Never Judge

A partnership and a government project, that's what Mr. Ong's family business desperately needed to survive. Cedric knew that he had approached both Jose Sebastian and Emilio Reyes several times for both. Mr. Ong was slowly handing over the company to his eldest son when their sales began to dip, several customers began to abandon the company and shift to a competitor. 

When Cedric investigated the incident it seemed that Mr. Ong's daughter got into a fight with a more powerful Rocci family, it wasn't over anything light either. Mr. Ong's daughter had married the man that Francesca Rocci had been dating for over six years. Francesca was not just the daughter of the Rocci family, she was also an international model and actress, she was so influential that she made it to the same list as the girls last year. 

"The Ongs did themselves in this time." Alexi said as he read through the combined report. 

"They are dropping like crazy, won't they sell their Saints stocks?" Ray asked. Cedric had been using a representative to try and buy the shares but the Ongs still refused every offer, even if their own company was in dire need of financial support.

"The Saints stocks are what's keeping them among the top tier families, if they sell those they lose their standing." Cedric explained to Ray. "Their own company isn't strong enough to pull them up. They only got those stocks because their grandfather was friends with uncle Raphael's grandfather." Many old companies had stockholders like these, even the Reyes Group, most were from family friends who had supported the businesses when they were just beginning. These people benefited the most with companies like Saints, the Reyes Group, and Abad Network growing were those family friends that supported them from the very beginning. Some remained close, others became distant as different generations took over. 

"So even if we offer to save their current company they still won't sell." Alexi said with a sigh.

"I have an idea." Cedric said hesitantly. "If they do not treasure their company, then they should at least treasure their daughter."

"What could we give them that would benefit her?" Ray asked.

"Freedom from the Rocci family." Cedric said with a grin.

"Even we can't convince Francesca." Alexi said with a sigh.

"Worried about speaking to one of your exes?" Ray said with a laugh.

"She isn't." Alexi snapped at Ray. 

"He doesn't want Nurse Jen to see him speaking to another woman. The only thing he has managed to do is to convince her to stay in the Capital. Other than that he has been failing miserably." Cedric teased. Nurse Jen had left their service two months ago and was faced with the choice of either staying at the Capital or returning to Kashmere. At first she was inclined to return to her peaceful work on Kashmere where she tended to VIP clients that preferred the discrete location of Kashmere over the hospital in the Capital.

"So how are we going to convince Francesca Rocci to forgive them and how will be use this to bribe Mr. Ong?" Alexi asked Ram and Cedric as he tried to divert the topic of the conversation.

"I will approach him as me and I will be completely honest about what we want." Cedric said with a shrug.

"I thought the whole intention of this plan is to buy stocks without attracting attention?" Ray asked Cedric. "Now you want to face the cranky old man and his gossipy family with the intention of buying stocks?"

"They don't need to know that we are gathering stocks to sway the vote." Cedric casually explained. "I'll just say that I want to own a part of my friend's company. All the other stocks were purchased through someone else so no one will suspect that we have already purchased at least 15% of the shares."

"This is the last isn't it?" Ray asked. "With Mr. Ong's 5%, our 15%, and Uncle Raphael's 30%, we can sway the vote."

"The amount we purchased is a little overkill, but I want to be safe." Cedric said with a nod.

That very afternoon the Ong family was thrown into a frenzy when Ian arrived at their doorstep. Mr. Ong knew who Ian was, he had seen the man multiple times at R Tower while trying to convince Emilio Reyes to speak to him, naturally he was shocked when the Reyes Heir's personal assistant appeared.

Their first instinct was to assume that they had done something wrong, that one of them had somehow managed to offend the powerful Reyes family. They still hadn't recovered from the effects of the Rocci family's attack and here was an even more powerful one out to get them.

When a maid let Ian in, he quickly explained that he was there to offer an invitation to Mr. Ong to speak to his boss about an opportunity. Mr. Ong and the rest of the family were shocked, the Reyes Heir wanted to speak to him and he had offered his personal car to fetch Mr. Ong. 

Cedric was waiting in his office with Alexi and Ray. He wanted to have the full impact when speaking with the Ong Patriarch, he wanted to remind the older man that refusing him had very dangerous consequences. 

"Mr. Reyes, it's an honor." Mr. Ong said as he shyly walked into Cedric's Mor Co office. 

Cedric could see the surprise in the man's eyes when he saw Ray and Alexi calmly sitting on the couch.

"Please take a seat." Cedric offered as he walked over.

Ian brought in drinks for everyone except Cedric, his disguise made it difficult to drink. Taking a sip could risk exposing his whole identity, something Cedric wasn't ready for.

"I'll be honest Mr. Ong. My friends and I want something you own." Cedric told the man.

"Mr. Reyes, I can give you whatever you need, all for the right price." Mr. Ong said as he nodded vigorously. 

"Your shares in Saints Hospital. Sell all of them to me and I will give you three things, a partnership with the Reyes Group, a project from the government, and Francesca Rocci's forgiveness." Cedric said in a serious tone.

The man suddenly broke down into tears and knelt at Cedric's feet.

"Mr. Reyes, please if you can do all that I will sell you my stocks. My daughter means everything to me and it pains me to see her like this. Miss Rocci is truly being unfair. Please sir." The man said as he cried.

"The first two I can provide today, the third is something that I will work on." Cedric explained. "My assistant will see to you." Cedric said dismissing Mr. Ong.

When Mr. Ong left Ray was shaking his head.

"How the hell do you plan on convincing Francesca Rocci?" Ray said placing his head in his hands.

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