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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.