You Looked Down on Me Once, Now You Look Up. novel Chapter 563

Raymond followed Nina’s gaze until his eyes landed on Cecilia. He looked genuinely surprised.

After leaving the office, the two of them got into the car. Raymond gripped the steering wheel for a long moment, gathering his thoughts before finally breaking the silence.

“Mom, are you hiding something from me?”

He hesitated, then pressed on. “Remember when Mrs. Miller asked if I had enough money to buy a house? I told her yes, but she shot back, ‘If you have enough, why are you borrowing from someone else?’ So, where did that fifty thousand you gave me actually come from? You and Dad have always been regular employees. All your old savings went to pay for my education overseas. Lately you’ve been living on your pensions, just barely getting by. How could you suddenly have fifty grand lying around? Where did it come from?”

His voice got sharper, frustration building. “Mom, do you know what the Miller family means in our industry? If this misunderstanding doesn’t get cleared up, they could freeze me out of the business with one phone call. Do you want me to never find work again?”

Cecilia’s face went pale. She pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

A thought crossed Raymond’s mind. “Did you get the money from that man who came to see you last time?”

He remembered coming home and finding Jackson there with Cecilia. They’d talked behind closed doors, and after Jackson left, Cecilia barely ate for days. He’d asked her about it. She’d told him it was just the son of an old friend from her days in the village, stopping by with bad news from back home. She’d seemed genuinely upset.

People from her generation all had stories from their time working in the countryside. He knew she’d been sent there for a year, just like so many others. But now, he wasn’t so sure that was all there was to it.

“What’s really going on between you two?” he asked quietly.

Cecilia’s hands trembled. She twisted her fingers together, rubbing the back of her hand over and over.

“He…”

She tried to say it, but the truth was too painful and humiliating to get out. It was a secret she’d buried for years. The words stuck in her throat. “I’ll handle this. Don’t worry.”

“No, Mom. Tell me. Let me take care of it.”

Cornered, Cecilia snapped, her voice shaking. “Don’t you trust your own mother? When have I ever lied to you?”

Raymond fell silent. He turned away, staring out at the distant skyline, and let out a heavy sigh.

Meanwhile, across town in the Cloud Peak penthouse, Jackson was sprawled on the sofa, gazing out the window at the clouds, looking completely worn out.

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