Never Judge



"I know you're still mad that she was speaking to me but not to you." Eric sighed over the phone.

Al didn't respond to his cousin's words, he simply grunted and rolled his eyes. 

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Eric was right, he was still mad. Al just didn't like the fact that he was reacting that way. It was irrational and out of character for him. 

Jealousy was a weakness, and in this case, it was a weakness that could tear apart the strong bond between cousins.

Realizing that his cousin wasn't going to respond to his words, Eric decided to move on and give him an update.

"It was a beautiful service by the way, several women claimed to be pregnant with your child." Eric chuckled.

"It's to be expected." Al really wasn't surprised that this had happened.

According to his elders' stories, the same thing had happened after Eric Chan Sr.'s  death. 

Women kept claiming to be pregnant with his child. 

It was funny to hear because they took the richest and most influential people in the country as fools. 

Of course proof was demanded, and when that time came some even desperately tried to get proof. 

There were multiple attempts to get DNA from Eric Chan Jr. as well as to kidnap the young boy himself.

"They are pretty stupid." Eric commented.

"It shouldn't be a problem to the family." Al replied.

"Of course not, but someone was very hurt." Eric sounded sad and pained. Of course he didn't want his friend to be hurt.

"The truth will come out soon enough." Al answered, pretending not to care.

"I know you're worried about what she thinks." Eric told Al, clearly worried for him. "Don't worry, she knows that you've never slept with anyone."

"Why did you call, Eric?" Al grumbled, annoyed at his cousin's cheery attitude. "Shouldn't you be trying to recover, you were in a coma for a few days after the accident."

Eric chuckled at the other end of the line.

He was currently sitting in his bedroom in the Lawrence Family mansion. 

His mother and his aunt and uncle decided that this was still the safest and best place for him to stay. 

There were probably people out there searching for him, people who thought he knew more about the accident.

Katerina Chan also decided to move into the Lawrence family home in order to accompany her son and to care for him.

"Don't you want an update on what's happening here?" Eric asked his cousin in a more serious tone. "I'm sure you're worried about everyone."

Al didn't need to respond, his cousin already knew the answer. 

"The most torn up is your father, I can see it in his eyes. He doesn't show it but it's clear that he is beating himself up after your death." Eric told Al.

"I'm sure he will try to investigate things, don't tell him anything." Al instructed his cousin.

"Sure, I won't tell him that weeks before your death you captured the person that was set up to rig your car to explode." Eric said in a sarcastic tone.

"Eric." Al warned.

He knew that his cousin would never betray him unless it was for Al's own safety. 

"And I won't tell him that you sabotaged your own car right after we left the party." Eric pointed out. "I won't tell Uncle Ray that all his worrying should be worse because he thinks you are dead when in fact you are still alive chasing death."

"I know you aren't happy about my decision Eric, but this is how things have to be." Al told his cousin over the phone.

"Aunt Ayanna is in tears every night, Cara fainted once already out of grief, Angel isn't eating, and Andres has been to the underworld headquarters multiple times this week." Eric told Al. 

"I'll have Colin soon." Al said. "You won't have to worry about keeping what you know a secret for too long." 

"Idiot." Eric scoffed. "I'm not worried about keeping your secret, I've been keeping your secrets since we were kids. Our strength is in our resources and the people around us, Al, when will you realize this."

Al shook his head and sighed.

Eric wasn't wrong, their families were stronger when they all helped each other conquering all aspects of strength and influence in the country. 

But this was a unique instance.

"Unfortunately, Eric, this is one of those times where our reach and connections actually work against ups." Al told his cousin. 

Eric frowned as he looked out at the distance. 

There was a silence over the line as Eric carefully considered his cousin's words. 

He knew that Al wouldn't do something like this lightly.

"Eric, they knew that there somehow was a relationship between the King of the Underworld and our family. I was targeted for a reason, they are getting closer." Al said, warning his cousin. "I don't need to tell you how dangerous it would be if everyone knew who the king of the Underworld is."

"I know." Eric said. 

"Colin's side has already relaxed, they aren't as tight lipped as they used to be." Al told his cousin.

Eric was silent as he considered his cousin's words.

"What do you plan to do next? Have you gathered new information?" Eric questioned. 

"I have, Sora just sent me a new package and it seems that I need to reach out to one of our fathers' old friends." Al said as he looked at the document on the screen. 

"Oh?" Eric asked. "Which one?"

"Uncle Guan Ming." Al said as he grinned at the personal profile on his screen.

"What does a Chinese businessman have to do with Colin Jao and his organization?" Eric questioned.

"Uncle Ming isn't just a Chinese businessman." Al laughed. 

Their Uncle Ming didn't look like it, but he was truly dangerous and much more influential behind closed doors. 

"Don't tell me he is like Uncle Ray too!" Eric said, shocked by this new piece of information.

"Why do you think that when Uncle Cedric couldn't solve a problem with his resources here he contacted Uncle Ming?" Al asked his cousin.

"It was a threat from his country, I thought Uncle Cedric called him in because of that." Eric had of course heard of the dilemma that had eventually led to his father's death. 

Katerina Chan and Cedric Reyes never hid the truth from the children. 

The adults all firmly believed that their own experiences could help the next generation, so no matter how painful the memories were, they told the children these stories.

As Al and Eric grew older, their parents told them more details, they had still kept the worst from them when they were younger.

"Don't tell me you plan on contacting him, he won't believe you." Eric pointed out. 

Al had slowly changed some of his features, his eyes were a different color now, his hair was also different. 

He wore prosthetics to change the shape of his nose and he had also done things to slightly alter the color of his skin. 

"I would need your help for it." Al said, admitting that his new identity had some drawbacks to it. 

"What do you need?" Eric asked.

Eric was more than eager to help. The sooner Al managed to capture Colin the sooner he could return to his old life. 

"I need you to contact Uncle Ming and tell him about your friends Angelo and Max Crotez, tell him that we are Aldric Lawrence's people that he sent to investigate threats on his life." Al instructed.

He had carefully crafted an identity for situations such as these.

"When will you arrive?" Eric asked. He knew that Guan Ming wouldn't accept his words without details. 

"A week, there are some things here that I need to settle." Al said as he looked towards one of the rooms in the apartment. 

"Like torturing the spy?" Eric asked.

"Yes. So will you help me?" Al asked his cousin. 

"Of course, Max, it's the least I owe my late cousin." Eric teased.

Al smiled at Eric's playful tone, he was glad he had already recovered. Eric being injured to that extent was not something they had planned.

They had miscalculated the speed at which the car was going and it resulted in a grave injury on Eric's part.

"Eric, how are you feeling?" Al asked. "What's your condition? You were in a wheelchair during the funeral." 

"I'm fine, Al. You don't need to worry about me." Eric answered confidently.

"No, seriously Eric, don't lie. You know I will find out the truth eventually." Al told his cousin in a stern tone.

He knew there was a chance that Eric was downplaying the matter in order to save Al from worrying about him.

"I'll recover, don't worry." Eric said over the phone. "I have to go, Angel and Cara wanted to shop and your dad doesn't want them to go out without a companion."

"Take care of my girls for me." Al said.

"I will." Eric promised as he ended the call, leaving Al in the silence of the apartment all alone. 

Al stood up and moved from his desk to the door of the spare room. 

He couldn't help but feel anger and hate for the person who stood behind it. This person was the reason why Colin had gotten so close into learning about his father's identity.

It was all because Al had gotten involved with that person that he was in this situation.

But there was always a bright side to it, at least now they knew more and he actually had a chance of getting closer to capturing Colin in years.

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