You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 601

She ended the call.

Patricia stared at her phone, a flicker of unease twisting in her chest. She quickly typed out a message—“Is this a bad time?”—but got nothing back. No reply. It was like her words had just disappeared into thin air.

She scrolled through her messages, stopping at Sara’s name, thumb hovering as she thought about reaching out. Before she could even start typing, her phone lit up.

Nina’s name was right there on the screen, bold and impossible to ignore.

Patricia hesitated for a second, holding the phone in her hand, before finally answering.

“Ms. Miller.”

“Ms. Martin, congratulations.”

Nina’s voice drifted through, light and tinged with a sly little smile. She was probably lounging in her office, absentmindedly playing with that lucky bamboo on her desk. “I hope my gift was what you wanted, Ms. Martin.”

Patricia knew Nina had leaked the Emerson story. There was no doubt.

“It was exactly what I needed.”

Nina traced a leaf between her fingers. “Glad to hear it.”

“We should get dinner sometime.”

Patricia wasn’t stupid. Nina was clearly trying to make peace, maybe even switch sides. There was no reason to push her away. In this world, unless you truly hated someone, there was no such thing as a permanent enemy—especially when you could both benefit.

Everyone else thought she and Nina were sworn enemies. After all, Nina had stolen her man once.

Whenever Patricia heard that gossip, she just laughed. Seriously, all this over a guy?

“Ms. Martin, if you’ll let me, I’ll be the sharpest blade at your side.”

She used to be naive, letting her feelings for a man run her life. But ever since she’d started moving up in the company, hearing people call her Ms. Miller with that mix of respect and caution—it gave her a rush no man ever could.

Nina stood, walked over to the water cooler, and poured Ruby a glass. She handed it to her with a soft laugh. “No need to get all worked up.”

“She asked me for help.”

“She asked you?” Ruby let out a short, bitter laugh. “Nina, do you even hear yourself? Patricia would come to you? Who do you think you are?”

Sarcasm, ridicule, scorn.

In Ruby’s eyes, Nina would always be the woman who lost herself over a man. People always said Nina was worse than her. At least when Theo got married, Ruby never tried to be the other woman or chase him down.

But Nina? No morals, no shame—she’d ruined someone’s family, stirred up trouble, and acted like she was proud of it.

Nina listened, but didn’t jump in to defend herself. She sat down slowly, met Ruby’s icy stare, and asked quietly,

“And you, Ruby? Who do you think you are?”