To Give And Take

CHAPTER 7

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"Mr Kingston, can we now talk about it?"

Lucy spoke with gentle voice, but her tone was clearly that of endurance, she had endured so much and she couldn't wait any longer. Though, she had been the one trying to change the topic, Austin Kingston hadn't coorperated at all, not only did he not play by the rule, but he placed her on the pedestal, causing her to hate breakfast for the first time, regretting her choice of meal.

She couldn't argue with him when he had shut her with a logical order of chatting after their meal, like a student she had obediently finished her meal and the plates had been cleared ten minutes ago. Looking at the man opposite her who was playing with his phone, staring at it with a firm and seriouse gaze. She had thought he might be busy, so she decided to give him some time, however, she couldn't sit still anymore and finally broke the abnormal silence between them.

On the other hand, upon being called, Austin raised his head from his phone and stared at the little girl in front of him. Her almond eyes stared at him with expectant gaze, but the look of grievance in them added a touch of mist in her baby blue eyes. She looked cute and innocent with a youthful vibe, her delicate little face had a frown and panic hidden on those clear eyes of hers.

She didn't look like a lady in her early twenties, but an adorable teenager was the perfect title for her. Without withdrawing his gaze from her, Austin's lips lifted up and he spat out a short sentence.

"What does Miss Grey want to talk about ?"

Lucy's calm expression cracked at his simple, yet merciless sentence that seemed to bring her back on the starting line. Clearly the words and everything had been said, but the man in front of her just had to pretend that he wasn't completely ignorant of everything. If she didn't fear the later consequences, she might have really fought this man for Jesse by legal means. However, she was still rational enough not to choose that method.

Maintaining her gentle smile, Lucy looked at Austin with her innocent doe-like eyes and spoke gently.

"About your marriage experience, Jane told me you got married twice and later got divorced."

Upon listening to her words, Austin's hand that was fiddling with his phone suddenly paused, raising his head he looked at Lucy with a seriouse expression. A slightly frowning brows that was almost unoticeable, with a deepened gaze paused on Lucy's exquisite face. Looking at that stern expression, Lucy didn't shy away, she kept staring at him with a playful expression, her doe-like eyes shined with an innocent luster. She wasn't afraid of this cold ice berge, as long as she knew that she wasn't edible to him.

"Did Jane have such a chat with you?" Austin said with a slight astonishment, he knew his sister's character. Despite being a little talkative, she wouldn't use such sensitive topics in her chat with either friends or family members with whom she wasn't closed with. For her to say so much to Lucy Grey, it just meant that their relationship wasn't ordinary.

Thinking about the folder she had left behind the words he had read, he actually wasn't surprised, Jesse was already a solid evidence of their relationship.

"Miss Grey, how was your relationship with my sister ?", He didn't answer her question but placed a question in front of her.

"Mr Kingston, suddenly placing a question in front of me, are you trying to trick me?"

The moment the words reached him, Austin frowned with a puzzled expression, he really didn't understand what she meant.

"Mr Kingston, you're a gentleman, a gentleman should answer one's question with elegance, rather than tricking ladies like me."

Austin really wanted to say he wasn't a gentleman, as for whether he actually tricked her...

"Trying to trick me by changing the topic, you won't deny that it wasn't intentional right?"

Upon being questioned, Austin was rendered speechless once again, he realised that Lucy Grey had taken for hobby rendering others speechless.

"Unless Mr Kingston is reluctant to talk about such topics."

Lucy added again with a sly smile, she didn't seem to be talking about a person's sensitive past as she stared at him with a smile, her eyes squinting with suspicious expression. As for Austin, he was still speechless and almost choose not to say a word, but later went against his thoughts.

"Didn't Jane already make a detail account?"

"Not really, she made it brief." Lucy immediately replied with a mischivouse smile, her pearl white teeth shun brightly and reflected a pearl white light in front of him, it was dazzling and healthy.

"I know a little about your late wife and ex wife, but Jane hadn't explained clearly to why you had a devorce with your ex wife. According to her words you both had no problem, but suddenly had a devorce a year before your incarceration."

