You Looked Down on Me Once, Now You Look Up. novel Chapter 53

As soon as Theo walked in, the emptiness hit him. The shelves and tables that used to be crowded with Patricia’s knickknacks were bare or filled with unfamiliar things. But what really caught him off-guard was the missing plants—every last flower and green leaf Patricia had fussed over these past two years was just gone.

It was that in-between time when spring melts into summer, when the window sills should’ve been blooming. Now, not a single bloom in sight.

She’d loved those things. Protected them. Now they’d vanished, too.

“Are you moving out?” he asked.

He found Patricia upstairs, lounging on the bed in a white, old-fashioned nightgown. Her long hair was braided to one side, tied with a silk ribbon. She looked like she belonged in a painting—calm, distant, almost unreal.

But Theo knew better. That serene look was just a front.

Patricia never let anyone close. Whatever happened when she was younger had left scars too deep to heal. After her parents died, she cut herself off from everyone. Even her cousin Chelsea, her only real family, she barely saw.

“Is there a problem?” Patricia asked, voice even.

“Where are you moving to?” Theo pressed.

She just shrugged. “That’s not really any of your business.”

“We’re not enemies, Patricia. At least not yet.”

She almost laughed at that. He really thought that? Good thing he was only guessing—otherwise, she’d actually have something to worry about.

“I think it’s better if we make a clean break,” she said, finally answering his question. “Anyway, it’s late. Did you come here for something?”

“I heard about what happened with Joseph,” Theo said. “You know how protective he is of his sister. He’s not a bad guy.”

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