You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 66

Neither mother nor daughter was worth Patricia’s time.

But if Jackson decided to speak up, he could have ripped them both to shreds.

Before they had a chance to defend themselves, Jackson glanced around and suddenly called out, “Hey, everybody, check this out! This mom is actually cheering her daughter on to be a homewrecker. That’s her—yeah, the woman who showed up at the airport with Theo from Newton Enterprises yesterday!”

His voice cut through the noise, and instantly, every curious eye turned to Ruby.

She panicked, throwing a hand over her face and yanking Tina with her as they hurried away.

The second they were out of sight, Tina’s voice went cold. “We can’t let Patricia stay.”

Ruby’s reply was soft but firm. “She’s got the Parsons family behind her.”

Patricia’s grandparents never got involved in these messy fights, but everyone knew how powerful they were. Ignoring that would be plain stupid.

“So why handle it ourselves?”

“Mom, you mean...”

***

Inside the restaurant, servers kept bringing dish after dish.

Patricia ate slowly, every move calm and graceful—like she’d been born and raised for this kind of setting.

Even the way she lowered her eyes made people want to keep looking at her, as if there was something mesmerizing about her presence.

“Patricia, did you see the news lately?” someone asked.

“What news?” Patricia replied, her voice relaxed.

“You know, about Newton Enterprises!”

The second Newton Enterprises was mentioned, Jackson looked up, eyeing the girl who’d changed the subject. “You mean Theo from Newton Enterprises?”

The girl nodded so hard her whole ponytail bounced.

Jackson laughed. “Oh, she knows all about it. Theo is Patricia’s husband, after all. The famous Mr. Newton.”

The room went dead silent.

He hadn’t shown up yesterday, but that didn’t mean he was giving up so easily.

Whether the Newton family could survive this scandal all depended on Patricia.

“Patricia. Long time no see,” Howard greeted her.

She looked him over. Howard had spent most of the past few years focused on international business, hardly ever coming home. The last time they met was at a holiday dinner. Including today, this was only their third time seeing each other in two years.

“Did you need something, Mr. Newton?”

“Can we talk in the car?” Howard’s tone was polite enough.

Patricia glanced at Jackson, who opened the car door and helped her in. Howard stepped up to help with her wheelchair, folding it and putting it in the trunk himself.

“I’ve got it,” Jackson said, hurrying over to take the wheelchair from him. Finally, Jackson thought, someone in the Newton family with a clue.

But Patricia knew Howard wasn’t doing this out of concern for her—he was thinking about the Newton family’s future.

After all his years in the business world, he had to know: the smartest way to win was to win over the heart and mind.