulled his wife closer to him and kissed the top of her head.

"What's wrong?" Adrianna asked. "You guys were acting like we have another big problem on our hands." 

"I thought we were hiding it quite well." Cedric told her as he gave his wife a confused look.

"To people who don't know you, maybe." Adrianna said as she interlaced her finger's with Cedric's. "But I am your wife, Ayanna is your sister, and Ray is your best friend. We all knew something was bothering you."

Cedric took a deep breath and smiled.

"Why am I so lucky to have people like you guys on my side?" Cedric said with a laugh as Adrianna leaned on his chest. 

"So what's bothering you?" Adrianna asked her husband again.

"Just Lucius Ting stuff." Cedric admitted. 

"Still worried that he will do something worse?" Adrianna asked her husband as she recalled his worries from earlier at the event.

"It's not exactly that." Cedric said with a sigh. "We were told that he had an unknown woman escorted out of the bar he and Camilla were in, and we went to investigate who she was."

"Is she his mistress or something?" Adrianna asked Cedric.

"We honestly don't know." Cedric admitted. "We are hoping that she is no one important, but it seems like she might be someone important to him."

"Did you find out who she is?" Adrianna asked.

"Not exactly." Cedric said with a frown as he looked out the window of their car. They were now driving past the older part of the capital, where many of the old stone structures stood.

Cedric couldn't help but think of how his family's business was actually started in this older part of the capital. The Reyeses have been in business for generations, with each generation making the company strong and larger.

He sighed as he thought of the predicament he was in. Going up against Lucius Ting was the hardest challenge he had to face since taking on his role as the CEO of the Reyes Group. 

Cedric didn't want to admit it, but Lucius Ting could potentially take down what generations of Reyeses had built, something Cedric refused to allow.

"Is she dangerous?" Adrianna asked, pulling Cedric back from his thoughts and back to reality.

"She is." Cedric admitted with a nod. "She's hurt a lot of people, some we even know."

"Who?" Adrianna asked.

"Selina and I think Francesca." Cedric told his wife. "Alexi doesn't know about it and Ram doesn't have the details. It was quite a traumatic incident for Selina."

"Will Selina be alright?" Adrianna asked, her worry clear in her tone.

"I think so." Cedric said. "Alexi rushed over to her as soon as he got her call. He loves her and he will never let anyone hurt her again."

Suddenly, Cedric's phone was buzzing, he looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ian. He was probably calling about Camilla so Cedric picked up the phone.

"So? What did Camilla say?" Cedric asked.

"She'll call tonight. She said it was urgent. I suggest you ask everyone to come over to your place, Camilla sounded a little bit shaken." Ian informed Cedric.

"Alright. Drive safe." Cedric told Ian as he dropped the call. 

"Thanks, I'll ask Mae and Dave to come over to your place as soon as they wrap things up at Constellations." Ian informed Cedric.

"Thanks." Cedric said as he dropped the call.

"Is it bad?" Adrianna asked as she looked up at her husband, her worry visible in her eyes.

"I don't know yet, but it might be. Camilla just told Ian it was urgent and I trust Camilla's intuition." Cedric informed his wife. 

"I'll call home and ask them to prepare some late night snacks and maybe even the guest rooms. Who will we be expecting?" Adrianna asked Cedric as she took out her phone from her bag.

"Everyone." Cedric said with a frown.

"That bad?" Adrianna asked.

"Yes." Cedric said as he nodded.

Adrianna didn't say another word, she simply took out her phone and began to call the maids back at home and give them instructions.

Cedric sighed and shook his head, it seemed there would be no rest tonight.

He quickly searched through his contacts and asked all his friends to come over.