Chapter 308 - [Bonus ]Daddy Is Mean!

[This chapter is dedicated to  Ingi. Your support is greatly appreciated! Much love!] 

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"What do you mean Lucille does not want to come home?" He asked, irritated. The meeting took a long time due to some negligence. The signing of the contract was put on hold until the other party cleaned their mess. 

Noah came home with a headache and Soraya welcomed him with the news that Lucille decided to move to Jess's apartment. 

"She said, it was because you said no to having a dog." 

"She knew that her mother has an allergy and getting a dog won't be possible." He shook his coat off his shoulder after he put down his phone on the console table. 

"But Miss Jessie already bought the dog," Soraya informed Noah in a small voice. She doesn't really want to be the messenger of the young miss but just like her father, Lucille can be stubborn and hard-headed. Not to mention, Miss Zimmerman already bought the dog and told Lucille she can have it in her apartment. 

She doesn't want to give her unsolicited opinion but I think it was unfair for Lucille not to have a pet just because her mother has an allergy to anything that has fur when they weren't living together. But with Noah's dark expression, Soraya didn't dare open her mouth to voice out her opinion. 

"Jess bought Lucille a dog?!" He asked in incredulity. "Did you tell Jess that Nicole has an allergy?" 

Soraya swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded.

"Unbelievable!" He pulled his necktie off his neck. He gritted his teeth and heaved a deep sigh. "Tell Lucille that she could start living at Jess's apartment starting tonight!" He grabbed his phone and marched to his study. He has work to do and he has no time to deal with Lucille's brattiness at the moment. 

Deciding to let her sleep at Jess's place tonight would be convenient for him. He can let her know that he's unhappy with her decision to get a dog despite not being allowed to. And her attitude of blackmailing him to submission has to be corrected. 

He also has to talk to Jess about it. They have to be on the same page when it comes to disciplining Lucille. But right now, he's busy. Hence, the easiest answer to the problem is to let Lucille stay at Jess's apartment.

"Are you sure?" 

Soraya called behind him and he didn't reply. Jess should also know that he's not okay with her agreeing to Lucille's whim just because she wanted to please her. He closed his study's door without answering Soraya. 

Meanwhile, in Jess's apartment, Lucille was sitting on the kitchen chair while the dog that she named Macao was under the table, waiting for Lucille to finish her homework. 

Soraya was in Noah's apartment and she had to make dinner. Lucille wanted to be with Macao so she ended up doing her homework at the kitchen table while Jess cooked dinner. 

"Do you think your father would relent with you getting a dog?" She asked while cutting the vegetables to stir fry. She found out late that Lucille sent a message to her father, asking his permission to get a dog and his answer was a resounding no. Lucille was devastated since they already bought Macao that she decided to run away from her father's place. 

Jess was trying to act calmly but she was worried that it would become a problem also between her and Noah. She acted on impulse, agreeing to Lucille wanting to get a dog. She wasn't really good at taking care of pets since when she was young she kept on moving from one house to another, having a pet was a hassle for the adults. Hence, she didn't have a pet growing up. They had an aquarium in her grandparents' house in Cebu that she sometimes helped to feed the fish but those fish were collections. Not really pets. 

"I don't know. But I wanted a dog. My grandfather likes dogs and since we are moving to Berlin soon, I can bring Macao to my grandfather if daddy doesn't like Macao." Lucille said with a pout and returned to answering her workbook. 

Jess was glad that Lucille turned her attention back to her math workbook that she didn't see how her face was frozen from what she said. 

She had no idea that Noah and Lucille would be moving to Berlin. Noah didn't say anything about it. She grimaced inwardly and wondered when Noah would tell her about his plan. She was murdering the vegetables with the annoyance that was growing in her chest when Soraya buzzed at her front door. 

Lucille jumped down from the kitchen chair and ran to open the door before she could say something. Macao quickly ran after her heels. 

She sighed deeply as she stared at the vegetables on the cutting board that had been minced instead of chopped.

"Aunt Jessieee!!" 

Her thoughts were pulled away from how she would hide the evidence of her murdered vegetables with Lucille's wailing from her foyer. She put down the kitchen knife and headed to where Lucille was. 

"What happened?" She asked as she wiped her hands on her apron. 

"Daddy said no," she ran straight to her and hugged her leg, and sobbed. 

She rubbed her back and looked at Soraya who was grimacing as she watched Lucille cry. 

"Noah said no?" 

Soraya nodded, biting her lower lip. "He also said Lucille can start living here starting tonight." 

Jess gritted her teeth while Lucille cried louder and hugged her leg tighter. 

"Daddy is so mean," she wailed. "I'll tell grandpa!" 

Jess' shoulders slumped and she rubbed Lucille's back as she began to cry louder. "Hush, let's finish your homework, eat dinner and you can sleep in the guest room that uncle Luke uses when he's here." 

"But daddy doesn't want Macao!" 

Lucille looked up from hugging her leg and her small face was full of tears that Jess felt real anger towards Noah. 

"Stop crying," she said as she wiped her cheeks. "You can sleep here tonight with Macao and Soraya and I'll go talk to your dad." 

"Promise?" Her chin and lips trembled as she asked. 

Jess pressed a kiss on her damp cheek and whispered. "Promise."