Never Judge

Cedric knew something was wrong the moment they didn\'t take advantage of his meeting the employees they had threatened and blackmailed.

"This is crazy!" Ian grumbled as he flopped on his seat in Cedric\'s home office. It was the weekend hence Cedric had simply decided to deal with what work he could while spending as much time with his family.

"I know, I know. It\'s not normal." Cedric sighed as he looked through the report of all the actions the Rajas had made over the past few days.

"They should have done something by now." Ian stood up and paced across the room. "I was so sure they were going to make a move when you had Adrianna and the children return to the capital, but nothing. It was just silence." Ian grumbled.

"These people are more politicians than businessmen." Cedric looked through all of his files again, studying every move made against them both in the past and in the present.

"What are you talking about?" Ian asked Cedric as he walked over and took a peek at what Cedric was reading. "How can you even make sense of all of these?"

"It\'s about the bigger picture." Cedric said with a sigh as he placed the documents back down and leaned back.

He closed his eyes as he tried to picture each action the Rajas had made, he tried to imagine what effect each of those actions had and what the outcome was.

Cedric knew that the Rajas were unlike anyone they had ever encountered.

Unlike the people that had challenged him before, the Rajas had an unknown amount of resources.

Their influence was also hidden from Cedric.

These people had done such atrocities in the past and yet they were capable of changing the narrative, of rewriting history.

"Cedric!" Ray came charging in through the door, making Cedric jump from his seat.

"What?" Cedric asked as he sat back up.

"I thought you sent enough men to watch over my wife, your sister!" Ray was clearly furious about something, but Cedric couldn\'t figure it out.

Noticing the confused look on Cedric\'s face, Ray walked towards him and slammed a piece of paper on the desk.

"She hasn\'t shown you this?" Ray crossed his arms on his chest as he waited for Cedric to pick the document up and read through it.

Seeing the words on the piece of paper, Cedric turned pale.

"Where did you get this?" He placed the piece of paper back on the desk and pointed at it.

Ian moved from his spot as he tried to see what Cedric was pointing at.

"It was placed into her pocket when she and the girls were in the mall. Imagine two pregnant women shopping and this shit happens!" Ray was hysteric at this point.

It was his wife and unborn child that were at risk. It was Ayanna that the Rajas had chosen to target, possibly because out of all the women she was closest to him.

Cedric calmly took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Come to my office now." He didn\'t even wait for the person at the other end of the line to acknowledge what he had said. He knew that Leon would do as he had asked.

Luckily, Leon was lounging outside when Cedric called him.

"Sir." Leon had a serious expression on his face. He knew something was wrong, Cedric was clearly mad about something.

"I want you to do a thorough sweep of all our personal employees, I want to be sure that there are no spies or traitors." Cedric hissed. "I want you to check Ray\'s people as well."

"You think this is an inside job?" Ray asked as he pointed at the document on the table.

"Yes." Cedric nodded.

Eventually Ian finally got his hand on the document that had caused such a stir among two of the most powerful men in the city.

He too was shocked at what it read.

\'If we can get this to your sister, we can get to anyone.\' It was a threat that the Rajas were everywhere.

\'Release Lucius Ting or a letter is the least of your problems.\' The message read.

It was also signed with the symbol of the Rajas, one that they had been using for decades.

"Will you do as they ask?" Ian looked up at the two men, he knew just how important their families were to them.

Both men had increased the security around the people they valued in the past weeks. Having a breach as serious as this would not be taken lightly by either of them.

"No." Cedric spoke before Ray could even say anything.

"What do you mean no?" Ray was furious with Cedric\'s answer. "You need to at least consider this. They managed to get close to Ayanna when she was surrounded by guards and friends."

"That\'s why I\'m having everyone investigated." Cedric declared. "There is a rat we missed out and I want to make sure he or she either sings or we send a message to the Rajas."

"We both know that means you can\'t hand Lucius Ting over to the Esteves family yet." Ian pointed out. "They will not be happy."

"They can wait." Cedric declared.

"You need to at least consider handing Lucius Ting over if we do not find who is their rat." Ray urged Cedric.

"You\'re worried about your wife and child, isn\'t Ayanna going to find out the gender today? Why not let me worry about this problem and enjoy every moment with your wife. This doesn\'t happen often." Cedric told his friend.

Ray sighed and shook his head as he turned around and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we might have to do as the Rajas ask." Ian told Cedric as he slid the document back to his friend.

"I\'m not one to give up and give in, are you?" Cedric asked as he continued to stare at the door the Ray had just walked out of.