You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 674

Brandon barely had time to react before she was already moving. He started to step forward, ready to stop her, but Mr. Padilla, who’d been standing quietly by Patricia’s side, slid an arm around Patricia’s waist and calmly steered her away.

Then, without saying a word, he raised his foot and kicked Tina back. There was nothing gentle about it. He didn’t hold back at all.

From the crowd, Hector let out a low whistle under his breath. Now that’s cold, he thought. Absolutely brutal.

Oliver had always been the type who saved his feelings for his own people. He never hit women, but that was only because he never laid a finger on anyone from his own circle.

Tina, a high-level exec at Martin Group, was led away under suspicion of murder. Normally, someone in Patricia’s position—acting CEO—would be scrambling to do damage control, if only to protect the company.

But tonight, Patricia didn’t even try. She didn’t say a word. As Tina was escorted past her, Patricia just lifted her wine glass in a small, mock toast, like she was celebrating.

The party ended soon after. People started slipping out, some pulling out their phones to see if the news had already hit.

“How come there’s nothing online about this?” someone muttered.

“They’ve locked it down tight,” another whispered.

A third person leaned in, warning, “Don’t post anything. Don’t even talk about it.”

“With Pacific Capital backing Patricia, you know they’ll keep this under wraps. Plus, it’s the Golden Week holiday—after seven days off, this whole scandal will be old news. From Patricia’s angle, Tina’s out, the company’s safe, and there’s no bad press. That’s like hitting three targets in one shot.”

“If you ever think about badmouthing Patricia, remember who’s got her back.”

One woman grumbled, “I’m dying to know what’s really going on between Patricia and Mr. Padilla from Pacific Capital.”

“Doesn’t matter,” someone replied. “If you want to survive in this crowd, keep your head down. You never know who people are really working for.”

A younger woman sighed. “We’re all basically the same age, but Patricia is something else. She’s taken over Martin Group one step at a time.”

“I just want to see how Ruby reacts to this,” someone else added. “Let’s see how long she can keep up that attitude.”

An older man was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “In a family, going this far isn’t a good thing.” If this were the old days, the family never would’ve put up with what Patricia just did. She could have dragged herself down with them.

She wiped her palms on her dress, trying to calm herself down.

What had she said to Patricia?

Back in the ballroom, she’d quietly asked Patricia if maybe they should call a lawyer—after all, the company’s interests had to come first.

Patricia had glanced at her, her smile icy, her voice sharp as a knife. “What’s wrong, Ann? Want to join Ms. Klotz in custody?”

“Did you really think the auditors didn’t notice your little financial dealings with Ms. Klotz?”

“Be smart. Or you’ll be next.”

Ann had always been a loyal Emerson and Tina supporter—unlike Mitch, who could never pick a side. But now, Emerson and Tina were both out. If anyone started digging around, Ann knew she wouldn’t survive the fallout.

And Patricia—Patricia was ruthless. It was only a matter of time before she came for her, too.