Never Judge

As soon as the old man had collapsed, Miguel came running into the room with a few of his nurses. 

Cedric had called him beforehand, he knew there was a risk in revealing the truth to grandpa Ortiz.

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"Send everyone home." Cedric told Tony in a cold tone, not wanting to break his image of a cold and ruthless businessman. 

Tony nodded and enlisted the rest of the Lobo family to help him send the guests home.

Many gossiped as they walked out of the ballroom, it wasn\'t everyday that saw the Ortiz family brought to their knees. Of course now, it was all just the old man and the siblings that belonged to the family.

"How is he?" Cedric asked as the nurses lifted the old man on to a stretcher. 

"He just got shocked, it wasn\'t a heart attack or anything." Miguel said with a shrug.

"Uncle, can we place him in a spare room to recover?" Cedric asked Adrianna\'s uncle, Ivan Lobo.

"Sure, just ask a maid to prepare a room." Ivan Lobo said with a nod.

"Sir, you don\'t need to do this for our grandfather." Benedict said as a guilty look spread across his face.

"It was your brother that we were mad at, not the old man." Ivan Lobo said with a nod, assuring Benedict. "Let\'s move on from that, Aiden and Jam are both now dead. It\'s no use holding grudges."

Cedric was surprised at how much Ivan Lobo had changed in the past year. He used to be a cocky man that constantly looked down at Cedric, but now he was a completely different person.

Ivan seemed to notice Cedric\'s surprise. He smiled at Cedric and nodded.

"Jam\'s death and well your identity too made me realize many things." Ivan explained. "I know now how wrong I was back then to judge you. Even if you were poor you are a good man Cedric, and that\'s what matters."

"I am glad." Cedric said with a nod as he watched the nurses take grandpa Ortiz to a spare room on the first floor of the mansion.

"We will see to the guests." Ivan Lobo said as he noticed Camilla and Benedict walking over to speak to Cedric.

Cedric nodded and let the older man go.

"How are the both of you?" Cedric asked as Camilla wiped the tears off of her eyes.

"I didn\'t think I would cry." Camilla said with a frown. "It was really embarrassing."

"There is nothing wrong with you being hurt by what your family had done." Adrianna said as she joined them. "Just because they are family, doesn\'t mean you have to tolerate everything about them."

"Yeah, don\'t let it reach the same point as Adri." Cedric said, agreeing with his wife.

"My experience with the Hernandezes taught me a harsh lesson." Adrianna said as she recalled what her family had tried to do. "They were willing to sell off their relatives just to advance their wealth and power. I was lucky that Cedric is who he is."

"Thank you." Benedict said with a sincere look in his eyes. "If it weren\'t for you guys I don\'t know what would have happened to us."

"It\'s nothing." Cedric said with a nod.

"We should go and check up on grandpa." Camilla said with a frown.

"You don\'t need to go, I could watch him on my own." Benedict said as he noticed that Camilla wasn\'t too happy with the idea of waiting on their grandfather to wake up.

"No, I want to go." Camilla said, shaking her head.

"We can go with you." Cedric offered as he looked at Adrianna, visually asking if she would be fine with it.

"Yes, we can accompany you." Adrianna said, agreeing with Cedric. "I know this is difficult on you Camilla. You\'ll need friends by your side."

"Thank you." Camilla said with a nod.

When they got to the room where grandpa Ortiz had been placed, they were surprised to find Emilio Reyes III and Miguel speaking to the old man who had now regained consciousness.

Cedric frowned as he saw his father step aside, allowing Benedict and Camilla to approach their grandfather.

"Camilla." The old man said with a sad look in his eyes.

Cedric could see Camilla\'s hesitation, she refused to take a step closer.

What happened next surprised everyone, Emilio Reyes walked up to Camilla and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Give him a chance, Camilla." Emilio Reyes told her. "It\'s time we moved on from the past and took a step towards a better tomorrow."

"Uncle, I don\'t know." Camilla said as he voice trembled. She seemed like a child about to break down.

"It\'s okay, Camilla." Her grandfather said as he looked up at her from the bed with a sad look in his eyes. "If you aren\'t ready, we can talk when you are ready."

"Camilla, just hear him out for now." Emilio Reyes said.

Cedric sometimes forgot how his father and uncles stood as second parents to Camilla as she was growing up. 

They had felt so bad for the little girl who had been abandoned by her birth parents that they made a promise to make sure she got the best future possible.

"Dad." Cedric said as he approached his father. He was shocked at how his father was asking Camilla to give the old man a chance. 

He was the very person that had fueled Aiden\'s hatred, leading to Priscilla Reyes\' death. Cedric was shocked that his father could forgive the man so easily.

"I know what you are thinking, Cedric." Emilio told his son. "I\'ll talk to you and Ayanna later."

Cedric nodded, understanding that his father always had his reasons.

"Alright, I\'ll hear him out." Camilla said with a nod as she took a seat next to her grandfather\'s bed.

"Camilla, first of all, I\'m sorry." The old man said with a frown. "I should have done more. Back then I knew that your mom and dad both didn\'t want to have another child, but you came into their life."

"I was unwanted." Camilla said with a frown as a stray tear fell from her cheek.

Cedric watched as his wife went over and handed Camilla her handkerchief and hugged her.

"They might not have wanted you, but you were never unwanted." Grandpa Ortiz said, shaking his head. "If I had known they were going to leave you I would have taken you from them."

"What happened that day?" Camilla asked, despite everything she wanted to know, she wanted to understand her parents. People didn\'t do things just cause they wanted to, there had to be more behind her abandonment.