Her words were truthful, which made him believe that Jane had indeed said a lot, he just didn't know how much she knew from her words.

"How much do you know ?"

"What do you think?"

Lucy didn't even think twice before giving him a short reply, it seems as if she was competing on whom could give questions better than the other. However, in Austin's eyes, the little girl in front of him was probably causing his mouth to get dry from being speechless. He believed that she was good when it came to angering others, if his temper wasn't good, he would probably have been angered to death by her.

"They're not many reasons why couples get a devorce nowadays, the most popular causes are infedelity, incaompability and..."

After dragging her words with a sly smile, Lucy looked at Austin with a deep scrutiny , then she pointed down at his direction.

"They might be a problem in that aspect of man's functions."

Without even blushing, nor feeling a little bit embarassed, Lucy stated out every fact which caused Austin's face to turn a shade dark.

His electric blue eyes became cold, taking in a deep breath, he maintained a calm expression as he stared deeply at Lucy coldly.

"Miss Grey is really straightforward."

Comprehending his words didn't cause panic or a single blush on Lucy's fair cheek, but she looked at Austin with a gentle smile. She nodded at Austin's words, not detecting anything wrong from it.

"Indeed, it's better than being pretentiouse and hypocritcal." She hated hypocrisy the most, it was better to be honest and straightforward.

"Don't you think so, Mr Kingston ?"

Once again she rendered him speechless, so could say something like that with a righteous expression, he couldn't deny or not admit it either.

"It's fine, but Miss Grey , I advice you to carefully select your words."

Austin calmly said while taking a sip of his water, other than today he seemed to have said too much, his words that could be counted became uncountable in a single day. Or rather it was more preferable to say in a single meal.

"Has Mr Kingston been angered by me ?"

Lucy suddenly said, her exquisite face still had that innocent expression with a youthful vibe, she leaned close to the table, narrowing the distance between them. At such a close distance, Austin was assailed by the gentle fragrance of apple milk fragrance, which was refreshing and addicting. He didn't know if she was ignorant of the effect she could cause on men, or perharps her innocence wasn't just an illussion due to her doe-like eyes. If he had been an ordinary man, he believed she definitely wouldn't be wary less in the future.

Closing his eyes, Austin exhaled a deep breath, he leaned back reestablishing a socially acceptable space between them , recreating that considerable distance between them once again.

"Why would I be angry ?"

His respond was just that simple, but Lucy realised that it wasn't a surprise to her, she just didn't expect that Jane was so right once more. With a sigh, Lucy leaned backward and looked at the glass of apple milk in front of her, looking at the pink straw in her glass, she didn't lean closer to drink from it. With her slender fingers, she stirred the apple milk juice with boredom, her long eye lashes flapped like wings of a butterfly, her palm size face had an exquisite smile to it, which made her look even more alluring up close.

"Jane was indeed right when she said that about you."

It was one of those inquisitive comment once again, she seemed to be addicted to it, making him guess and ask questions, however he wouldn't fall in that trick and continued to stay quiet.

Lucy didn't mind his quietness, she took it like a challenge set by the iceberg guy in front of her.

"I'm curiouse Mr Kingston, has someone ever made you mad."

Austin still didn't speak and continued staring at her with an aloof expression, but that didn't stop Lucy from taking up the challenge.

"Let me rephrase it this way." She said without the slightest care that the person involved didn't take her words into account.

"Has someone ever made you so mad that you showed your anger?"

Austin didn't say a word, he kept staring at her with scrutiny as if trying to get something from that innocent expression of hers. Austin lowered his head without saying a word, but Lucy didn't seem embarassed that her questions hadn't been answered, it was within her expectations.

"Jane once told me that her elder brother was an iceberg, do you know why?"

There was another silence, but Lucy didn't mind.

"In her memories, her elder brother never got angry, never seemed to feel pain, as if his he had no heart of his own, but she knew that he had a heart because he loved and doted on her." Lucy said, lowering her head, she looked at the half glass of milk in melancholy

"She had no expectations and had never expected to see a change of expression on him, so she gave him the image of the noble ice berge."

