Never Judge

Cedric sat in the presidential office as he patiently waited with Alexi, Katerina, and Ram. 

The President, Alexi's and Katerina's father, had asked the four of them to come over as soon as word of Lucius Ting throwing a fit at the airport got out.

Cedric knew that Ram had intentionally let the media find out about Louise being deported the moment they were sure that Lucius Ting would not be able to stop it.

He had allowed the members of the media to capture all of the profanities and the un-gentleman like behavior that Lucius Ting had exhibited when he learned he had missed his sister's flight by thirty minutes.

"Thank you, I will address the matter as soon as I can, Ambassador. Please inform the Spanish President that we will protect the country's name in this matter." Cedric heard his Uncle Jose say as he bid his guests farewell and entered his private office.

Cedric could see that Alexi was visibly nervous, while Katerina was calm. 

It was possible that Katerina was in the green, while Alexi was in trouble, he did use some government resources to get Louise arrested and flown out of the country as soon as possible.

Cedric, however, was sure that the President would not be mad at them since they had helped send a dangerous person away.

When the President closed the door behind him, he looked at the four adults sitting in his office. He couldn't help but think that their current expressions reminded him of how they looked when they were in trouble back when they were younger.

Jose Sebastian laughed at how scared his son looked, they weren't in any trouble, as a matter of fact he called them over to congratulate them, not scold them.

"Are you alright, dad?" Katerina asked as he tilted her head to the side and gave her father a confused look.

"I'm fine, Kat." Jose said as he gave his daughter a reassuring smile.

He then turned his attention to his son, who seemed to tense up the moment his eyes met his father's.

"Relax, Alexi, none of you are in trouble." Jose Sebastian told his son with a smile.

He heard an audible sigh of relief coming from Alexi and Ram. The fact that Cedric was not worried didn't surprise Jose Sebastian. 

The young man had always been the most logical among the so-called five princes. He wasn't book smart like Ram and Miguel, but he was street smart and was not naive to the workings of the world.

"I actually called you all here to thank you." Jose Sebastian told them as he gave them a smile. "We were able send a very dangerous person out of our country and you managed to show the people how truly dangerous the Ting siblings actually are."

"Hopefully after this they will want Lucius out of the country." Katerina said with a sigh as she listened to her father's words.

She knew that there was no way he would be mad at them, as a matter of fact she argued with Alexi on the way to their father's office. She knew that sending Louise Ting to Spain would do them more good than harm, especially with the elections fast approaching.

"They won't, at least they won't flock the streets or social media demanding that he be sent away." Cedric said as he analyzed the situation. "Taking Arch Group out of the country will not only result in a lot of jobs being lost, but a big chunk of the economy going up in smoke. It's quite dangerous."

Jose Sebastian nodded in agreement. Cedric was right, it was something he and the other dads had discussed, but the risk to the country was just too much, they needed to consider everyone, not just themselves.

"Don't forget how the optics will be." Ram added as he considered the effects of simply taking Lucius Ting and his company out of the picture. "It will look like the government is siding too much with the Reyes Group. It will seem like an abuse of power."

"Yeah, as if we don't already do that." Katerina said with a sarcastic tone. 

In a perfect world there would be no need for them to use such leverages, but things were not perfect in the Capital and such sacrifices needed to be made. It was, however, also a double edged sword. There were limits to how well and how fast the Reyes Group could expand, it also meant that they needed to be more vigilant with how people reacted to their company.

"The point is, we need to get the public on our side on this and we need to get Lucius Ting to leave on his own." Jose Sebastian told his daughter. 

He was aware too that there was some abuse to some extent, but in the end it was for the greater good.

"Lucius Ting will leave the moment Ming announces that he will no longer cooperate with Arch Group." Cedric told the people in the room with him.

"And don't forget that this incident with Lousie will help sway public opinion." Ram pointed out. "If Guan Ming can cite several instances of distrust was the reason why he will not cooperate with Arch Group, we might be able to get more people to demand that he leave."

"Are you guys forgetting that Lucius Ting still has Wu Jun on his side?" Alexi asked his father and his friend.

"Guan Ming said he would deal with Wu Jun." Cedric told them. "I'm suspecting that he will make a move soon since Wu Jun won't be expecting Guan Ming to do anything while his mom is supposedly sick. If anything, it will be Wu Jun that will move against Guan Ming." 

"And what about Lucius Ting's mess with the Chans?" Alexi asked Cedric.

"The girls are getting close to finding out who his real parents are and what the underlying plot is." Cedric said. "Hopefully they find out soon."

"And hopefully they stay safe.." Ram said with a frown as he thought of his adoptive sister and his cousin getting into too much danger.