Never Judge

"So just because she caused problems in their relationship, our parents decided to get rid of my sister?" Benedict asked his grandfather as a look of shock crossed his face.

Grandpa Ortiz nodded in response.

"Why didn't you do anything?" Benedict demanded. "Why didn't you just adopt her? Take her from my mom? Hide her?"

"Things were not that simple Benedict." Grandpa Ortiz said in a loud voice, scolding his grandson.

"Things are never simple grandpa!" Benedict said, answering back. "You could have saved all of us from years of hardship and torture."

"Your life was never hard, Benedict." His grandfather said. "You grew up in a good home Benedict. I did my best to provide for you."

"Yes, financially I had everything I could ask for." Benedict said, rolling his eyes. "But for years you trained me and Aiden to hate the Lims, the Sebastians, the Laurences, and the Reyeses."

"I was hurting too, Benedict! Didn't you think it would have been difficult on me as well?" Grandpa Ortiz said as he looked his grandson in the eyes.

Cedric was surprised that instead of being angry the old man seemed sad. Cedric could see the pain in the man's eyes, clearly he was hurting.

"Grandpa." Camilla said, reaching a hand out, she knew something was wrong.

"I lost my daughter and granddaughter that day." Grandpa Ortiz said. "I regretted not making them leave Camilla with me at home. Before they left I asked them if they wanted to leave her here, but they refused, they said they needed Camilla."

The old man's eyes darted between his grandchildren, seemingly waiting for their reaction to his words.

"When they left I knew they were planning on using you as bait. They wanted to use you to pull some rich heiress that they could kidnap." Grandpa Ortiz told them. "When I heard about the accident I was broken, I didn't even have a body I could bury. I was angry at everyone, add to that the fact that your mother's death broke my wife's heart."

"I don't remember grandma that much." Camilla said with a frown. Cedric watched as she struggled to try and remember what she could about her grandmother, but decades of suppressing her memories had taken a toll on Camilla.

"I think this is a topic for another day." Miguel said as he eyed the medical instruments monitoring grandpa Ortiz's vital signs.

Cedric gave Miguel a curious glance, it seemed that the doctor had noticed something that they didn't.

"We'll speak to you in the morning grandpa." Camilla said as she gripped the old man's hand tightly.

"The fact that you call me grandpa makes me so happy, Camilla." The old man said with a smile.

Camilla nodded and left without saying a word.

Everyone followed her out, leaving Miguel to check up on the old man before he too left the room.

Outside in the hallway Cedric stopped his father.

"You said you wanted to explain something to me and Ayanna?" Cedric asked his father.

"Yes. Let's talk in the library." Emilio Reyes said as he sent a quick message to Ayanna for her to meet them there.

Ayanna was simply resting when she got the message from her dad, she quickly went back downstairs in her pajamas and met them in the library.

"We're both here now dad. What did you want to talk about?" Cedric asked his father.

"I know you might think that it was quick of me to forgive the old man, but I think there is no use in holding a grudge." Emilio Reyes told his children.

Cedric and Ayanna both looked at each other and frowned.

"Are you sure about this dad?" Cedric asked, he was worried that his father was forcing himself to get over his mother's death and not really thinking of his need to move on.

"I'm sure." Emilio Reyes said with a nod.

"Dad, you do know that we will go along with anything you want." Ayanna told her father as she walked up to him. "All that matters to us is that you take your time and heal from what happened."

"I'm sure. I got to speak to him earlier, before you guys arrived." Emilio Reyes told his children in a somber tone.

"What did you talk about?" Cedric asked, he was curious as to what the two men had discussed in their absence.

"We talked about losing the woman we loved the most." Emilio Reyes said with a shrug. "Why don't you both take a seat, this might take a while."

Cedric and Ayanna did as their father asked and sat on the couch in the library.

Emilio Reyes took a deep breath and closed his eyes, clearly his discussion with the old man had run quite deep.

"His name is Clemente Ortiz for starters, it's nice to have a name when you think of someone." Emilio explained. "Benedict and Camilla's grandmother was named Elena, and she was his first love."

Cedric smiled as he watched his father humanize a man they should hate.

"Elena was heartbroken when they heard the news that their daughter and granddaughter had died, Clemente had to deal with his own emotions and his spiraling wife. Add to that two young boys who kept looking for their parents and sister." Emilio explained.

"Dad that still doesn't justify -" Cedric began to say until his dad held up a hand cutting him off.

"Let me finish." Emilio Reyes said with a laugh. "You have always been so eager, so impulsive Cedric. It will get you into trouble someday."

"Impulsive? I waited years to reveal my identity, how is that impulsive?" Cedric asked, giving his father a funny look.

"You kept your identity a secret because it was convenient for you, not because you were waiting for the right time." Emilio Reyes said, shaking his head. "Anyway, we are going off topic. Let me finish this then we can discuss how impulsive and petty you get."

Ayanna laughed at her brother, she didn't even try to defend him. Cedric rolled his eyes at both of them, clearly annoyed.