Never Judge

"That's a joke, right?" Ram asked as he looked at Raphael Chan and his father.

Both men shook their heads and frowned.

"This is crazy! I look nothing like Eric or Miguel!" Ram said in a tone a little bit louder than he wanted. "I'm Ramon Abad, not Andrew Chan."

"Ram. . .you know we never wanted to lie to you." His adoptive mother, Victoria, said as she looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Why? How?" Ram began to ask as he was at a loss for words. He had a thousand questions running in his head as he tried to process the fact that his family, his biological family, had been right next to him as he was growing up.

"Maybe it's best if we explained from the beginning." James Abad said as he looked at his son. "This way you can just ask in between."

"No more lies?" Ram asked.

"No more." His father responded with a nod.

"No more secrets?" Ram asked.

"No more." His father promised again.

"You always tell us that you are no longer hiding secrets from us." Cedric accused. "This time you let Camilla put her life at risk, her life is still at risk because you lied."

"We never wanted Camilla to go in and pretend to date Lucius Ting." Emilio Reyes told his son. "Do not forget that we saved Camilla and did everything in our power to keep her safe. The last thing any of us wanted was for her to be involved in all this."

"It could have been avoided if you had not lied, dad." Cedric said as he glared at his father.

"This is not helping!" Veronica suddenly said from her seat in between Miguel and Ram. "Dad, uncles, you need to admit that your lies have not helped anyone. It has just placed people we love in more danger than they should be in."

James Abad looked at his daughter apologetically as he nodded at her words.

"You're right, we are sorry about that." He said with a frown. "If you will let us tell this story, I promise we will answer all of your questions and tell you the truth."

"Is this the last secret?" Ayanna asked as she looked at her father.

"Yes, the last." The old man said with a nod. "We won't lie or keep things from you anymore as James promised."

"Good, go on, Uncle James." Cedric said as he nodded. 

"As you all know, Ram is the third eldest among you boys." James Abad began. "He was born Andrew Chan to Miguel Chan and his wife in Italy and Victoria and I were around for your birth." He said with a smile.

"You see, son, there was a lot of pressure on us at the time to produce an heir." Victoria Abad said as she gave Ram a loving glance. "I was having a hard time conceiving and a doctor told us that it could be because we were living in a high stress environment. We were advised to take a long vacation."

"How long was long?" Veronica asked her mother.

"We were gone for about four years." James Abad said. "In the first year we were in Italy and your uncle, Miguel Chan, invited us to visit. His wife was then nine months pregnant and ready to pop. After you were born we spent several more months in Italy before finally moving on."

"So you didn't know that people from the Chan family were after me?" Ram asked as he slowly accepted his identity as Andrew Chan. 

"Unfortunately, at that time there were no signs that people might be after you or that you might need special protection." Raphael Chan explained with a frown. "Things took a turn for the worst when some of our cousins began questioning my father why he let Miguel leave."

"Is that why you made Uncle Miguel come back?" Nicole asked.

"We tried to hold them back for as long as possible, but eventually they backed us into a corner and I was left without a choice. I had to ask my brother to come home." Raphael Chan told them as he recounted what had happened in the Chan family.

"Don't blame your dad." Emilio Reyes said, joining in on the conversation. "He was the one that advised his brother to leave Ram in Italy with his mother. It wasn't safe and they weren't aware that you were a son. It was a good thing too because it was what helped you survive."

"Unfortunately, my father was not so happy about you and your mother." Raphael Chan told Ram with a frown. "My brother didn't commit suicide. He was murdered by someone in the family that we didn't find."

"Until now?" Miguel asked.

"Until now it remains a mystery." Raphael Chan told his son with a sad nod. "It seemed that Miguel knew someone was after him, because he sent a letter to Fernando, telling him to hide his son and to give him only to James and Victoria."

"What about my mother?" Ram asked.

"We aren't sure about how she died, from all the reports that we got it was murder, we are just not sure by who." Raphael Chan said.

"What do you mean by who?" Miguel asked his father.

"Miguel, there is a chance that Ram's mother was murdered by your grandfather's men." Raphael Chan revealed with a heavy heart.

"Why would he?" Ram asked. 

All his memories of the old man were that despite the fact that he was stern he was kind to Miguel and his friends. 

He knew that the Chans were very conservative, he just didn't think they would take such drastic measures like killing someone else.

"My dad wanted my brother to marry someone acceptable and the only way that he could is if your mother was out of the picture." Raphael Chan explained.

"Do you really think grandpa would do something like that:?" Eric asked his father.

"Your grandfather has done worse things." Raphael Chan told his son. "He might seem nice and sweet to you and your siblings, but he is not an innocent man.." He warned.

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