Chapter 153 Dining Openly and Aboveboard
The black Bentley pulled into Blue Bay Apartments, and Danielle eagerly asked, "Uncle Spencer, are you coming over for dinner at our place again tonight?"
Jessica was still lost in thought about what had just happened and didn't immediately catch Danielle's words.
Gabriel unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to ask, "Does Danielle want me to come?"
"Of course I do! Uncle Super wants you to! Uncle Spencer, when can you continue staying at our home?" Danielle happily pouted, leaning forward and affectionately getting close to say, "I want to keep telling you the story of Princess Elsa! The preschool teacher says I'm super good at storytelling, better than any other little kid!"
"So good." Gabriel lightly smiled, reaching back to pat Danielle's soft and fluffy head. "Get out of the car; I will take you both upstairs."
"Aren't you coming home with us, Uncle Spencer?" Danielle blinked, looking at him expectantly.
Gabriel's handsome brows twitched slightly, his gaze sweeping over Jessica.
Jessica was still in a daze, not responding.
Danielle quickly turned to ask, "Mommy, is it okay for Uncle Spencer to come over for dinner at our place?"
Jessica still didn't reply, her eyes glancing out of the car window without focusing on any particular point, clearly still lost in thought.
Danielle hurriedly said, "Mommy didn't refuse, so that means she agrees, Uncle Spencer. Let's help Mommy carry the things upstairs and go home together! Let's go!"
It wasn't until the car emptied, leaving only Jessica still standing there, lost in thought, that the trunk opened and closed, and Jessica suddenly snapped back to reality because of the surrounding silence.
In a flash, she saw Danielle standing by the car, her little hand grabbing the handle of the luggage Gabriel had taken out from the back, chattering nonstop, "I picked this pink suitcase for Mommy. Mommy likes white, and I like pink, so Mommy chose pink. Uncle Spencer, isn't it pretty?"
Jessica quickly got out of the car.
As they entered the elevator, Gabriel helped her bring the luggage in while Danielle obediently held Jessica's hand.
It felt odd to have someone of Gabriel's status help her with the luggage, and not just once.
But he clearly had no intention of letting Jessica carry it, never letting her touch the handle or the small bag on the luggage throughout.
Gabriel stood tall, his black coat making him look even more upright and slender. The chill of the autumn night seemed to have cast a thin layer of frost over him. Beside him was her luggage, and as he pressed the elevator button with one hand, Danielle's little hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his.
Danielle's fingers mischievously tickled his palm, and Gabriel looked down at Danielle, who was standing behind him with a mischievous smile.
Meeting Spencer's gaze, Danielle suddenly covered her stomach and said, "Mommy, I'm hungry!"
Jessica glanced at her. "What do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat... "Danielle suddenly smiled.
"Egg pasta!"
Jessica was speechless.
Jessica looked at Gabriel in front of her, and Gabriel didn't rush to retract the gaze he had just had on Danielle, calmly meeting her eyes.
Danielle's desire to eat egg pasta was actually just a front for Gabriel's plan to mooch a meal openly.
Earlier, when she was sitting in the car, she heard they were planning something, but she didn't pay much attention.
Danielle was once again helping Gabriel, scheming against her.
"Do I need to prepare two portions then? Mr. Harriman came to care for me in the evening, helped me with the luggage, and besides inviting you for dinner, I really don't seem to have any other way to repay him." Jessica stared at Gabriel's clear black eyes, not avoiding his gaze, directly offering a very obvious olive branch.
Gabriel lightly smiled. "Miss Jenner has kindly invited me so that I won't be polite."
This Gabriel was indeed not polite at all.
Jessica was certainly not stingy; she was genuinely grateful, but she couldn't understand why he was so fond of ordinary pasta at her place.
Was he having had enough of top-notch delicacies from both home and abroad? He just liked her simple dishes and pasta at home.
Therefore, she especially fried two more eggs to put in the pasta to show her sincerity.
During the meal, Danielle took a few bites of the pasta, then looked up strangely and asked, "Mommy, why is it so sweet?"
Jessica was taken aback, quickly picked up Danielle's forks, and took a few bites, her expression changing instantly.
Oh no, when she was cooking the pasta, her mind kept replaying what was in that delivery box. She didn't remember what she was thinking or doing at the time, but it seemed like she mistook sugar for salt.
"I made a mistake. I'll make two new portions," Jessica said as she took Danielle's bowl away, about to take Gabriel's away as well. However, Gabriel had taken off his coat and was now wearing a gray shirt. He had already eaten the extra fried egg she had put in the pasta and had taken a few bites of the pasta.
Jessica was surprised. "I mistook sugar for salt, isn't it awful?"
Gabriel didn't reveal her still unsettled emotions, raising his eyelids slightly. "Not bad."
Jessica didn't care about any taboos, directly picking up some pasta from his plate.
It still tasted the same!
She looked at Gabriel, who seemed to have lost his sense of taste. "You can gulp poison I give you, can't you? How can you eat something so awful? I'll make it again!"
Gabriel's face was relaxed and amused. "It also depends on how the poison is fed."
Jessica was speechless.
In her mind, she inexplicably recalled the night she got drunk at the Harriman family's old mansion.
It was the night she later remembered some incoherent drunken memories because they were so disjointed that she didn't know exactly what had happened.
But she was absolutely certain that the soreness in her mouth the following morning had something to do with Gabriel! She wasn't an amnesiac, and if she tried hard to remember, there were still some vague impressions.
For example, the things in the bathtub that were inexplicably filled with water...
In what way?
In an instant, she saw in her mind that blurry scene of a passionate and tumultuous kiss, intense and... surging.
Stop!
Jessica quickly took the two plates and went straight into the kitchen, not looking back, and poured out the pasta. Luckily, the water she had just boiled was still hot, so she quickly cooked new pasta. In less than ten minutes, two new bowls of pasta were placed on the table.
After dinner, it was already very late.
Jessica took Danielle to the bathroom for a bath, then carried her out and put her on the sofa to blow dry her hair. Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered the call, and Jessica, using the hairdryer, couldn't hear clearly until Gabriel approached and said, "There's an urgent document I need to look at. Can I borrow your study?"
