Reckless Billionaire’s Ruthless Claim (Obsessed Billionaires, Cherished Brides #4)

Chapter 20 Scared

Ellie arrived outside Olivia’s grand estate, her entire body seething with rage.

Jeremy had called her first thing in the morning, and the news he delivered had only fueled her fury. Not only had Olivia stolen her job the day before with fake accusations, but she had also issued a notice across the entire industry, blacklisting Ellie. She'd also issued an industry-wide notice banning Ellie from working in the entertainment industry altogether.

With Olivia being a Whitlock—one of the most influential families—and her relationship with Sawyer being widely known, no one dared to go against Olivia’s orders.

Ellie had barely processed the news before her blood boiled. She shot a sharp glare at Sawyer, who was sleeping with a care in the world.

‘Why should I even tell him?’ she had thought bitterly. ‘He’s only going to take Olivia’s side, just like last time—when she wanted to hang herself from the fucking ceiling, and he kicked me out without a second thought.’

She had stormed out of the house and now found herself charging straight into Olivia’s grand mansion, ignoring the guards, the staff—anyone in her way.

The moment she stepped inside, she collided directly with Olivia, who was impeccably dressed and seemingly on her way out.

Olivia’s face twisted in shock and disgust. "What the fuck are you doing in my house?"

Then, a flicker of panic crossed her face. She quickly turned to call for her maid. "Maria! Maria!" Olivia snapped, looking around. "Who let this beggar inside?"

Ellie smirked. "What’s wrong, Whitlock? You scared?"

Olivia’s expression hardened. "Scared of what?"

"You weren’t scared when you stole my job. You weren’t scared when you blacklisted me from the entire fucking industry. So tell me, Olivia Whitlock—what the hell is your problem?" Ellie’s voice was sharp, cutting through Olivia’s feigned confidence.

Olivia folded her arms, tilting her chin arrogantly. "Because I don’t like your face." She shrugged. "What’s so strange about that? I don’t enjoy running into pests wherever I go."

"And I don’t enjoy running into bitches first thing in the morning, yet here we fucking are," Ellie shot back.

Olivia smirked, eyes gleaming with mockery. "What’s wrong? Panicking already? Did Sawyer finally cut you off? Are you scared you’ll have to beg for pennies on the street now?"

Ellie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, I get it now… you’re burning with jealousy."

At once, Olivia’s face turned pale. "Why would I be jealous of a beggar?"

Ellie smirk widened. "I can see it. Isn't it because of Sawyer? Even after shamelessly giving him a ring and proposing to him in a bar full of people, he still didn’t take you home, did he? And now you're scared. Is that it?"

"It's only a matter of time before he throws you out!" Olivia growled. "You're just my replacement—don't you fucking forget that, beggar!"

Ellie leaned in, her voice laced with pure amusement. "And yet, I’m the one living in the Stark house, sleeping in his bed, while you’re standing here, seething, watching from afar. So much so that you had to blacklist me just to keep me out of your sight. Because, once again—you’re jealous . Not so easy for you, huh?"

"You don’t have to worry about that," Olivia sneered. "I loathe your fucking face. That’s why you’re banned!"

Ellie let out a sharp laugh. "And yet, my face is still better than yours. What are you even proud of?" Her eyes gleamed with mockery. "Oh, right—I almost forgot. Your entire face is plastic, isn’t it? It’s not just your eyebrows. You got your whole face done just to look human." Ellie tilted her head, her smile widening. "Are you even the real Olivia? I overheard your parents the other day—they said they don’t even recognize you anymore.""

The moment the words left her mouth, she saw Olivia’s face go pale.

Ellie’s smirk faltered, replaced by shock. Wait...

"So it’s true," she murmured, her voice eerily calm. "Oh my god… you’re not the real Olivia, are you? You’re someone else who got plastic surgery to look like her?"

Before she could process the shock, Olivia lunged at her—like a wild animal, eyes blazing with desperation.

A flash of silver caught Ellie’s eye. A knife?

"What the fuck?!" Ellie jumped back, her heart pounding. "Are you out of your damn mind?!"

But Olivia wasn’t thinking anymore, she was panicking. Grabbing a knife from the fruit tray, she charged at Ellie.

