You Looked Down on Me Once, Now You Look Up. novel Chapter 338

Patricia had no idea what was going on. She was about to call out and ask when Oliver showed up from the other side. Jackson and Oliver never really got along. Sensing how unwelcome he was, Jackson didn’t even bother walking over.

“Why are you up so early?”

“Finished your workout already?”

They both blurted out their questions at the same time.

Patricia just mumbled a quick reply. Oliver’s eyes landed on a line of poetry she’d written in the dirt. He narrowed his gaze, studying it for a moment, then reached down, took Patricia’s hand, and scratched the words out.

“Why bother writing about someone else first thing in the morning?”

Patricia blinked, caught off guard, and glanced at him. “You know what it means?”

He gave her a look. “Of course I do.” He always knew everything—he just liked to play dumb for her sake.

After a pause, Oliver kept his hand over hers, guiding the stick she was holding. With slow, steady strokes, he wrote a new phrase in the soft earth: “A true gentleman cultivates himself with a heart as deep and calm as a silent lake.”

It was something from an old book—a reminder to keep your mind steady and your soul grounded.

Ever since Patricia found out just how powerful Oliver’s family really was, she’d started seeing everything about the Padillas differently. Jackson was always saying Oliver liked to put on a show. She used to agree with him. But now, she wasn’t so sure. Maybe they just didn’t get it—maybe they just didn’t have the background to understand.

When people come from a family with real history, even their names seem full of meaning. What was there to fake?

“Read it for me, Pattie,” Oliver said softly, his arms slipping around her from behind.

Patricia recited the phrase, her voice gentle and quiet, sending a shiver right through Oliver’s heart.

———

At breakfast, the three kids looked like they were about to pass out, their eyelids drooping and fighting to stay open. It was obvious they’d been up way too late last night.

“What were you doing—robbing banks or something?” Oliver asked, sipping his soy milk.

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