You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 684

She used to love having her around, always sharing funny stories and little moments. Back then, everything felt so simple. But now, look at how things turned out.

Money and desire—they can wear down even the kindest heart. It’s like that old saying: help someone once and they’ll thank you, help them a hundred times and they’ll learn to resent you. That’s just how people are.

If not for Ruby, she never would have broken her leg. If not for Ruby, she wouldn’t have ended up marrying Theo, either.

“Mr. Martin…”

A knock at the door cut through her thoughts, and Colby stepped in, with Brandon in uniform right behind her.

Patricia was standing in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, her back to the sunlight. The whole city stretched out behind her—skyscrapers, glass and steel for as far as you could see. She looked so fragile, but her eyes were cold, her expression unreadable, almost like a statue.

Meanwhile, Ruby was kneeling on the floor in front of her, bent over, pleading. She looked like someone at the end of their rope, begging for mercy.

Brandon froze at the sight, shocked. It was like catching a glimpse of a side of Patricia no one outside the office was ever supposed to see.

But Colby reacted fast. She nudged Brandon’s arm and backed out of the room with him, shutting the door quietly behind them.

“Mr. Lantz, Mr. Martin’s dealing with something private. Please wait in the lounge for a bit.”

Colby definitely hadn’t planned for this. She’d thought Ruby had already left. And with Brandon saying he was in a rush, she’d walked right into a disaster.

If something like this had happened in front of Mr. Padilla, Colby knew her career would be over in a heartbeat.

As she slipped back out into the hallway, she wiped her sweaty palm on the seam of her pants, trying to pull herself together.

Six years ago in Toronto, Oliver had been stationed on the top floor of the branch office. That year, Toronto’s numbers were a disaster—losses every quarter, nothing but bad news in the reports piling up on his desk.

Mr. Padilla had flown in with his executive team to get to the bottom of things. They spent half a year there, and eventually uncovered the truth: the vice president had been leaking company data and pocketing the profits.

The day they found out, Toronto was drenched in rain. The clouds hung low and heavy, the drizzle making everything feel even more suffocating.

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