The only thought consuming her was—Ellie knows the truth. She has figured it out.

She had fought too hard for this life.

Befriending Olivia in college. Slowly learning how perfect her world was—a rich heiress, a powerful and devoted fiancé, loving parents, a life of luxury.

She had wanted it for herself.

And Olivia had made it too easy. Too trusting. Too naive. Too blind to the betrayal creeping up on her.

But now, everything was falling apart.

The real Olivia was supposed to be dead! She had burnt her alive with her own hands!

If Ellie recovered her memories, it would be over. She would lose everything .

Her grip on the knife tightened. She had to get rid of Ellie—at any cost.

But just as she lunged again, she saw movement over Ellie’s shoulder. Jessica and Jack had just entered the house.

In a split second, Olivia switched tactics. Instead of stabbing Ellie, she turned the knife on herself—slicing her own hand before letting it clatter to the floor—right at Ellie’s feet. Then she screamed.

"STOP! What are you doing?! Please—It’s just a job! Don’t kill me!"

The scene unfolded in seconds.

Jessica and Jack bolted toward them, their faces stricken with panic.

Jack rushed to Olivia, cradling her in his arms. Jessica, shaking with rage, shoved Ellie back and kicked the knife away.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Jessica shouted, her face pale with shock.

Olivia sobbed into Jack's chest. "Mom… she tried to kill me. All because of what happened yesterday…" Her voice cracked. "She—she attacked me!"

"She’s lying!" Ellie snapped. "She’s the one who attacked me!"

Jessica’s face twisted in fury. "I saw it with my own eyes! You attacked my daughter! Look at her hand—it’s covered in blood! Do you think we’re blind?!"

Jack pulled out his phone. "I’m calling the police right now! She’s going to jail for this—trying to kill my daughter—"

"Yes, call them!" Ellie snapped, meeting Olivia’s eyes. Her gaze burned with cold fury. "Do it. You do know fingerprints exist, right? Or are you too dumb to think that far ahead while trying to frame me?"

For a split second, Olivia froze.

Then—quick as lightning—she snatched the phone from Jack’s hand.

"No, Dad," she said, her voice trembling. "Just… just kick her out. I don’t want to see her anymore."

"Olivia, no," Jessica protested. "She just tried to kill you! This is serious! We can’t let it go."

"Mom, I don’t want to bother with it," Olivia said softly, playing the innocent victim. "She lived with Sawyer for years. I don’t want to upset him any more than he already is about me leaving him three years ago."

Jessica’s rage wavered at her daughter’s innocent words, glancing at Jack.

Olivia turned to Ellie, her expression shifting into cold, merciless arrogance. "Get out of my house. Right now. Or I’ll make sure you rot in jail for the rest of your miserable life."

Ellie looked at Jack and Jessica. They both seemed like decent, conscious people—but when it came to Olivia, they were blind. No matter what Ellie said, they’d believe only Olivia.

So she didn’t say a word.

Burning with rage and disappointment, she turned and stormed out of the house.

The moment she was gone, Olivia turned to her parents, cradling her bleeding hand.

"I'm going to get this stitched and treated, Dad. I'll ask the driver to take me to the hospital."

"I’ll come with you," Jack offered, but Olivia shook her head.

"It's just a small cut, Dad. I'll be back soon," she reassured him before hurriedly leaving the house.

Instead of heading to the car, she slipped into a blind spot outside the house, pulling out her phone and dialing a number.

Her voice was ice-cold.

"Ellie just left my house. She's on the road. Find her and kill her today—any way possible. This is your only chance to fix this and get it done."

A few minutes later, as Ellie crossed the main road near Olivia’s house, heading toward the bus stop, a car came rushing toward her at full speed and slammed into her.

The impact was brutal.

Ellie’s body flew into the air before crashing onto the hard pavement, her head slamming against the ground with a sickening thud.

A frantic scream tore through the air.

“Ellie!”

Sawyer, who had been rushing to Olivia’s house in search of Ellie, had just stepped out of his car when he witnessed the brutal impact. His heart stopped.

The car that had hit Ellie screeched to a halt. Then, as if to finish the job, it began reversing—heading straight for her limp body, ready to crush her beneath its tires.

Sawyer’s blood ran cold.

