You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 321

When Emerson first took over the Martin Group, he went all out to win over Jason’s loyal crew. He acted like the perfect boss, dishing out favors, making everyone feel like they were part of his inner circle.

He kept saying they were family.

And when they finally believed him—when they started trusting him and working hard on his behalf—he turned around and kicked them to the curb. Emerson never cared about loyalty. He used people and then tossed them aside, just like he did with her husband.

After her husband died, Emerson put on a show, pretending to be devastated. He handed her a huge compensation check, and since she was pregnant at the time, he encouraged her to keep the baby. He promised nannies, the best doctors, a private hospital—the works.

For a while, she really thought he was a good person. She believed she’d backed the right horse.

It wasn’t until a year later, scrolling through her junk mail, that she found an old email buried in the spam folder.

Her husband had laid everything out in that message—what really happened, proof that Emerson had broken the law, and even a recording of a phone call that would ruin him.

She held her tongue and played it safe for years, just like her husband told her to do. Slowly, carefully, she gave up the power she once held. In the end, she resigned, saying she needed to take care of her child. That was the only way she made it out.

If she hadn’t, she would have been next.

People who steal a little get punished, but those who steal a lot become kings.

Emerson went from a nobody to the boss of a listed company.

Could anyone really believe he did it cleanly?

So many people had died because of him. It was time he paid for it.

Patricia drove straight back to Cloud Peak.

As soon as she walked in, she spotted Lincoln coming out of the tea room on the first floor.

He greeted her politely. “Good evening, Mrs. Grant.”

Patricia nodded back, but before she could move, someone called out from inside the tea room.

“Pattie.”

She stepped in. “What’s up?”

Oliver looked like he’d been expecting her. He set a steaming cup of tea on the table across from him.

“So why didn’t you?”

Most people with that kind of background would never shut up about it. They’d plaster their dad’s name everywhere.

But not Oliver.

He kept it low-key, never talked about it. Even Sara’s kids, who usually seemed all over the place, were tight-lipped. Nobody ever mentioned their grandpa outside the house.

“I was worried you’d run for the hills. Having a big family name can help sometimes, but living with all those rules is hard. Most people keep their distance. I was afraid you’d do the same.”

Patricia thought to herself, if she’d known Oliver’s family was that influential, she never would have married into it.

It scared her.

She knew she’d never stand a chance against people like them, no matter how smart she thought she was.

She took another sip of tea and nodded. “You were right to worry. Now that I know, I kind of want to run too.”