You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 649

This wasn’t just about quitting without an apology anymore. Every exec here had signed the same agreement before coming on board. If you did anything to damage the company’s reputation, you were breaking the contract and would have to pay up. And those penalties could range from a slap on the wrist to something that’d ruin you.

On the top floor, Curtis led the charge, trying to talk Tina down. Every argument circled back to the same thing—this was what was best for the company, and honestly, for her too.

Patricia sat quietly at the far end of the table, saying nothing. Still, Tina’s glare was sharp enough to cut through steel.

After a long, heavy moment, Colby came in and whispered something to Patricia. She just lowered her eyes, gave the smallest flick of her fingers, and sent him back out.

“Tina, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t suspect all of this is your doing,” Tina suddenly cut in, her voice slicing through the tension in the room.

Patricia leaned back in her chair, chin propped on one hand, looking completely unfazed. If anything, she almost seemed amused. “Did I tell you to go out and pick a fight?”

“Ms. Klotz, you’ve been in management forever. Are you really that clueless about how Gen Z handles work drama these days? People aren’t just going to bow and scrape for a paycheck that barely covers lunch. The world’s changed, and you’re acting like you missed the memo.”

Patricia’s words landed hard, blunt as ever.

Colby slipped back in, handed her a folder. Patricia slid it across the table, stopping it right in front of Tina.

“Ms. Klotz, the audit team found that from April to July, you took eight hundred million out of company funds for investments. Don’t you think the board deserves an explanation?”

The room fell dead silent. Every eye zeroed in on Tina, waiting for her to speak.

But Tina kept her cool. “You said it yourself—they were investments.”

“If it doesn’t touch company interests, sure, the new boss can walk away. But if your mess ends up on my desk, do you think I’m just going to let it slide?” Patricia’s voice was cold and sharp. “The board’s all here. Let’s get this settled right now.”

Those words carried weight. If things weren’t dealt with today, it’d all blow up during the annual review—and Patricia had made it clear she wasn’t taking the fall for someone else’s disaster. She was either in or out. No in-between.

Nobody wanted to be the one left holding the bag when the numbers came in.

For a moment, the board just looked at each other, everyone silently working out how to protect themselves. If Tina’s investments tanked, some departments would take the hit. That would drag down company-wide performance—and hurt the shareholders where it hurt most.

The whole room felt frozen.

Colby came back in, hesitating before speaking. “Mr. Martin, Mr. Padilla from Pacific Capital is here. He’d like to meet with you.”