You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 829

The room went completely still. Anyone who hadn’t figured out what was going on by now really didn’t deserve to be here. The woman standing next to him was with Mr. Padilla. There was no way she’d be getting tangled up with Mr. Riggs. But the fact that the two of them had been seen in the hallway, clearly arguing, meant something real had happened.

“Well…” Gilbert faltered, forcing a weak laugh. “Just a misunderstanding, that’s all.”

Patricia already had a pretty good idea what was going on. She shifted slightly, glancing up at Oliver. He leaned down, close enough that she could speak right into his ear. That simple gesture, him lowering himself for her, sent a shock through everyone watching. This was Oliver, after all. The man who never bothered to show respect to anyone in Golden Bay. Yet here he was, softening for this woman.

Patricia spoke quietly, “I saw him in the hallway, with someone. They weren’t just talking.”

Oliver straightened, giving her a gentle pat on the lower back. He got it now.

He knew exactly what was going on. Gilbert, the CEO of Copperleaf, had thrown an engagement party not long ago that everyone in Golden Bay had heard about. His fiancée was probably here tonight. Getting caught with another woman in public, especially with his fiancée around, then trying to blame Patricia to avoid a scandal… That was just asking for trouble.

“If it’s really just a misunderstanding, we can always check the security cameras,” Oliver said, sounding calm and relaxed.

Gilbert’s face drained of color. “Mr. Padilla…”

“Why so nervous, Mr. Riggs?” Oliver’s tone was gentle, but his words had an edge. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

As soon as the word “wife” left his mouth, the whole room gasped. Gilbert, already pale, looked like he might pass out. Who had he just offended? Oliver Padilla’s wife. Even if there hadn’t been any real conflict, just being caught up in something like this at a Padilla event was enough to ruin him for a while.

Gilbert’s palms were slick with sweat.

Suddenly, the room was full of congratulations and flattery. Someone said Oliver had finally found his perfect match. Another gushed about how the two of them looked like they were meant to be together. Someone else joked about how blind the gossip columns must be, painting such a gorgeous woman as a shrew.

It was true. The tabloids in Golden Bay had been buzzing for ages with stories about Oliver Padilla’s partner, most of them nasty and full of rumors. Everyone had wondered what Patricia looked like. People had imagined all sorts of things, but no one had pictured someone so classically beautiful and gentle. That was why, when she’d been standing next to Oliver earlier, nobody had put two and two together. At business events like this, it wasn’t unusual for men to bring a girlfriend, a date, or an assistant if their wife couldn’t be there.