Never Judge

Cedric smiled as he locked his phone and placed it in his pocket. It seemed that his wife, Adrianna, was in a good mood today.

She had just agreed to join them for dinner and suggested bringing their son, Yoyo, along.

It was the perfect event to bring their son to since it was in a controlled environment, R Tower, where the kid could come and go without being spotted. 

The people who would be joining them for dinner were mostly family and friends and an individual whom they would have limited interaction with in the future.

"Yoyo is coming." Cedric informed his assistants who were in the car with him.

"Wow, the overprotective dad allowed his son to come to a social event?" Ian teased.

Cedric rolled his eyes, unamused by Ian's joke at his expense. 

"You know why I'm doing this." Cedric said as he gave Ian a stern look. 

Since there was limited space in Cedric's car, Dave was driving while Ian sat in the front seat. 

Ian simply laughed at his friend's reaction as they continued to drive towards the airport. They were only a few minutes away and Mae had informed them that Atty. Mien's plane had landed.

"Tell him to go to the VIP arrivals." Cedric instructed Mae.

"Ian, could you give the airport management a call?" Cedric asked Ian who simply nodded and took out his phone. 

As soon as they got to the airport, they were escorted by airport security to the VIP arrivals area where Atty. Mien was waiting for them. 

When their car came to a stop, Mae quickly got off and greeted the young lawyer. They hadn't had that much interaction when Mae was in Singapore, but they had somehow formed a deep bond.

"My boss came over to pick you up as well." Cedric heard Mae tell the man. "He also arranged for a welcome dinner."

"Oh, thank you." The lawyer said with a nod as several airport attendants came over and took his bags, quickly stowing them in the trunk of the car.

"Please, come in." Cedric said with a smile as he had told Dave to roll down the window to greet their guest.

"Mr. Reyes, I'm very surprised that you came to pick me up." Atty. Mein said as he climbed into Cedric's car. "And might I just add, I love your car." 

Cedric grinned at the praise he had received, this was of course, his favorite Rolls Royce Ghost, the only car he had insisted his father purchase for him.

"Thank you, it's my favorite." Cedric said as Mae closed the door behind her.

"So our itinerary will be dinner at R Tower, that's the headquarters of the Reyes Group. There is a very popular restaurant there called Nouveau, Mr. Reyes has invited his family to join us." Mae informed Atty. Mien as they left the airport.

"It will be an honor to see your wife again, she truly is a rare beauty." Atty. Mien praised.

"That she is." Cedric said with a nod and a smile. 

"I'm not saying this just to get on your good side sir, but your wife really is pretty. You make a good looking couple." Atty. Mien said.

"You'll see what the two of them combined looks like today." Mae said.

"Oh?" Atty. Mien asked in surprise. "I'll meet Emilio Reyes IV?"

"Yes, I decided that this is a good event to bring my son to." Cedric said with a nod. "He doesn't get to be around people much and I would like to change that as much as possible."

"To be honest, sir, I thought you were intentionally hiding him from the public because of your whole poverty training thing." The lawyer nervously said.

Cedric laughed as he saw Atty. Mien quickly regret speaking so freely around him. 

"It's fine." Cedric told the lawyer, trying to put him at ease. "You don't need to be so formal around me. But yes, I am keeping my son away from the public eye, but this is a private dinner."

"Mr. Reyes only invited you, his wife, his sister and her husband, and us, his assistants, Atty. Mien." Mae informed Atty. Mien.

"Please, just call me Mien, I really never liked people calling me by my title. It makes me feel old." He told Mae.

"Alright then Mien." Mae said with a smile.

"Are you sure about trusting me with how your son looks? What if I'm secretly a spy or someone working for your enemies. Isn't this dangerous?" Mien asked Cedric who simply laughed.

"Ced had a thorough background check done on you. We even know stuff you don't." Ian told the lawyer as they entered the busy part of the city.

"Ian!" Mae scolded as she kicked the chair.

"You do know that doesn't do anything right?" Ian asked, laughing at the younger assistant.

"It's alright Mae, I was planning on telling our guest tonight." Cedric told Mae, stopping her from reacting anymore violently. 

"Telling me what?" Mien asked as he gave Cedric a confused look.

"I'm sure you understand that I had to ask my people to run a thorough background check on you?" Cedric asked. 

"It's only natural." Mien said with a nod.

"We found some things about you that might interest you." Cedric told him with a shrug. 

"Things I don't know?" Mien asked. "With all due respect sir, but I think I would know if I had secrets."

"There are some things our parents keep from us to protect us because they love us." Cedric said with a sigh.

"Ah, welcome to R Tower!" Mae excitedly said, interrupting Cedric's conversation with Mien. 

Cedric's car slowly rounded the building allowing Mien to take a good look before finally entering the underground parking lot.

"We need to enter through the basement for your safety." Mae told Mien. "The Reyes family has a lot of enemies and if they see you arriving with Mr. Reyes, it will paint a target on your back."

Mien simply nodded as the car pulled up to the underground driveway. 

Ian and Dave were quick to get off with Dave handing the keys back to the waiting driver. 

"Let's talk in my office first before dinner." Cedric told his assistants as he looked at his watch. 

It was still early and he had time to explain to Mien what Ian had discovered about his family.