You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 698

“Ma’am...” Johns looked uneasy, fidgeting where he stood.

“What is it?” Patricia asked, stirring her porridge with a porcelain spoon. Each scrape against the bowl was sharp and grating. “Johns, are you trying to give me a hard time?”

Johns wanted to say, Who’s really giving who a hard time here?

He’d been woken up in the middle of the night by Mr. Padilla, who told him to handle this. Right away, Johns had warned him that Patricia probably wouldn’t go for it. After all, she’d already thought Aiden was a waste of resources last time.

And after what happened last night, there was no way she’d want anyone new around. He pretty much knew today’s assignment was doomed before it even started.

As Johns left with his team, Sara and Roger exchanged glances. Sara looked like she wanted to say something, but she’d always had a reputation for being scattered. Besides, she figured that even if she tried to explain, Aunt Patricia wouldn’t believe her. Roger would have to handle it.

Roger thought for a moment before speaking up. “Aunt Patricia, Uncle Oliver’s just being extra careful about security. Don’t overthink it.”

“Ever since Grandpa took over, we’ve had more than our share of enemies. Things have calmed down in recent years, but back in the day, all sorts of things happened in the family. Uncle Oliver’s always been on high alert, especially about keeping everyone safe.”

Sara nodded, jumping in. “Yeah, exactly! Remember ten years ago? Grandpa was already at the top, but someone still tried to take him out. Aunt Tina was pregnant and someone rammed her with a car—she lost the baby. Turned out it was all planned by our rivals. And Colton? He got drugged. All kinds of stuff has happened. Uncle Oliver just wants to be sure everyone’s safe. Whether it’s Aiden or whoever he sent today, it’s all for you, Aunt Patricia.”

“Jackson is enough,” Patricia said, her voice flat.

“Let’s eat.” With just those two words, she shut down the conversation.

Sara and Roger exchanged helpless looks. They wanted to say more but both backed down.

Meanwhile, in the guesthouse dining room, Marian sat across from Jackson as he quietly worked through his breakfast.

“What do you mean?” Marian tilted her head, pretending not to understand.

“Every stage of life has its own tasks. Yours was to raise your son and, when the time comes, let him go to his girlfriend—or his wife. Now he has someone to take care of him. You can finally focus on yourself.”

“But what if one day things go wrong? What if his wife bullies him? What should I do then?”

“Well, that’s their business to sort out. If you keep getting involved, you’ll just end up being the bad guy. They say the mother-in-law relationship is the world’s greatest unsolved mystery for a reason, and you—”

Jackson suddenly stopped.

The rest of his words got stuck in his throat.