Never Judge

"Does she know?" Cedric asked as he looked at his uncles and father.

"She knows that she is adopted." Jose Sebastian said with a nod. "I know she remembers the kidnapping, but she barely remembers her life before that."

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"We brought her to a doctor long ago. We were worried about the effects of the kidnapping, but the doctor said she was handling the incident quite well." Benedicto Laurence told them. "The only effect was that she chose to forget her family."

"She chose?" Cedric asked.

"She didn\'t want to remember them." Jose Sebastian said with a shrug. "Camilla told the doctor that they had treated her so badly that she didn\'t even think of them as family anymore."

"By the way Aiden spoke about her I assumed she was loved." Cedric said with a frown.

"Don\'t be sad for her Cedric." Emilio told his son. "She got to live a better life."

"I think she deserves to know that Aiden is her brother." Cedric said as he drummed his fingers on the table. 

"She\'s helping out with the casualties." Alexi explained. "You can call her over." 

"I will." Cedric nodded. 

He looked around and frowned. "Did you send my son and wife away?" He asked Alexi.

"Yes." Alexi said with a nod. "I wasn\'t sure what we would walk into when we got here. I thought it was best if they weren\'t here when we found you."

"Thank you." Cedric said with a nod as he looked around for his phone.

"Here." Ray said, handing it to him. "I figured that you wouldn\'t have wanted this just lying around."

"Thanks." Cedric took the phone and quickly dialed his wife\'s number.

After a few rings Adrianna finally picked up the call. 

"Ced?" Adrianna sounded like she would burst into tears. "Ced are you there?" Adrianna called out.

"Adri, yes." Cedric said in a loving tone.

"Alexi told us you were still unconscious, he sent Yoyo and I to have dinner at Constellations." Adrianna cried out. "We should have been there when you woke up."

"Adri, no, no, it\'s alright. Don\'t cry honey." Cedric tried his best to comfort his wife.

"I\'ll have the driver take us there." Adrianna told her husband. Cedric could hear chairs and utensils moving in the background. \'Yoyo, come on, let\'s go to daddy. Dave, get the car, Cedric is awake.\' Cedric could hear his wife telling the people around her.

"Adri, you don\'t need to rush." Cedric said in a loving tone. "I\'m not going anywhere Adrianna."

"Yoyo and I were so worried." Adrianna called out. "We\'ll be there in a bit."

"I\'m waiting already." Cedric said with a smile as he dropped the call.

"They\'re on the way?" Ayanna said as she bit her lower lip.

"Yes." Cedric nodded. "I\'ll call Camilla over, I want her to know about this. I think she deserves to know about this." Cedric said with a serious look in his eyes.

"As long as she is willing to learn about it." Emilio Reyes told his son.

Cedric called Camilla immediately and asked her to come over, he didn\'t want to delay the news.

Adrianna and Emilio had arrived before Camilla, which gave him time to tell his wife about Camilla\'s past. 

When Camilla arrived everyone was silent.

"Cedric, you asked us to come?" Camilla asked Cedric. She had been with Mae, arranging for the funeral of those that had perished at Aiden\'s orders.

"Did you guys finish?" Cedric asked with a kind look in his eyes. He felt sad for Camilla after hearing what she had to go through as a child.

"Yes." Camilla said with a nod. "It was difficult, but it had to be done." Camilla frowned as she recalled the sight she and Mae had walked into.

"Camilla, there is something I need to ask." Cedric gestured for her to sit across him. 

Camilla gave him a puzzled look but did as he asked and sat.

"Dad and my uncles told me about your past." Cedric began to say as he gave her a concerned look.

"Cedric, that\'s my past. I don\'t think that has anything to do with the present." Camilla quickly told Cedric. She was clearly hesitant to relive the memories.

"It\'s nothing bad Camilla." Cedric said in an attempt to quell her fears.

"Alright." Camilla said hesitantly.

"I am giving you an option. To find out the truth about your family, or to continue to forget it." Cedric told her. 

Camilla was about to speak when Cedric raised his hand to tell her that he wasn\'t done speaking just yet.

"Camilla, your family is involved in everything that is happening now. So I\'m giving you the option to learn about it now or not." Cedric told her.

"I\'m not sure…" Camilla said hesitantly.

"Camilla, it\'s not all bad. You still have family out there." Katerina told Camilla.

"They know about the kidnapping?" Camilla asked Katerina. 

Katerina nodded. "Don\'t be afraid, you know you can trust them."

"I know that I had a dad and a mom, but they didn\'t love me." Camilla said as tears began to fall from her eyes. "I remember my older brother, he loved me, but my parents never let us play. Something about my older brother being too precious."

"Camilla, do you want to know?" Cedric asked.

Camilla didn\'t say a word but nodded.

"You have an older brother that loves you very much. Well it seems like he loves you, he is just misguided." Cedric began. "He thinks you died with your family that day."

"My parents are dead?" Camilla asked Cedric.

"Yes. Didn\'t my father or uncles tell you?" Cedric asked.

Camilla shook her head. "No. I never wanted to know."

"They died the same day you were saved." Cedric told her.

"I don\'t feel sad about it. Is it wrong that I don\'t feel sad about it?" She asked.

"No, it\'s not." Eric told her.

"They were not the best to you." Katerina told Camilla.

"Your brother grew up with your grandfather believing that you had died with your parents." Cerdic continued to explain. "Camilla, Aiden Ortega is your elder brother."

Cedric tried to read Camilla\'s expression, but her face remained stone cold. 

"Are you alright?" Katerina asked.

"I just need to process this." Camilla said as she finally frowned. 

"Camilla, not matter what, remember that we will always be here for you." Jose Sebastian finally said. 

Cedric guessed that his father and uncles had been very much involved with Camilla\'s upbringing, that they had become like an extended family to her, additional fathers in a way.

At least Camilla did grow up with a better life.