You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 913

Patricia nodded. Yeah, that made sense.

Oliver was watching her closely, noticing the way she dropped her gaze, lost in thought. He hesitated a moment before speaking, his voice low and serious. “But Chelsea and Hector can’t just keep ignoring each other forever. We really need to find a way to smooth things over between them.”

“And how exactly are we supposed to do that?”

Mr. Padilla offered gently, “Why don’t you just ask Chelsea what she wants?”

Honestly, if Chelsea had even the slightest interest in Hector, then dealing with Atticus would be a breeze.

The real problem was if Chelsea didn’t care anymore, and Atticus already couldn’t stand Hector.

If Hector was the only one who still cared, then... well, that was a lost cause.

If things went south and Hector got his heart broken, he’d probably just take off on a vacation and leave everything behind. That would be a disaster for everyone else.

The longer Oliver thought about it, the more it stressed him out.

No matter how he looked at it, he was the one who’d end up dealing with the fallout.

He felt like he was getting the worst of it.

“What does Chelsea even want?” he muttered. “They’re either hooking up or breaking up. It’s not like they’re going to get married or anything.”

“Why not?”

“Hector’s all about not getting married,” Oliver said.

“But what if,” Mr. Padilla pressed, “just what if... Hector’s changed his mind?”

Patricia frowned, confused. “Changed his mind about what?”

“About marriage,” Oliver replied.

“Imagine if our baby is a girl,” she said. “She grows up, falls in love, and when it’s time to talk about marriage, the guy says he’s not ready. Years go by, and she finally decides to move on, to find someone she can actually build a future with. Then, out of nowhere, the first guy shows up again and says, ‘Oh, I changed my mind, let’s get married.’ And expects her to just go along with it. If you were her, what would you do?”

Just thinking about it made Oliver mad. “I’d break his...”

He stopped, biting back the rest of his words.

Patricia looked him dead in the eye from across the table, waiting. “Go on. Why’d you stop?”

Oliver just let out a heavy sigh, dropping his head into his hands, looking completely defeated.

Patricia saw how quick he was to defend Hector, and it fired her up even more. “I get what you’re thinking. Hector’s a great worker, he’s your right hand, and he’s been running most of the company for years. You’re worried that if things get messy, it’ll affect him, and then it’ll mess with you and the company.”

“But none of that gives him the right to treat Chelsea like she doesn’t matter.”

“If he won’t handle the company, then you do it. If you can’t, hire someone who can. If you’re worried about taking care of us after the baby comes, then hire more help. For me, it’s just a few months without you doting on me. But for Chelsea, if she ends up with the wrong person, it could ruin her whole life.”