Never Judge

"We are." Al confirmed with the woman as he tried to hide how nervous he was. "Mr. Chan said that Master Guan Ming has agreed to meet with us." 

"You can call me Miss Xue, I\'m Mr. Guan\'s secretary." She said as she gestured for Al and Angelo to follow her. "I was honestly surprised when Mr. Guan agreed to meet with you. He normally does not speak with strangers."

Al couldn\'t help but smile as he glanced and nodded at Angelo. 

He had not expected that it would be a challenge getting an appointment with his Uncle Guan Ming. 

"He is currently in his office, I\'ll take you there." Miss Xue said as they walked through the carpeted halls of the main building. 

Al couldn\'t help but marvel at the place, it was a lot more extravagant than his family\'s office back at Capital City. 

They were soon met by two large imposing doors that simply screamed CEO\'s office.

"Through here." Miss Xue said as she pushed open the doors and gestured for them to follow.

"Mr. Guan, your appointment is here." Miss Xue said as she pushed Al and Angelo to stand in front of her.

"Thank you Xue, you may leave us." A deep voice from behind the turned office chair said.

"Very well, sir." Miss Xue said bowing. 

She turned to Al and winked at him before leaving and shutting the door behind her.

Al couldn\'t help but feel nervous as the chair seemingly turned to face them. 

"Would you care to explain to me why you are standing in my office when just last week I flew all the way to Capital City to mourn you?" Guan Ming said as he glared at Al.

He was nothing like Al had expected. 

Unlike his father, Guan Ming showed his age and the stress he had been under.

Al could see that Guan Ming had been quite a good looking man in his youth with his black hair that now has silver streaks on them and piercing eyes.

"Y- y- you know who I am?" Al stuttered as he tried to speak with his uncle.

Guan Ming laughed and shook his head.

He stood up and walked towards where Al and Angelo stood. 

He was a little bit shorter than Al, but his aura made Al take a step back. The older man had an intense presence that Al couldn\'t place. 

"Of course I know who you are." Guan Ming said in a deep voice as he looked Al in the eyes and grinned.

Al was nervous, if Guan Ming knew who he was, then there was a chance his father already knew he was alive.

Everything was on the line at the moment. 

Everything relied on the fact that Raymond Lawrence\'s son had died and that Al was now Max Cortez.

"Sit." Guan Ming instructed the two young men as he walked over to the couch.

Al and Angelo had no choice but to follow as the older man asked.

"Your Aunt Camilla and your mother will be very disappointed when they find out what changes you\'ve made to your looks." Guan Ming said as he studied Al.

"Nothing irreversible, Mr. Guan." Al answered calmly.

Guan Ming raised a questioning eyebrow as he tried to figure out what Al meant.

"Shouldn\'t you call me Uncle Ming?" Guan Ming told the young man. "We are practically family."

Al nodded in response.

"So what did you do that isn\'t permanent?" Guan Ming asked.

"My hair is dyed, my eyes have contact lenses in them, I wear a mouthpiece to slightly change my face\'s shape." Al quickly explained. "The tattoos are fake as well."

Guan Ming nodded as he observed the young man before him. 

"You still look like you." Guan Ming said as he passed several photos to Al. "Your Uncle Cedric would try to bait me to visit with photos of you and your cousins, he said that I was missing out on spending time with family."

"It would have been nice to meet you, Uncle Ming." Al confessed.

"I have too much work to do and I would bring too much danger to your family." Guan Ming answered with a frown. "Things turned out for the best, don\'t worry."

Al nodded, unsure of what to say. 

"Don\'t worry, I haven\'t contacted your parents. I wanted to be sure it was you and I wanted to hear you out first." Guan Ming told Al.

"Thank you." Al smiled at the man, happy that he still had a chance.

"According to your father and uncles you aren\'t some green young man that hasn\'t experienced the world." Guan Ming told Al. "They told me about your form of poverty training and your work with the underworld, I\'m sure you didn\'t do this on a whim."

Al shook his head and sighed.

"Did you meet Cara?" Al asked his uncle.

"I did. She\'s such a bright young woman, it hurt me to see her in so much emotional pain, but she will recover. She seems like a strong one." Guan Ming smiled as he tried his best to comfort Al.

"Her brother is working with an organization that seeks to destroy and take over the Underworld my father leads." Al began as he explained the situation. "The furthest we\'ve ever gotten was when I was on mission, but when my identity was revealed to the public, we made no progress." 

Guan Ming nodded as he understood Al\'s predicament.

"I won\'t tell your dad unless you are in grave danger, but tell me, Aldrich, why did you come to me?" Guan Ming asked as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"Uncle Ming, in all honesty we need your help. We have information that is telling us that some of Colin\'s backers are from this country, from your rival gang." Al explained to his uncle. "I need your help to get to him and to get to his allies."

Guan Ming nodded as the room fell silent.

Al couldn\'t help but feel nervous.

Would his uncle reject his plea for help or would he get sent home?

After a long wait, Guan Ming finally spoke.

"I\'ll help you, but you have to do things my way." Guan Ming said as he lay down a condition for Al, one that Al was more than willing to accept.