You Looked Down on Me Once, Now You Look Up. novel Chapter 551

Tina had always known who her grandma really was.

All that talk about loving this son or that one—at the end of the day, the only person Grandma truly cared about was herself and the pride she wore like armor.

Her dignity was everything to her.

She was one of the first women to go to college back in the fifties, managed to avoid being sent down to the countryside, and became a teacher. She married a colleague, gave birth to two sons in a row with her in-laws watching, and always liked to say she’d never bent her back for anyone in her whole life.

If this were some old-fashioned family drama, she’d be the main character, no question.

But times changed, and Grandma never did.

Her eldest son kept his distance, so she’d go around spreading rumors about how unfilial he was, spending his money like water and still finding reasons to criticize him. What really got under her skin was that he’d married a woman from a truly educated family. Her daughter-in-law had grown up in comfort and it showed—she was always graceful, always said the right thing, never forced or fake about it.

To Grandma, that was its own kind of insult.

She’d pretended to be classy her whole life, but didn’t even know how much a little girl’s designer dress cost, or what people paid for a genuine Ming Dynasty plate. When she found out, she’d just call her daughter-in-law wasteful.

She loved to brag about her own “good life,” but she was really just clinging to her pride at the bottom.

The first few years after Jason got married, the fights between his mom and wife never seemed to end.

So Jason took his wife and moved away from the Martin family.

For more than ten years, they only kept in touch during holidays. The rest of the time, it was basically radio silence.

That’s why, when Jason and his wife died, Grandma didn’t even look sad.

She was simply too selfish. She wanted her kids to succeed, but never more than her.

Emerson’s nerves were shot these days.

Work was a headache.

Home wasn’t any better.

He kept checking in with the police, terrified he’d missed something important.

In the office, Tina was quietly sipping the bird’s nest soup Ruby brought her. The porcelain spoon tapped gently against the bowl.

“So, when are you planning to…” Ruby started.

Tina didn’t even look up. “The day after tomorrow. The twenty-ninth.”

“Why not just wait for the company anniversary on August first?”

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