Capture The Blue-Eyed CEO - Chapter 304

[This chapter is dedicated to mary_Cooper. Thank you for your continued support. Much love!]

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“Good morning!”

“Good morning, Lucille.”

Lucille leaned forward when she entered and sat at the passenger seat as if greeting Jess wasn’t enough. She has to see her face too.

Jess patted her cheek. “Do you always go to school at this hour?”

She shook her head, grinning. “Daddy said she will drive you to work today.”

Jess smiled as she watched the excitement on the little girl’s face and her heart swelled with appreciation. She still can’t wrap her head around the fact that Lucille adores her. She used to not like her that much in the past. She wondered what changed.

“Sit properly, Lucille.” Noah glanced at his daughter from the rearview mirror.

“Good morning, Soraya.”

“Good morning, Miss Jessie.”

Jess laughed a little that now that Lucille is calling her aunt Jessie, Soraya started calling her Miss Jessie when in the past, she also called her Little Miss Jessie. It seemed that they all adjusted depending on how their young mistress acted.

Noah didn’t say anything and seemed to be content to listen to their chattering. He dropped Lucille and Soraya first where Lucille took a long time saying goodbye because she begged her father to pick her up after school.

He had to explain to his daughter, with much difficulty, that he can’t because he has an important meeting. Lucille’s eyes turned misty when she realized that her father won’t be able to do her request.

Jess, who was listening felt pity when Lucille sighed with disappointment that she opened her mouth without much consideration. “I can pick you up later if you want.”

She realized her mistake when Lucille’s misty eyes suddenly brightened as though the tears that were in her eyes didn’t happen.

“You can?” The excitement in her voice can’t be hidden. She bounced on the backseat of the SUV.

Jess glanced at Noah who was wearing a passive facial expression. She shifted her gaze to Lucille and in a small voice added, “if it was okay with your father.”

Lucille crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at her father who was watching her from the rearview mirror. “Say yes, daddy. Please?”

“Jess is also busy at work. Your class will end early today, isn’t it?”

Lucille gave Soraya a quick glance before she returned her gaze to her father. “Yes. But I can do my homework at the library while I wait. That way, I won’t be wasting my time and Aunt Jessie doesn’t have to hurry to pick me up.” She pushed her small body between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat to look at Jess. “I have tons of homework. Even if you take your time, I still won’t be finished with it. I have a lot of workbooks to answer because I was absent from school last Friday.”

Noah could not say anything after the lengthy explanation that Lucille gave. He looked at Jess. “It’s your first day at your new team, right?”

“Yes. But I don’t think I will be given a lot of things to do on my first day.” She glanced at Lucille’s face who was waiting for her confirmation. “I’ll be working on Uncle Luke’s research team.”

“Can you really pick me up later?” She fluttered her lashes. The same trick she employs to get whatever she wants from her father.

“Yes. I’ll see you later. I will send Soraya a message once I’m on my way.” She smiled at Soraya who was holding Lucille’s school backpack, waiting for her to finish her deal with the adults.

“Okay! Bye, daddy! Bye, Aunt Jessie, see you later.” She unclasped her seatbelt and hastily got out of the car. She ran ahead of Soraya to her school building, waving her small arm in the air but not looking at them for she was already talking to some classmates that were waiting for her at the building stairs.

“Are you sure it’s fine?” Noah asked Jess as he pulled away from the parking lot of Lucille’s school building.

“Yes. It’s fine.” She smiled. “I had already talked to Luke last night. He told me that today he will just introduce me to the other members of his team and I will just send some of my report to Dr. Sison. I won’t be too busy yet.”

Noah nodded and grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. He murmured “thank you” in the inside of her palm.

“I also want to do this, Noah. I hope you don’t mind.” She softly said. She forgot to ask Noah’s opinion when she offered to pick up Lucille. She forgot to ask where she should draw the line when it comes to her involvement with Lucille’s life.

“Jess, you have no idea how thankful and happy I am. I know that it can be a bit overwhelming to deal with my daughter too. Lucille can be a handful. She can be manipulated like her mother,” he shook his head but the pride in his voice was evident. Something that is always present whenever he talks about his daughter.

“Lucille is a good kid. Every kid pushed boundaries. I remember doing the same thing when I was a kid,” she chuckled, remembering the headache that she gave to her grandparents.

“Do you also act cute whenever you wanted something?”

She laughed. “I think I did. But not much. I mostly get things even without asking. I guess it comes from the guilt that they felt or more of pity towards me, I guess,” she tilted her head to her side, looking at the car’s window as if peering on the memory of her past.

“Guilt? Pity?” Noah probed.

“Yes. Remember I lost my mother at such a young age. My father and my grandparents on both sides tried to fill the void of my mother’s death by giving me everything they could offer even when I didn’t ask for it.”

Noah glanced at Jess who has was staring outside the car’s window as if she was watching a flashback of her childhood memories. A small smile was playing at the corner of her lips.

“How come you didn’t grow up a brat?” He asked, teasing.

“I have Aunt Joy.”

Noah creased his brows. “Is it the same Aunt Joy that Ellise was talking about?”

“Yes. Ellise, Dana, and I shared an aunt that wasn’t related to us by blood…”

And the drive to work was Noah listening to Jess’s story of her Aunt Joy and her two friends; Dana and Ellise.