Rise Of The Disgraced Heir

Camilla and Ian watched as Seth's expression went from bad to worse. It seemed that whoever he was on the phone with did not have any good news for him.

They tried their best not to listen, but they could hear Seth cursing at the person he was speaking to.

"Fucking, stupid." Seth hissed. "Doesn't he know what trouble he has gotten us into for intervening?" 

Ian and Camilla looked at each other.

"Do you think it could have something to do with the Juan family?" Camilla asked Ian.

"It's possible." Ian said with a nod as he watched Seth's expression. "Whoever is at the other end of that call must be wetting himself by now. Seth looks royally pissed." 

"If someone in his family decided to help Manuel or his sister, then we can just arrange things between us." Camilla suggested. "I just hope we aren't too late."

Ian simply nodded as he watched Seth walk back to their table. He was clearly unhappy as he frowned and looked at the ground, shaking his head.

Before Ian or Camilla could ask what was bothering Seth, the waiter and the manager entered, serving their food.

"I'm sorry I couldn't welcome you." The manager said in a polite tone. "We had a dilemma with a few customers earlier. Some of the people that dine here can be quite demanding."

"We understand." Camilla said with a smile. "We won't keep you, we know you have a lot of work. You can just leave our food and we will call when  we are done."

"Oh, Miss Montero, no need for that." The manager said as he shook his head. "We will clean up as soon as you leave. Unless of course you plan on staying longer?"

"No, that's fine. Thank you." Camilla said with a sweet smile.

Ian wanted to laugh at how different Camilla was now compared to when they were torturing the Juan siblings in the basement. She had suddenly now turned into a sweet and kind woman, a far cry from the strong and cunning one they had witnessed the day before.

"Wait!" Ian called out as the manager and the waiter turned to leave.

"Yes, Mr. Lim?" The manager asked. "Is there anything else I can get you?" 

"Actually, yes." Ian said with a nod. "I'm not sure if I can do this, but this man we are with is a good friend of ours, Seth Dean, would it be possible for you to extend the same courtesy to him as you offer us?"

Ian was nervous that the manager would say no.

He was making a gamble, hoping that Seth could get some preferential treatment in the restaurant, just like he now enjoyed in the building.

"OF course." The manager said with a nod. "Unfortunately, the only thing we cannot give him is the free food if he is not with you."

"That's fine. Thank you." Ian said with a smile.

The manager and waiter bowed as they left Ian, Camilla, and Seth alone in the dining area.

"You didn't have to do that." Seth said with a frown as he looked at Ian.

"It's the least we could do." Ian said. "You are one of our only friends here. It would be quite lonely without you."

"Thank you." Seth said with a smile.

"Can we ask what that call was about?" Camilla asked as she cut her steak.

"Yes, of course, I was actually about to tell the two of you about it." Seth said with a frown.

"What was it?" Ian asked.

"It was my younger brother again." Seth groaned. "My father had already given orders not to do anything about the sudden shift in assets that we were seeing. He knew that some very powerful players were involved, but my brother went against his orders."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Camilla asked.

Seth looked at her and shook his head. 

"Right now, no." Seth told them with a sigh. "I already told one of my men to warn my brother that was dealing with things outside of his control. I don't know if he will listen." Seth said with a sigh.

"You should warn them about the Juan family." Ian told Seth. "I don't want to see your people caught up in this mess." 

"I already have, I'm just worried about what my brother might do." Seth said with a sigh as he ate his food.

"It seems that this brother of yours is insistent on doing everything you guys tell him not to." Camilla said with a laugh.

"My brother isn't too happy with our father naming me as the next family head." Seth confessed. "He knows I don't want the position and yet he keeps making choices that will only convince our father not to name him. Honestly, I'm at a loss."

"Maybe you should warn your father that the Reyeses are coming after the Juans?" Ian asked Seth.

"I should, but my brother needs to learn his lesson." Seth said with a sigh. "He needs to grow up if he wants to lead the Dean Family mafia in the future. It's not only our men he has to impress, he has to impress the boss too."

"The boss?" Ian asked. 

"Just as the legal world has the president, we have our own president of sorts too." Seth explained. "The thing is, only a handful of people know who he is. We only know who his people are."

"Isn't that a bit scary following someone you don't even know exists blindly?" Camilla asked as she took a sip of her wine.

"It is, but you can't exactly just cross him." Seth said. "We call him the King of the Underworld, and according to rumors he has influences in both the legal and illegal world. For a time we thought it was the CEO of the Reyes Group, but as time went on it seemed unlikely."

"I doubt the CEO would even have the time to manage such a complex organization." Ian pointed out.

"You never know." Seth said with a shrug. "Look at us, no one would ever suspect what our true identities are, and yet, it's the truth." 

"You're right.." Ian said with a nod as he continued to eat his dinner.