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Olivia’s grip on Sawyer’s arm tightened as she smirked at Ellie, eyes full of smug pride.
"Not enough?" Sawyer quirked a brow. "A thousand dollars for every drink then. Grab a fucking glass, Ms. Madden!"
Ellie could hardly contain the rage building inside her. Everyone around her came from wealthy families, and with Sawyer Stark standing before her, now that he was so determined to keep her here, he wouldn’t let her leave, whether it was with money or force.
Ellie felt humiliated, but she steeled herself and put on an indifferent expression.
"Alright." She shrugged nonchalantly and marched over, snatching a whiskey glass off the bar counter next to him and downing it in a few gulps. By the time she lowered the glass, her eyes stung with tears from the burn in her throat.
She coughed a little, but once she recovered, she met his gaze.
"There."
Sawyer was staring at her, his anger only escalating. Instead of cooling down, his fury seemed to intensify as he glared at Ellie.
"Come here!" Sawyer marched over to her, about to grab her, but Olivia clinked her glass to grab everyone’s attention.
The friends who had come with Sawyer—Ana, Mason, Stella, and Damion—were standing around, watching them. Olivia pulled out a box and opened it, offering a ring to Sawyer.
"Sawyer, please accept it. Be my boyfriend." She looked up at him, her voice sweet, almost pleading.
Sawyer stared at her in shock, his face frozen. It was as though Olivia had slapped him in the face instead of proposing to him.
Ellie’s face went white. She didn’t say a word, but the shock hit her hard. Still, she dropped the glass on the bar counter and made a dash to leave.
But as she walked past Sawyer, his hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. With a clenched jaw and burning eyes, he asked, "Where are you running off to?"
Ellie looked at his grip on her wrist, then glanced at Olivia, who was still standing there with the box in her hand, looking at him with expectant eyes. She turned her gaze back to Sawyer, answering him coldly.
"My boyfriend is here to pick me up. Sorry, I won’t be able to join your celebration."
Ana’s mouth dropped open, and she quickly shuffled closer to Stella. Half-drunk and half out of her mind, she asked in what she thought was a hushed whisper—but really wasn’t in any way,
“What is happening? Am I seeing two Ellies right now?”
Stella glanced at Ana, then turned her head to Mason, who stood on Ana’s other side. She, too, spoke in what she thought was a hushed whisper, but again, it wasn’t.
"Your wife is drunk! Take her home."
“Hush, hush!” Ana slapped Stella’s hand away, then pointed at the trio in front of her. “That one looks almost like Ellie but doesn’t look like Ellie at the same time. I’m so confused.”
"Mace," she called out, blinking rapidly until she realized Mason was standing right next to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling herself closer to him. "Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. I don’t want to see two Mace. I only want one."
Stella snickered, covering her face to stifle a laugh. Then she turned to Damion, standing on her other side.
"This is getting way too interesting, isn’t it? Ellie has a new boyfriend now!"
Damion had his hands in his pockets, staring at the scene in front of him. Hearing Stella, he leaned slightly toward her.
"I thought she was going to go mad if Sawyer left her. She loves him madly. I wonder if my prediction is coming true. They broke up yesterday, and today she’s saying she has a boyfriend?"
All four of them exchanged looks of disbelief before turning their gazes back to Ellie and Sawyer. Then, once again, they looked at each other and shook their heads.
There was no possibility in any universe that Ellie could get a boyfriend within just twenty four hours of breaking up with Sawyer. Everyone knew how madly she loved him, so how could she have a new boyfriend so soon?
Either she was lying, or this was an escape mechanism.
Anyhow, grabbing another drink from the bar, they all leaned back shamelessly, eager to see how it would unfold.