You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 597

Patricia wasn’t about to turn down a golden opportunity that landed right at her door.

Suddenly, something sparked in Ruby’s mind. She grabbed her phone and called Wendy. “Hey, where’s Joseph? Haven’t seen him around. Why would the Miller family send their daughter to work at the company when they have a perfectly good son?”

“No clue,” Wendy answered. “The Millers haven’t told anyone where Joseph is. But from what I’ve heard, he hasn’t been the same since that… incident.”

After what Joseph went through—what man could come back from that? It was a miracle he hadn’t lost his mind.

“Got it. Thanks for the tip. I owe you one,” Ruby said.

Wendy let out a little laugh. “Come on, Ruby. We’ve known each other forever. Don’t get all polite with me.”

“If you ever need anything, just ask. I mean it.”

When Wendy hung up, she pressed her lips together and glanced up as someone approached from down the hall.

“Who was on the phone?” he asked softly.

“Ruby.”

He frowned. “Things are messy with the Martins right now. Don’t get involved. If your dad hears, you know he’ll have something to say.”

Wendy nodded. “I know. But Ruby’s not really going to ask me for help—she was just being polite.”

Nobody knew Ruby like Wendy did. They’d grown up together. Wendy had seen Ruby’s selfishness, her coldness, and her mean streak up close. She remembered all the times Ruby, jealous of Patricia, had done everything she could to make Patricia’s life miserable. Even after Jason died, Ruby didn’t let up. She just got nastier, more obvious about wanting to push Patricia down and rub it in.

But now? The tables had turned. Patricia had taken Emerson’s spot as acting CEO of Martin Group.

Wendy had no doubt what Patricia’s first move would be—making sure Ruby paid for everything she’d ever done.

Riverdale was the kind of place where people came and went, the sun rose and set, and power and lives shifted hands every day. Nothing really shocked anyone anymore, but that didn’t mean people didn’t feel a pang of something—maybe pity, maybe regret—from time to time.

They were grown now. Everyone had learned to look out for themselves. In their world, real friendship barely existed—everything was just a matter of shifting alliances and what people could get out of each other.

In the office, Patricia leaned back in her chair, eyes on her computer. Her fingers tapped a slow rhythm on the desk, her expression icy and unreadable.

After a minute, she looked over at Kent across the table. “Are you nervous, Mr. Lawrence?”

“N-no, not at all,” Kent stammered, clearly rattled.

Who would’ve thought? Not long ago, Emerson was the one sitting in that chair, and now it was Patricia running the show.

“You’ve been with the company a long time, Mr. Lawrence, so I’ll just be direct,” she said.

“Yes, Ms. Martin?” Kent replied.

“The audit found a six million dollar shortfall in your department. Care to explain?”

“A lot of business relationships and favors don’t make it onto paper. Mr. Martin always understood that. What exactly do you want me to explain?” Kent looked at Patricia, biting back a bitter laugh, wishing he could just call her an ignorant little girl to her face.