Never Judge

"What did you want to tell me?" Cedric asked. It was not odd for Katerina to be so secretive, in her line of work and in her family\'s line of work it was only normal and it came naturally to the young lawyer.

"The issue between Jen and Selina might not be as simple as it sounds." Katerina said nervously.

​​

"You had them investigated?" Cedric asked in surprise. "Why not tell your brother what you discovered?" 

"Because Alexi is madly in love with Jen, and it\'s not something I gathered from intel, it\'s something I personally know." Katerina told Cedric.

"You know Jen and Selina?" Cedric was surprised with what Katerina had just said. He was under the impression that Alexi only met Nurse Jen in Miguel\'s hospital.

"No not Jen, but both Alexi and I know Selina." Katerina revealed. "As a matter of fact, our parents know her parents."

Katerina\'s revelation shocked Cedric, it made him suddenly wonder how this impacted everything between Alexi and Jen.

Seeing as Cedric was processing the new information she had just fed, Katerina continued to say what she knew.

"Selina comes from a decent family, we met her and the rest of the Ramirez family eight years ago." Katerina explained. "Her father and our dad were friends back in university, and at the time that we met her, mom and dad were trying to introduce her to Alexi in the hopes that he would be interested in her as more than just a fling." 

"What happened?" Cedric asked.

"Well, mom and dad initially wanted to arrange a marriage between them, but while we were at their place I noticed that she deserved better than my brother. You know how he was at that time, he was bad news. So I told Selina that he wasn\'t a good man and that she should avoid him at all costs." Katerina explained.

"So she and the Ramirez family rejected the proposal?" Cedric asked, to which Katerina simply nodded.

"But from what Alexi told us it was Selina that played with Jen\'s heart." Cedric said as he tried to recall how Alexi had described Selina. 

"I\'m afraid that my brother is too smitten with Nurse Jen to see clearly. I don\'t believe that Selina liked girls at all." Katerina explained.

"How do you know?" Cedric asked.

"When we met them, the way she stared at Alexi, it was different." Katerina said with a little hesitation. "I\'ve never seen anyone look at my brother that way, I think it was love at first sight."

"Don\'t be a child Katerina, you know that love at first sight isn\'t real." Cedric said with a laugh.

"Well no matter what it was, she doesn\'t seem the type." Katerina said, shaking her head. "Also, I don\'t trust Jen. Something about her is just off to me."

"Maybe you\'re being like this because all your life you\'ve seen Alexi as a playboy, and the only woman you thought he would love was Ilya Carpio." Cedric said as he mentioned the name of Alexi\'s first love.

"No, this has nothing to do with Ilya." Katerina said, shaking her head. "I just don\'t trust Nurse Jen." 

"Okay, okay, I\'ll be careful when it comes to Alexi\'s woman." Cedric promised. He could see how serious Katerina was about defending Selina.

"Thank you, and don\'t tell Alexi I told you about our relationship with the Ramirez family. He\'s gonna be furious." Katerina said with a gentle smile as they walked back to the car.

"You told him?" Eric asked as they approached.

Katerina ran over and hugged her boyfriend. "Yup." Cedric heard her say as she held on to Eric.

"Drive safe." Eric said with a nod as Cedric climbed into the car.

"Eric Chan, is related to Nicole and Miguel Chan?" Jas Ortega suddenly asked, making Cedric jump in surprise.

"Yeah." Cedric answered as he started the car.

"And the woman in his arms?" Jas asked, unsure of what to say.

"His girlfriend." Cedric said plainly.

"Isn\'t she Katerina Sebastian, the lawyer and the President\'s daughter?" Jas was clearly making sure that she saw the right person.

"Yes, and you aren\'t allowed to tell anyone." Cedric warned. "I don\'t think I need to tell you how powerful those families are, if you make the wrong move, or say something, they could easily deal with you." 

"I do, I know." Jas said, shaking her head. "It\'s just too shocking. Eric Chan, the national husband is related to the medical family. And oh my, how will his fans react to the fact that he is already off the market, and it\'s not just some simple woman, it\'s someone who might just be even better than him." Jas\' voice was shaking in excitement and shock.

"Is this where you live?" Cedric asked as he pulled up on a street filled with large houses.

"Yep." Jas said with a nod.

"And that\'s the Park house." Jas pointed towards a well lit modern style mansion that had clearly been renovated recently.

"Damien\'s parent\'s home?" Cedric asked.

"Yup, but he doesn\'t go home there anymore." Jas explained.

"And that one is the Lim family home. It\'s the largest in the area." Jas explained as she pointed at a house that covered half the block and the corner. 

Cedric could only see the green roofs, there were high walls that surrounded the place and the grass outside had grown beyond control, it looked like a haunted house next to all the manicured lawns and well lit houses in the area.

"For a time we thought that they would have to sell their house." Jas said with a sigh. "I asked my parents to help out, but they refused. According to them the Lims lost so much that it would take generations to recover. Anyway, I should get going. Thanks Cedric, I hope your boss appreciates the effort you and Ian put into working for him."

Before Cedric could reply, Jas had already gotten out of the car and closed the door behind her. 

Cedric drove forward and stopped in front of the Lim house, he looked at it for a while and wondered what this place had looked like when the Lims were at their peak. From the outside you could see remnants of the once majestic home. 

The whole stretch was dark, Cedric could see a light inside, but the lamps on the wall were all either switched off or broken. There was a guard house outside, whose windows were all broken in with the paint peeling off, and the large gate was now rusted and faded. He looked up to a tree that had gone wild with time and the vines were now climbing over the wall. 

Cedric sighed as he thought of what the Lim family had to go through these past years, it seemed Ian had suffered much more than he did even if he was in poverty training. Cedric felt sad that he and his father could do nothing at the time to help, since the Lims did not even reach out to them, and even now Ian preferred to reach his goal with his own skills rather than have Cedric hand the company over to him.

Cedric sighed as he looked at the old house, as he imagined it in it\'s old glorious state he swore to help Ian in every way possible.