Never Judge

One by one the heads of each Mafia family and Gang began to arrive.

The first one was Andres Rocci, Francesca's older brother. He too brought some of his most trusted men with him. It seemed that Ray had given them orders to bring their people as well.

To Cedric's surprise, Francesca did not stand by her brother, but instead, she joined Ram who had arrived earlier that day.

In total there were Ten Mafia families and Eight Gangs, each represented by a head of the family or gang and all of them knew who Ray was.

Each head brought a minimum of five people behind him, people Cedric assumed were the highest ranked in their groups and the most trusted by their leaders.

It also surprised Cedric that it was not just the men that stood as mafia or gang leaders, there were a handful of women too. Some didn't even look like they belonged to the underworld.

When all the Mafia and Gang leaders had arrived, those from the other side of the law slowly began to arrive as well.

Aside from Cedric's friends and their wives or girlfriends, Ian's friend, Damien Park, now a high ranking police official also arrived.

When Alexi came in, Cedric could see as many of the mafia and gang leaders went stiff, he was followed by several generals. He had called earlier to inform Cedric that he would be bringing them since they were crucial to the matter at hand.

While the Generals took a seat to Ray's right, Alexi took the empty one to Ray's left, catching most of the Mafia and Gang leaders by surprise.

"I guess we have more than one surprise to share tonight." Ian pointed out as he greeted Alexi with a nod.

"It should have been obvious." Alexi responded cryptically.

The last to arrive was Guan Ming and Camilla.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to make sure my men were done with everything I needed." Guan Ming said as he looked at Cedric who was pouring himself a drink.

"It's fine. Take a seat." Cedric said as he gestured towards an empty seat on the table.

Guan Ming nodded as he and Camilla took their respective places.

Cedric looked around the room and smiled. He was glad that he had such a big office or else having this many people in one room would be impossible.

His home office was even larger than his office in R Tower and he had the maids place a boardroom table in the center around which everyone was now seated.

"Quite an interesting group we make." Cedric said with a smile as he walked up to the table.

His guests all nodded, choosing to remain silent rather than to speak.

"You are all here because someone I trust has in one way or another indicated that they trust you." Cedric explained as he tried to look each individual in the eyes.

Everyone in the room was powerful and was feared by others, but today they all seemed like lost children as they clung on to Cedric's words.

"There is a threat to not just our country but to our individual lives and it comes both from among our own people and from some foreigners that wish to harm us." Cedric declared.

He walked from the head of the table where Ray was seated to the other end where some of the generals were.

"Each of you is important to what we have planned, and each of you will be affected badly if we fail. So I will ask you all to keep what you learn in this room a secret and I want you all to play nice. Am I understood?" Cedric demanded as he watched several of his guests nod.

He watched as the generals and Damien stared at people they considered criminals. Men and women that they would arrest in a heartbeat.

"Yes." Cedric heard Damien say, much to his surprise.

The Generals too were quite shocked that Damien had agreed, they all knew that he was one of the more difficult people to persuade to see a gray area.

"Thank you." Cedric smiled as he walked over to the Mafia and Gang leaders.

"Before we start there are a few facts that need to be known to everyone here." Cedric announced as he slowly made his way back up to where Ray was seated.

He glanced at Ram and Miguel, both of whom nodded, giving him permission to admit their secret.

"Lucius Ting, claims that  he is the son of Miguel Chan, an uncle to the doctor seated in front of you. That fact is not true." Cedric looked around as he noticed some people sharing looks of confusion.

"The real son of that man is Ramon Abad, the current President of Lights Entertainment and Abad News Network." Cedric informed them.

He gave them a few moments to recover as the next news that he had carried a lot more weight.

"Now, for the next one. Guan Ming who was believed to arrive in the country to work with Lucius Ting is in fact an old friend of mine and had come over to help me and not Lucius Ting." Cedric announced. "In the process of helping me it painted a target on his back and now Lucius Ting has been desperately trying to get him to fall."

Guan Ming gave Cedric a smile and nodded.

"I'm more than happy to help, Lucius Ting is a curse on all of us that must be eradicated." Guan Ming said with much anger in his voice.

Cedric knew that he wasn't just mad for his own sake, but also because of what Camilla and the others had suffered because of Lucius Ting.

"Now, for the last bit." Cedric said as he took a deep breath and looked at Ray.

His friend gave him a smile and gestured that he was ready.

"In order for all of our plans to work flawlessly, every member of this room needs to know the identity of someone called the King of the Underworld." Cedric announced as he watched the Generals and the members of the Underworld go stiff in their seats.

He knew that this was the last thing they had expected to hear.