You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 969

That night, Oliver got back to Riverdale around eleven and headed straight to Chelsea’s apartment to pick up Hope. Inside, Hope was curled up on the couch in her pajamas, clutching a pillow and binge-watching a show with Chelsea. When the doorbell rang, both of them looked at each other, surprised.

“Who would come by this late?” Chelsea asked, getting up to answer the door. When she opened it and saw Oliver standing there in a black suit, she blinked in confusion. “Wait, weren’t you supposed to be on a business trip?”

She called back over her shoulder, “Hope, your dad’s here.”

“I came back early. I’m here to get her. Is she asleep?” Oliver asked.

“Nope, we’re just watching TV,” Chelsea replied.

Hope always went home with her dad when he came to pick her up, no matter the hour. And every morning after, even if he was swamped with work, Oliver would personally drive her to school. It was their quiet little tradition, a rhythm they both understood without ever needing to talk about it.

On the drive home, Hope sat in the back seat, watching the city lights flicker by. After a moment, she turned toward Oliver and hesitated before saying, “Dad…”

He glanced at her in the rearview mirror, his voice gentle. “What’s up?”

Ever since she started grade school, Hope’s wild streak had faded, replaced by a thoughtful, well-mannered side. Oliver had become more and more patient with her, that easy confidence of a man who’d seen a lot and learned to let things go. Hope, on her part, just admired him more with every year. Her dad knew everything, it seemed. He could talk about the stars or the oceans or anything at all.

Hope started telling him what happened at school. Just like Jackson had suggested, she left out the part about the police officer.

Oliver listened, his face growing serious, worry lining his brow. “Did your uncle say anything else?”

Hope shook her head. “No, he just dropped me off at Auntie’s and said he had something to do.”

“I get it. I’ll take care of it.”

When they got home, Oliver led her inside. “Get some sleep tonight, Hope. Try not to think about it.”

“Don’t tell Mom, okay? She’ll just worry.”

“Your mom is beautiful, you know. Did stuff like this happen to her when she was young?”

“Beautiful people don’t have to go through these things. But Hope, I’m really glad you told me.”

“You always said I should come to you or Mom if I ever had a problem I couldn’t solve. I remembered.”

Oliver smiled and patted her head. “Good girl.” He pointed toward the stairs. “Off to bed with you.”

Once she was upstairs, Oliver called Aiden over and gave him a few quiet instructions. Aiden grabbed his keys and left right away.

About forty minutes later, Oliver was getting ready for bed and chatting with his wife on video call. She was venting about how impossible her client had been that day when Aiden’s call came through, cutting her off mid-sentence. Oliver picked up.

“Sir, I ran into Jackson.”

“He handled it.”

Oliver was silent for a second. “Alright. Come on back.”

He hung up and dialed Jackson’s number. With the years, any old grudges between them had faded away. Now, the two men could sit down and actually talk. Jackson always figured it was because his own life had changed. If he were still Patricia’s bodyguard at his age, Mr. Padilla probably wouldn’t have mellowed out so much.

“Mr. Padilla.”

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