You Looked Down on Me Once, Now You Look Up. novel Chapter 465

Joseph lingered in the parking lot, not in any hurry to get into his car. His therapy had never been so intense that he needed a driver, and Zoey, always thoughtful, didn’t want him to feel like he was under surveillance. She never even considered hiring someone for him.

That little bit of freedom made things easier—just not in the way he’d hoped.

He’d barely closed the door when something soft and tight—someone’s tie—slipped around his neck. It wrenched back, cutting off his breath so suddenly that his ears rang and the world went blinding white.

Joseph thrashed, panic flooding his veins. He hammered at the steering wheel, setting off the horn in a desperate attempt to get someone’s attention.

But the noise stopped almost as soon as it started. The tie was yanked away, and he choked for air, only to have a hand clamp around his throat, strong fingers digging in. The man behind him spoke, voice low and cold, more like a shadow than a person. “You really think no one knows what you did?”

“You really believe every woman in this world is as weak as the one you hurt in college?”

For a split second, Joseph froze. That woman—the one from college—was a secret only a handful of people knew, just family and a few old roommates. And those guys were all out of the country now, barely in touch.

The hand suddenly let go. Coughing, voice raw, Joseph managed, “You’re with Ruby.”

In the dim light, the man pulled his cap lower, a crooked grin on his lips, eyes flickering with a kind of dangerous energy. He looked Joseph up and down like a predator sizing up its prey.

Joseph wanted to follow him but his feet wouldn’t move. He just sat there, watching as the man slipped into the shadows and vanished.

For a long moment, Joseph stayed frozen, anger burning under his skin. Then he slammed his palm hard against the horn, the sound shrieking through the parking garage.

The noise carried, sharp and jarring, right into Patricia’s car.

She was leaning back in the driver’s seat, eyes closed, resting her head against the window. At the sound, she cracked one eye open—slow, lazy, like a lioness yawning awake, all sleepy menace.

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