“STOP!” he roared, sprinting toward her.

Whether it was his voice or his sudden desperate sprint toward Ellie, something spooked the driver. Instead of running Ellie over, the car swerved and sped off, disappearing down the road.

Sawyer barely noticed. His entire world narrowed to the sight of Ellie lying motionless on the ground.

He fell to his knees beside Ellie, his hands trembling as he reached for her. Blood trickled from a gash on her forehead, and her body lay motionless. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out everything except the ragged, barely-there sound of her breaths.

“Ellie! Ellie, can you hear me?” He cupped her face, his own panic reflected in her barely open eyes.

Her breaths were faint. Shallow. As if she was already slipping away.

“No. No, no, no—stay with me.” His fingers fumbled for his phone, dialing emergency services with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking.

The wait for the ambulance felt endless. Time stretched and collapsed all at once, everything blurred together—too fast, yet agonizingly slow. One moment, he was holding Ellie in his arms, trying to keep her conscious. The next, she was being rushed into an ambulance, and he was right there with her.

The thought of losing her—of watching her slip away like Olivia once had—sent ice through his veins. The mere possibility made his vision darken, his chest tighten until he could barely breathe. He clutched Ellie’s cold hand between his palms, his pulse hammering as he waited for the ambulance to reach the hospital.

Hours passed in agonizing silence. Ellie had been taken into surgery. The doctor’s words kept replaying in his head.

“She might not make it.”

It was as if someone had reached inside him and ripped his soul apart.

Sawyer didn’t move. He didn’t react. He just sat there, gripped by the same suffocating fear he’d felt years ago—when he had lost Olivia. All Sawyer could see was darkness. Memories threatened to drown him.

But this wasn’t Olivia.

This was Ellie.

So why did the pain feel exactly the same?

The way he had been informed about Olivia’s burned body all those years ago… the same suffocating weight crushed his chest now.

He couldn't breathe.

Time blurred. People came and went. But he didn’t move until, at last, the doctor emerged.

Sawyer shot to his feet at once.

"She’s stable," the doctor informed him. "She has injuries, but we’ve treated all the critical ones. She should be fine."

Sawyer’s legs nearly gave out.

If it weren’t for Henry catching him at the last second, he would’ve collapsed right there.

Sawyer slumped back against the wall, exhaling sharply. For the first time in hours, he allowed himself to breathe.

As he steadied himself, Henry approached him with a reassuring voice. "Mr. Stark, Miss Ellie will be moved to a normal ward soon. Don’t worry—she’s much better now."

Sawyer nodded, rubbing his face before finally opening his bloodshot eyes.

Then, as if a thought suddenly struck him, he turned to Henry.

"Henry… what happened to Tony? Is he okay?" His voice was hoarse. "Ellie will worry about him when she wakes up. I don’t want her to worry about anything. Not a damn thing." His voice held an edge of desperation, as if he was clutching at something slipping through his fingers, something he refused to lose again.

"I’ll find out right away, Mr. Stark," Henry said before stepping away.

Minutes later, he returned.

“Mr. Stark,” Henry said carefully. “There’s something important you need to know about Mr. Tony.”

Sawyer’s brows furrowed in concern. His muscles tensed. "He’s not dead—"

"No, Mr. Stark," Henry quickly assured him. "He’s alive."

Sawyer exhaled in relief. The tightness in his forehead eased slightly, but his expression remained grim. "Then what is it?"

Henry handed him a file. "Mr. Stark, Mr. Tony recently suffered a stroke, and Miss Ellie paid for his treatment."

"And?"

"Sir, the stroke happened recently, but Mr. Tony was in an accident a couple of years ago. That accident left him in a coma."

Sawyer’s head snapped up, his eyes widening in shock.

“What?”

Henry handed Sawyer a file. "For the past three years, Ms. Ellie has been paying Mr. Tony’s bills and covering all his medical expenses. I checked the records, and they match the cards you gave her. Every dollar you gave her for spending was used for his treatment to keep him alive."

Sawyer's grip tightened on the file.

“There’s something else, sir.”

Sawyer’s stomach twisted.

Henry’s voice was grim. “A large portion of the money is unaccounted for.”

