Never Judge

Chapter 257 - 257

"Do you need a moment?" Cedric asked Ian. He knew that it would be difficult for Ian to focus if he was distracted by his personal issues.

"No sir. I can be professional about this." Ian said in a stern and cold manner. 

"Camilla, go get Ayanna, she won't forgive me if I didn't include her in this." Cedric said. Camilla nodded and climbed the stairs.

"What details do you have?" Cedric asked.

"The employee that committed suicide shot himself on the roof top of the Saints psychiatric building, Nicole's pet project." Ian recounted the information he was told over the phone. "The building that exploded right across it was an Elisia Mall."

"Was anyone hurt?" Cedirc asked.

"We have yet to confirm sir." Ian reported with a straight face. "Damien will be the lead on this sir." 

"Good. Make sure he keeps us in the loop." Cedric said with a nod.

"I'll have the underground keep their eyes and ears open as well." Ray said, injecting himself into the conversation.

"Brother, I heard." Ayanna said as she ran down the stairs followed by Camilla.

"I knew you would want to be involved. I'm sorry Ayanna, but the building where the bomb went off was the Elisia Mall." Cedric explained to his sister as she ran up to hug him. 

"And the suicide?" Ayanna asked. 

"At the psych center." Cedric said somberly. Ayanna gasped at the news.

"Poor Nicole, she's worked so hard on this." Ayanna said sadly. "After everything that's happened overnight, she doesn't deserve this." Ayanna's last statement was directed at Ian.

"Let's go to the office. I'll need the Reyes Groups PR and legal team on this. Mor Co.'s team is too young to handle an issue like this one." Cedric said as he walked out followed by Ayanna, Ian, and Camilla.

"Watch over Nicole." Ayanna called out to the boys who were left behind.

"I'll call when I have news." Ray called out.

In the car both Ian and Camilla were on the phone with different people trying to organize Mor Co.'s reaction to the events. 

Cedric on the other hand called Ram and placed him on speaker.

"Have you heard?" Cedric asked over the phone.

"I did. I couldn't suppress it. It's news Cedric." Ram said apologetically. There were still some things that the public had to know and they had no control over.

"It's fine, I understand. I just need the public to know that we are doing something." Cedric said.

"Will you give out details?" Ram asked over the phone. 

"We'll give what we can without compromising the investigation." Cedric assured his friend. "7pm tonight. We'll have a press conference."

"You'll do it?" Ram asked.

"I should." Cedric said with a stern tone. 

When Cedric and Ayanna arrived at Mor Co. everyone was in a panic. The employees were gossiping amongst themselves and the directors were pacing across their offices. They had all at one point seen their bosses temper, he was smart, cold, and calculating, a far cry from who he was in private.

Cedric saw that his people were uneasy, so he asked Ian and Camilla to call all the directors to his office and then set for a general assembly at Mor Co.'s lobby. The pair quickly sprang into action and did as Cedric asked. 

Before Cedrc could even take a seat, Ian announced that the PR and Legal team from the Reyes Group had already arrived. Cedric nodded and told Ian to take them to the meeting room.

When Cedric and Ayanna arrived the PR and Legal team were ready, since they had brought along members who weren't privy to Cedric's real identity Cedric kept his disguise on. He sat at the head of the table while Ayanna sat to his right.

"This is what we know so far." Cedric began. "A construction worker committed suicide on the top floor of the Saints Psychiatric Center in the Tech Hub by shooting himself on the head by the ledge, after which his body fell ten stories down to the ground, a few seconds after an explosive went off in the Elisia Mall across the street that was being constructed."

"Sir, do we know if anyone else was harmed?" The chief legal officer asked.

"Yes, there were a few injuries from the explosion, luckily the team that was supposed to work on the area arrived late due to one of them celebrating his birthday." Cedric explained.

"And the status of the Elisia Mall building?" The PR head asked.

"The building collapsed." Ayanna said. Cedric tried to read her emotion on what had happened, but Ayanna hid it well. Cedric knew that this particular mall meant a lot to her, not only would it be located at the Mor Co. Tech Hub, but it was designed by Veronica and would be placed across Nicole's building, the girls had hand picked all of the retailers that would be allowed to put up shop inside, and at the center of the mall would be an Island???s Inc. flagship store, it was going to be Ayanna's surprise to her sister-in-law Adrianna.. Beyond the structure and the business implications, it had an emotional significance to the sisters.

"The police have begun an investigation. They placed Capt. Damien Park in charge of the investigation." Cedric announced.

"Do we have any information on the Captain?" The PR head asked.

"Yes. Capt. Damien is the youngest graduate ever of the police academy, he took further studies in America, China, Japan, and Korea due to his multicultural lineage. He was given the choice to either pursue a career here or in his father's home country, he felt he was needed here more so he decided to stay. He is a well respected serviceman and is rumored to be eyed as the future chief police." Cedric said as he recalled from memory Damien's qualifications. "He is also a close friend of Ian Lim, my personal assistant."

"Won't the relationship between them cause any conflict of interest?" The PR head asked. The question was directed more to the legal department rather than Cedric.

"No. Mr. Lim is currently, on paper, Mr. Emilio Reyes III's assistant and an employee of the Reyes Group not of Mor Co." The head Legal officer announced.

"And I know Damien will be fair with this matter." Cedric said with a nod. "Prepare everything you need. I want the press to hear our side of things by 7pm tonight." Cedric announced. 

The legal and PR teams left soon after Cedric dismissed them. Camilla came in with a cup of tea for each of the siblings. Both Ian and Camilla knew that in stressful situations they prefered to take tea over coffee.

"How are you holding up?" Cedric asked his sister as he took off his disguise. His next meeting would be with the department directors who all knew his real identity.

"I want to cry, but I can't." Ayanna said with a sad face.

"We'll figure this out." Cedric said as he gave Ayanna a reassuring nod.