You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 423

"Who sent this?"

"The folks downstairs said it was from the local charity association."

"Any signature?" Tina paced around the painting, examining it from every angle, but there was nothing.

The assistant, looking just as unsettled, joined in the search.

At their level, the real problem wasn’t the gift itself—it was not knowing who sent it.

"Should I just get rid of it?"

"I doubt it’s really from the charity. Just leave it for now," Emerson said, motioning for the assistant to leave. "No name means something’s up."

Once the assistant was gone, Emerson poured himself some water, took a slow sip, and finally spoke. "If Patricia didn’t set us up, then someone on the board must be working for her. She must’ve gotten tipped off."

"Who?" Tina’s voice shook.

If Patricia really had someone on the inside, they’d have to be extra careful.

"No way to know yet." Emerson couldn’t smooth out the frown on his face.

"Besides the three of us, there are four left."

And those four—they’d been keeping a close eye, but so far hadn’t noticed any connection to Patricia.

Emerson squinted, turning his glass slowly in his hand, looking completely calm but icy cold.

Tina knew that look—he was lost in thought—so she decided not to interrupt.

Instead, she grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting along the edge of the frame.

She peeled off the cardboard, revealing a layer of white plastic underneath.

She kept peeling, layer after layer. It took her four or five minutes, each one dragging by.

Finally, the plastic ripped with a loud crack.

Before she could even toss the scraps away, her eyes landed on a painting so vivid, so explicit, it left her stunned.

Emerson pointed at the guy’s face and demanded, "Who is he?"

"If I knew, would I be trying to destroy it?" Tina snapped, still catching her breath.

"Let’s just get a professional to look at the paper and see how old it is. Don’t panic."

Tina got to work, taking apart the frame, cutting off a piece of the paper for testing, and carefully folding up the rest to keep it out of sight.

"First things first, book a flight to Toronto. If Ruby’s getting herself into this kind of trouble overseas, she might as well not bother coming home."

"Take it easy," Tina said gently, not daring to push back. "If she doesn’t come home, who’s going to run the family business?"

The timing for this painting could not have been worse.

They’d been watching Skyline Entertainment for three years, never daring to make a move. Now that Ruby was back, they’d finally decided to bring her in.

And right after the shareholders’ meeting—when everything was still a mess—this painting shows up out of nowhere.

If you’re a parent working so hard to plan your child’s future, only to have them mess around abroad, anyone would lose their temper.