You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 133

“How rich are we talking?” Patricia asked, her curiosity obvious.

Money had never really mattered to her. Selling off the Newton family estate had been about making things fair, not trying to get rich.

It wasn’t about the cash.

“Well… I’m not totally sure,” Aurora admitted. “I heard something in the office this morning. Someone said that Bentley you drive isn’t even under your name.”

Patricia raised an eyebrow. “Whose name is it, then?”

Aurora hesitated, looking for some kind of reaction from Patricia. But Patricia just stared back, calm and unreadable, which made Aurora even more nervous.

“I—I just overheard it, that’s all,” Aurora stammered. “Didn’t mean anything by it.”

Patricia didn’t see the point in intimidating her staff. With a small smile, she waved her hand. “It’s fine. Who doesn’t like a little gossip? Now go on, get back to work.”

Aurora let out a breath she’d been holding and hurried out of the office.

She thought, Ms. Martin’s presence is way more intense than Ms. Ruby Martin’s. She’s honestly a little scary.

Setting her coffee aside, Patricia picked up her phone and sent a quick message: “Thanks.”

A thumbs-up emoji came back almost instantly.

She put her phone down, took her coffee, and wandered over to the big windows, looking out over the city from the twelfth floor.

For a moment, it all felt pretty good.

Meanwhile, Ruby had been trending online for days.

Martin Group’s stock was climbing fast, topping the charts on every trading app.

Emerson was practically glowing from all the compliments his business friends kept throwing at him.

His phone wouldn’t stop ringing, with everyone going on about what a great daughter he’d raised.

He started bringing Ruby along to every business event.

Emerson pretended to be concerned. “Trouble?”

“Not really. I just don’t get what young people think is attractive these days,” Curtis said, handing over his phone and pointing at a few celebrity photos. “Back when we were young, being healthy and full-figured was considered beautiful. Look at these stars now—skinny as sticks, like they haven’t eaten in days. None of them are as good-looking as Ruby, but they all want to be brand ambassadors.”

He trailed off, then looked at Emerson with a sudden spark. “Actually, Ruby’s been really popular lately. Why not have her endorse our company? Money’s money, right?”

The idea clicked in Emerson’s mind, but he shook his head and answered seriously, “That probably wouldn’t work.”

“Why not? Lots of daughters from big companies do endorsements for other brands.”

Emerson smiled. “If she’s going to be the face of a brand, it should be our own company first.”

Curtis nodded. “Makes sense.”

Once Curtis left, Emerson couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He called Ruby up to talk things over and reached out to a few industry veterans who’d done the same thing before.