You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 434

The car swerved out of control and smashed straight into the guardrail.

Thank God Riverdale doesn’t let trucks in before ten at night. If they had, that guardrail would’ve been the least of our worries.

“Nina, do you even hear yourself right now?” Joseph’s voice was sharp, furious. He shoved Nina’s head hard against the window. “Say that again, I dare you.”

“Do you even know who you’ll have to rely on for the rest of your life?” he spat. “Do you have any idea who’s going to inherit everything from the Miller family?”

Most people would’ve kept quiet at a moment like this. Not Nina. She looked him dead in the eye and pushed back. “What, you think it’ll be you?”

“Why don’t you just sell yourself on the street? Who needs an inheritance then?”

“Nina, I swear, I’ll kill you!” Joseph exploded. He yanked off his seatbelt and started kicking, wild and out of control.

His huge shoes crashed into her head, her ribs, her arms. He didn’t hold back at all. It was like all the hate he’d ever felt was pouring out in every blow.

Nina stayed silent. She didn’t fight back. She just curled up and covered her head, trying to shield herself as best she could.

She knew one thing for sure: if she made it through tonight, Joseph’s life as he knew it was over.

But Joseph wasn’t thinking about anything except his own rage. He didn’t care about the blood. He didn’t care about the people outside, pounding on the car windows, begging him to stop.

“Call the police!”

“If you don’t, that girl’s going to die in there!”

“Somebody call the cops, now!”

It took less than ten minutes for the police to break the window and force open the car door.

They dragged Nina out. She was barely conscious, barely breathing. Someone pulled her away from the wreck, and even then, she managed a tiny, bloody smile.

Joseph, you’re done for.

“What are you doing? Let me go! This is a family matter!” Joseph screamed as the cops pinned him to the ground. He thrashed and yelled, but nobody cared.

An older officer came over and nodded at Zoey and Ben. “Could I talk to you both in private?”

Out in the hallway, he hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “This won’t be easy to hear, but I really think you should get your son checked out. For mental illness—or maybe even a split personality.”

Ben stood there, speechless.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Nina was just being wheeled out of the imaging room.

“Two ribs are broken,” the doctor said quietly.

Zoey rushed in just in time to hear it and nearly fainted from the shock. She clung to the doctor, demanding details, then insisted on a full check-up before finally bringing Nina back to her room.

Nina lay in the hospital bed, watching Zoey dart around, fussing over her.

When she finally had a quiet moment, Nina picked up her phone and texted, What should I do next?