Sawyer's brows furrowed as he flipped through the pages. “Unaccounted for?” His voice dropped, dangerously sharp.

Henry nodded. “It’s been going to loan sharks.”

Sawyer shot to his feet, his chair scraping against the floor. His expression darkened. "Loan sharks?" His voice was sharp, filled with disbelief.

Henry gave a solemn nod.

His eyes burned with fury as he ran a hand through his hair, pacing like a caged beast. He muttered a curse under his breath before snapping, “Ellie Madden!”

Henry took a careful step back.

Sawyer’s fists clenched. "How many damn secrets is this woman hiding from me? I don’t know a single thing about her life! Not even that she was adopted by a man who’s been in a coma for years, and she’s been paying for his treatment all this time—alone—without ever asking me for help? Is she out of her fucking mind?" His voice rose with each word, his frustration boiling over. "And now there are loan sharks involved? What the fuck?!"

He turned back to Henry, his voice a snarl. "Tell me it’s for something ridiculous, like she went on a shopping spree, blew it at a bar, or bet it all on a fucking lottery ticket. Because I swear, if this woman needed money for something serious and didn’t come to me—when I make goddamn billions every year—I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”

Henry hesitated before answering, “It was for plastic surgery, Mr. Stark.”

Sawyer froze.

Henry cleared his throat and continued carefully. "The records go back three years. Ms. Ellie was severely burned in a fire. Mr. Tony found her and took her to the hospital, but he didn’t have enough funds to cover her treatment. So he took out loans. Just as Miss Ellie was almost recovered, he got into a car accident that put him in a coma. Since then, she’s been paying off his medical bills and the loans.”

Sawyer clenched his eyes shut, tilting his head back as he let out a slow breath. His chest tightened painfully. Words failed him. His fingers dug into the file as he clenched his jaw so tight it hurt. His vision blurred from pure, unfiltered rage and something he couldn’t even name.

"This is fucking ridiculous," he muttered, voice low and furious. Then, his anger snapped. "This woman is out of her damn mind!"

Henry flinched at the sudden outburst.

Sawyer exhaled sharply, shaking his head in disbelief.

“This woman—” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration lacing his voice. “I make so much money, and instead of asking me for help, she spends every damn penny I give her—money meant for her to enjoy, to live comfortably—on debts?!”

His jaw clenched, eyes darkening.

“Without telling me? Without asking for help?” His voice dropped, dangerously low.

Henry blinked, then cautiously said, “Uh… Mr. Stark, you’re angry because Miss Ellie didn’t let you pay off her debts and use the money you gave her for fun instead?"

"Or what?!" Sawyer snapped. "What the fuck is my money for if not for my girlfriend? Does she think I’m going to take it to my fucking grave?"

Henry struggled to suppress a chuckle, quickly lowering his head. ‘Here I was, worried that Mr. Stark would be furious about his money being given away without his knowledge, maybe even demand that Ms. Ellie pay it back. Instead, he’s pissed because she didn’t make him pay, and didn’t use his money to spoil herself.’

“What the hell are you laughing at?” Sawyer barked, snatching the tablet from Henry’s hands.

“Nothing, Mr. Stark.” Henry coughed, quickly straightening his expression.

Sawyer exhaled harshly. “Go. Pay off every single goddamn cent of those loans. Settle Tony’s hospital bills. Move him to a VIP suite, bring in the best specialists, and do whatever it takes to get him out of that coma.” He fixed Henry with a sharp glare. “And don’t tell Ellie a damn thing. If she asks, make up some bullshit about a secret donation fund for coma patients.”

Henry nodded, his lips twitching. ‘For a man who pretends to be cold and ruthless, Mr. Stark is completely and hopelessly in love with Ms. Ellie.'

Sawyer ran a hand down his face, his breathing steadying. But just as he began to settle, something clicked in his mind. His eyes snapped back to Henry.

“You said Ellie was burned three years ago?”

Henry glanced at the file and frowned. “Yes, Mr. Stark. But…” His voice trailed off, surprise flickering in his eyes.

“But what?” Sawyer pressed.

Henry lifted his gaze. “She was burned on the same day as Ms. Olivia.”

Sawyer stiffened. Their eyes met, the same suspicion creeping into both their minds.

Was it just a coincidence?