You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 858

Oliver’s eyebrows drew together, and Patricia glanced over too. “When did this happen?”

“Back when Patricia just found out she was pregnant…”

Her pregnancy was still fragile then. To keep Sara and Roger from stressing her out, Oliver had sent them back to Golden Bay. He never imagined something like this would come up.

After chatting for a bit, everyone headed upstairs to get some rest.

Oliver set the shower to the right temperature for Patricia, letting her go first, then wandered off with his phone to the living room.

“How’s he doing?” he asked.

“He’s lucky to be alive. Not disabled, but he’s going to need steel pins and traction. He’s got years of pain ahead of him.”

Oliver took a sip of water, silent for a moment, thinking carefully before he finally spoke. “He needs to be crippled.”

Alex’s wine glass paused halfway to his lips.

Was Oliver really saying that? He wanted the guy permanently messed up? That was cold.

From what Alex knew, it should’ve been over once they left the racetrack. What changed after he got home? Who got under his skin? The whole thing left a bad taste in Alex’s mouth.

“Fine, you owe me for this one. Don’t forget it.”

“And you don’t still owe me a bunch?” Oliver shot back.

Alex grinned, not backing down. “Doesn’t matter. This is different. No mixing up debts. This is a fresh favor.”

Oliver let out a short laugh. “Alright. Just get it done. We’ll settle up later.”

He ended the call.

When he went into the bedroom, Patricia was perched on the edge of the bed in her cotton pajamas, lifting her shirt and looking at her bare stomach. She looked so sweet and innocent, Oliver couldn’t help but smile. He tossed his phone to the foot of the bed and walked over, crouching in front of her.

“What are you staring at, baby?” he teased.

“It moved,” she said softly.

Oliver’s heart skipped. “When?”

“Just now, in the shower, when the hot water hit my belly. I felt it move.”

Patricia let her shirt fall back down. “At the racetrack, when the gunshot went off, I felt it move then too. Do you think I’m imagining it?”

The old man clutched his chest, struggling for breath. “Such a good boy…”

Everyone in the main Padilla house tried to calm him, telling him not to get worked up, assuring him that good people have good luck. On the inside, though, they were all pretty indifferent.

Good luck? Nick was only alive because Oliver hadn’t finished the job.

Last night, when Nick got to the hospital, the doctors said his leg would need years to heal. But this morning, when Grace brought in a top specialist, the story changed. Now it looked like his leg would be permanently damaged.

In that moment, Grace felt like her world was crashing down.

“How could this happen?”

“He was perfectly fine—how could this just happen all of a sudden?”

“That’s not what the doctors said last night. Are you sure it’s not a mistake? Could it be a misdiagnosis?”

“Mrs. Padilla,” the doctor said, steadying Grace as she nearly collapsed. He kept his voice gentle. “We see racetrack injuries all the time. Your son only hurt his leg, and he’s alive. In a way, that’s already a blessing.”

“If you’re so afraid, you shouldn’t let him go riding. Is that really a place for him? That’s where desperate people gamble with their lives.”