Austin didn't say a word, but he knew that Lucy wasn't lying, her words had once been said by his little sister.

'Brother, don't you get angry, I don't believe no one has ever made you angry, unless you bottle up everything.'

She was barely fifteen and she nagged at him with that question, but he just didn't know how to answer her, so he gave a cassual, yet satisfactory reply.

'Not indulging anger doesn't mean bottling everything.'

That was right, he was human and he also got angry, but that didn't mean he had to indulge his anger, he had feelings as well, but he had just learned how to control them.

"Jane admired that almost perfect brother, who was elegant, gentle with a noble aura going deep into his bones." Lucy said, fiddling with the straw in her glass, her fluttering eye lashes casted a shadow to her beautiful almond eyes, but she didn't seem to be aware of her own beauty, or rather she didn't seem to care. "She regretted that such a perfect image was destroyed by her."

Lucy added, without saying any further, Austin understood the message behind Jane's words. He never got angry, at least he knew how to control his emotions. But his bottom line had been broken when he saw his sister's miserable appearance, just once he became impulsive and indulged his anger.

"Mr Kingston, do you understand what Jane meant ?"

"The message has been received, though it was unecessary, I still have to thank Miss Grey."

He responded with elegance, a precise distinction void of any hint of annoyance. His voice was perfectly calm, Lucy had even wondered what he was feeling at that moment, she wasn't sure.

Despite the cool indifference that he exuded out of every one of his cosmopolitan pores, Lucy knew he wasn't completely indifferent to her words.

Alright, if that's all, then let's get back to the main reason of this meeting."

Hadn't it been for this reminder, Lucy would probably have forgotten about the simple detail of today's meal. She kept quiet while stirring at her glass of apple milk juice in front of her, without any intention to intervene. Regardless of the reason and his words she could only make a decision later on.

Getting straight to the point, Austin pushed a familiar file in front of her, without looking at it, Lucy already had an idea about it. She just didn't understand why the file that had been succesfully handed out was suddenly handed back.

Jane had obviously left this to her brother, which she succesfully kept for him and handed it out two days ago.

Austin looked at the little girl who was staring at him with an inquisitive gaze, as if she wouldn't touch it if he didn't explain his intentions.

"Jane left somethings in it, but she included you in it as well, so I want you to take a look."

Lucy blink innocently, with a playful expression she suddenly chuckled and responded.

"You're not going to tell me that I suddenly inheritted a few million dollars from Jane, are you?"

Austin didn't respond to her words, gesturing for her to look into the file, he didn't feel like saying what had already been told. His words might be true, but the file in front of her was an authentic one.

'Alright.' The simple thought rang in her mind, leaning forward she carefully peeled open the file and carefully perused it. While perusing it, Austin once again witnessed her rapid change of expression, which he understood at every changes.

After perusing through it, Lucy finally closed the file and took a deep breath before directing her attention towards him.

"Can I simply take my previous sentence as a foresight on my part?"

"What do you think?"

His gentle respond had always contained a warm feeling that was neither overbearing nor arrogant, but an assurance and the right to decide.

"Mr Kingston, I can't accept this."

"In what aspect, the position of Jane's executor or the 10million $ inherritance she left for you?" Austin responded calmly without raising his head.

"I don't care about the money, but I'm honored to be Jane's executor."

She knew why Jane had left such a large amount of money for her, but she didn't care about it. Jane had already helped her a lot in the past and it was thanks to her help that she was able to get where she was today. Help must not always come from financial support, ressources and opportunities were rare but she was provided a bridge by Jane.

She was very grateful.

"Tell me about your thoughts."

His straightforward respond was void of any arrogance and impatience, she noticed that he always had a lot of patience which proved one of Jane's said trait about him. He didn't like to make a mountain of all just to single out a grain from a bowl.

"To be honest I really don't think Jane owes me, neither was it necessary to offer so much, I only want Jesse."

Jesse was a treasure that she cherished very much, not a single piece of gold could compare to him.

