Never Judge

Cedric was finally discharged from the hospital the next day after lunch. Alexi would be discharged right before they left for the Capital. 

`The Lobos had allowed Cedric to use the home library as his office for the day. He was reviewing some reports on his laptop when a maid announced that Camilla and Benedict had arrived.

The siblings had been staying at Benedict's nearby vacation home. Both Aiden and their grandfather had no idea about the home Benedict had purchased for himself in their hometown.

"Did he accept?" Cedric asked as he heard the siblings enter.

"Yes, grandfather accepted." Camilla announced. 

"I suggest you both stay in here later until I can tell him that you are both still alive." Cedric said as he looked up from the reports he was reading.

Camilla and Benedict both nodded in agreement.

"Benedict, there is something I wanted to ask you about. I kind of slipped my mind with all the commotion." Cedric told Benedict as he motioned for both of them to take a seat.

Camilla and Benedict did as he asked and took a seat across Cedric.

"What is it?" Benedict asked. "I'll answer anything you want to know." 

Cedric knew that Benedict desperately wanted to erase any doubts from Cedric's mind, in all honesty Cedric had no doubts that Benedict was not a traitor. He had tried multiple times to ease Benedict's doubts but the young man was too scared of making a mistake.

"Your brother told my son something when he found a way to get into the Reyes Mansion." Cedric told Benedict. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"If it was something he learned or acted on before my fake death, I would most likely know something about it." Benedict said with a nod.

"He said he knew about the secret cousin of the Chan siblings. Did you know about this?" Cedric asked as he leaned forward, observing Benedict's reaction.

Benedict sighed and shook his head.

"Unfortunately, that was one project where I was barely involved." Benedict confessed. "I know he traveled to Italy, Switzerland, and Spain often to find him. I think my brother did find him, he was boasting one day about setting the guy up."

"The guy?" Cedric asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. My brother set him up in school with enough funds to build his own company." Benedict admitted. "I thought he was planning something big, but when nothing happened after, I guess Aiden pitied him or something."

"It's not like your brother to just put so much money and effort in finding a person and not use him." Cedric said as he began thinking of what Aiden could have done to the missing cousin.

"I can try to find him." Benedict said with a shrug. "My brother left most of his documents and files at the mansion."

"You haven't sold the place?" Cedric asked.

"I have, I just gathered everything and placed it in storage." Benedict said with a shrug. "I knew my brother had lies on top of lies. He had schemes everywhere. I was worried that one of them would be a way for him to get out of prison."

"It's a good thing you were prepared." Cedric said with a nod. "If you need anything, just tell your sister. My resources will be at your disposal."

"Thank you." Benedict said with a nod. "If I find anything odd I'll tell you, regardless if it is related to the missing Chan cousin or not."

Cedric nodded and thanked Benedict.

"How are you feeling?" Cedric asked Camilla as he looked at her with concern.

"About what?" Camilla asked. "There are so many things going on at the same time you need to be more specific, Cedric."

"About meeting your grandfather." Cedric said with a chuckle. He knew Camilla was already starting to get anxious. She always became irritable when she got anxious.

"Well I don't really remember him that well." Camilla said with a shrug.

"Mom and dad didn't bring us to him that much." Benedict explained. "They wanted him to be a safe place for us to run to if something happened to them."

"Well their plan worked well." Camilla said with a shrug. "Grandpa Ortiz was the person that took you and Aiden in."

"I just wish things turned out differently." Benedict said with a frown.

"Sir, your wife is looking for you." A maid said, entering Cedric's office. "She asked me to remind you that you still needed to get ready for dinner."

"Thank you." Cedric told the maid with a nod. "Tell Adri I will be up soon."

The maid nodded and left.

"Will the two of you be fine here?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah." Camilla said, nodding with a smile. "I want to get some work done. Having you and my brother discussing Aiden's schemes will just distract me. Go to Adrianna."

"If you need anything, just call for a maid." Cedric said.

"Sure, Dave and I will pack up your things." Camilla said as she pushed Cedric out the door. "Go to your wife. We all know you fear her above everyone."

Cedric laughed as he left the room.

The Lobos had rolled out the red carpet for Cedric, his family, and all the people he had housed at the Lobo mansion.

Despite Cedric's refusal they had given him and Adrianna the master bedroom, prior to Cedric's arrival they also had all the guest rooms refurbished and modernized, making them some of the best rooms in the house.

The dinner tonight as well would also be a show of power and wealth for the Lobo family. Initially, Cedric had asked them to prepare a small dinner, just them and grandpa Ortiz, but that was not enough for the Lobos.

They decided that this night would be when they announced who was behind Jam's murder. They had also managed to convince Camilla and Benedict to announce to the whole province who they really were.

Cedric was surprised when the siblings agreed with their plan. Both Benedict and Camilla were usually shy individuals, preferring to work in the shadows rather than in the spotlight. So when they agreed to the extravagant affair, there was nothing that Cedric could do.

Cedric looked at his watch, he had an hour to prepare for the party. He was sure that it would be anything but boring.