"I've made a pot of gold myself." Which was considered enough to carter for Jesse's needs, she could guaranty that he wouldn't lack anything in his life.

"You're aware that I can't leave my nephew with you all his life, I have my part of responsability on him."

Upon comprehending his sentence, Lucy's grip on her glass tightened, despite her calm expression, no one could tell how much her heart was in a turmoil.

She understood what he meant, he wasn't unreasonable, neither where his well selected words, but she couldn't help but being selfish. To Jesse, Austin Kingston was a direct uncle, but towards herself, she couldn't even be considered an adoptive mother.

She was greedy, but she wasn't irrational, after recovering from the shock, Lucy quickly put away her emotions and asked with a gentle and calm expression, that same coldness that was imprinted in her bones, warm and comfortable.

"What's Mr Kingston's suggestion."

Austin was stunned by her words, he had never expected such a reply from her, but thinking of his previous words, the corners of his lips lifted into an arc, however it was fast gone. It was so fast that Lucy had barely detected it, creating an illusory smile in her mind.

"It's not urgent, let's talk about it when Miss Grey is ready."

He was always able to startle her with his words, yet he could still maintain that calm expression, dealing with every question and respond in that same distinct nobleness. She understood what he meant, so she didn't say any further, as long as she was given time to think things through. It meant giving her a way out, a convenient and civilized solution for both parties. It made Lucy think a little about others.

"I understand, it also makes me think that if everyone was like you, courts probably won't be needed."

"Then lawyers and judges would have to change profession or and Law students unemployed."

Lucy's gentle laughter reverberated in the quiet private room, inducing with itself a soft melody that scratched his heart. Her almond eyes squinted with a dreamy mist to it, making her look even more innocent and alluring. While her pearly white teeth looked milky behind her pink cherry lips. Coupled with her exquisite features, this smile of hers could be said to be captivating, stirring at his heart string. It was such a smile that could cause disasters, but the girl didn't seem to know the effects she could have on others.

"You're right Mr Kingston, it's better to give the Law students some hope."

Lucy responded with a smile still hanging on her lips, from a corner she seemed to notice Austin's frequent glance at his wrist, despite it she didn't detect any hint of impatience from him.

"You've been paying attention to your wrist watch for quite a while, does Mr Kingston have other appointments."

Lucy couldn't help but ask, she didn't want to be the reason why he missed a project worth millions of dollars. She was aware that despite just being released from prison, Austin Kingston had a company with a net worth of morethan a hundred million dollars. Besides it, he probably had other estates and investments that had been well managed by his capable assistant.

Lucy was rather impressed, it would be great if she had such a loyal assistant to carter for her.

"I thought we might be able to make a trip to claim Jane's inherritance today. It's best if we could deal with the benefiaries as early as possible."

Lucy nodded in approval, she also wanted to deal with the troublesome matter as fast as possible, but she didn't want to delay Austin Kingston either. She was already grateful that Jane made him her attorney which prevented from going through the turturouse process with a stranger. She didn't think that Austin Kingston could be considered one of those strangers either.

As for her sudden executorship position, she was morethan willing to accomplish it.

"Are you free tomorrow ?"

"Yes.", Lucy replied without thinking twice.

"Then I'll pick you up at 7:00 am."

Lucy was stunned but quickly recovered.

"Must it be that early ?" Lucy responded with a frown, she wasn't a lazy bun, she was even an early rise girls, but leaving the house so early, didn't the normal working hours begin at eight.

Just when she thought of questioning him, Austin finally spoke.

"We're meeting a friend, Jane and I are very close to him. He might not be available after 7:30 the next day, he's barely sparing sometime for us, he still needs to catch a flight after that.

Lucy thought about it with an understanding expression, she thought it wasn't surprising that Jane had choosen someone familiar to safekeep her assets and draft her will.

"Alright, then I'll wait for Mr Kingston."

Austin didn't give a respond to her cheerful comment but immediately stood up.

"I'll drive you back."

It wasn't a question, but a command blocking any refusal from her mouth. Lucy didn't even think of rejecting his offer any more and stood up as she hopped beside him.