Avery's Game Of Revenge
Chapter 138: Selfish?

Chapter 138: Selfish?

"You remember that I agreed to that but you don’t remember you haven’t told me yet?"

She watched him walk over to the swing chair by the floor to ceiling window and settle himself comfortably on it, dropping the fountain pen on the stack of folders placed on the stool in front of him.

She guessed it was probably office work that he couldn’t finish and had to bring home.

"You were the one who didn’t wait for my answer." Archie’s eyes darkened, "Where did you go, by the way? Your shoot was postponed and Jodi is supposed to be unavailable."

"And how do you know that?" A flicker of suspicion crossed Avery’s face, as she stepped onto the plush rug that was spread around the living room floor, padding across the room towards him.

"Because I made it happen."

Scoffing in disbelief, she opened her mouth to ask why, but he beat her to it.

"I asked, who did you meet, Ava?"

"Stuart. Stuart Salvador, he’s a cast mate," she replied, a hint of reluctance in her voice. Pointing at the swing chair he was sitting on, she added in an accusatory tone, "Why are you in my seat?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop it, and she half expected him to laugh in derision and tell her he owned the house and everything in it.

But Archie simply muttered a ’childish’ and eased himself out of the seat. He bent to pack the folders from the stool, and deposited them on the center table while he settled himself on one of the couches. He looked up at Avery and asked, "So? Why did you have to meet this Stuart in an informal setting, because I’m sure there wasn’t a director or producer present when you met him?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"You keep making me answer your questions but you’re still yet to answer mine. What did Tina call me that day that made you so angry on my behalf?" she questioned.

"Selfish," Archie deadpanned. "She called you selfish. And her dogs agreed—no offence to Lake and Thorne."

Avery blinked. She wasn’t sure she just heard that.

"What else?" she asked, believing there had to be something more. Even though she had no idea what insult one could be called that would provoke him to spike his opponent with a substance that could kill the latter, she still believed it had to be something a curse word with weight. Definitely not ’selfish’.

"Nothing else. Didn’t you hear me?" Archie chuckled, though the look in his eyes showed he was finding this conversation anything but funny. "She called YOU selfish. You, Ava."

Avery stared at him for moments, maintaining the challenging eye contact with him even as the seconds stretched into minutes. When she finally spoke, breaking the silence in the room, she said, "You are selfish."

"I know that," Archie nodded, much to her chagrin, his face void of any form of emotions.

"Neil is selfish," Avery said again.

"I think so," Archie nodded again, agreeing with her, without an iota of annoyance passing through his eyes.

Avery’s brows pulled up into a frown at his bland reaction. But she had to try one more time. Sorry Jodi.

"Jodi is selfish," she stated.

Archie shrugged. "If you say so, then she is. I didn’t know she was someone like that though."

At this point, Avery was almost pulling her hair out in frustration.

"That’s not my point, Archie. I just called you, your assistant, and his girlfriend selfish, and you regarded my words like I was talking about their complexion or height. Then, what made you so angry when Valentina called me selfish two years ago?" she asked. The sling bag that had been hanging on her shoulder slid down to the rug with a soft plop but she ignored it.

Archie leaned back to rest on the backrest of the couch, his eyebrows twitching like he couldn’t believe she was asking him that.

"It’s you, Ava. She called you selfish."

"And...?"

"Is that even a question?" he snickered, "You are anything but selfish. You, who let your dream of becoming an actress go because you felt your sister loved the job more. You, who decided to take on the task of following in your grandfather’s footsteps in the business world, because you saw how much your brother hated it. You, who, even as a sixteen year old, saw that the ones who suffered most in the rivalry between the Walkers and the McCAllums weren’t members of the two families, but the employees on both sides, and decided to extend an olive twig to the Walkers by accepting Brian Walker’s advances then because you felt you two could make things better."

"Wh—What are you saying?" Avery stammered, unable to imagine how he knew so much about her. Even things that happened years before she met him. And that speech... was Archie really trying to say she was a selfless person? She shook her head. "I did grow to love Brian."

"If you say so," Archie shrugged. "But remember? We’re talking about why Valentina McCAllum calling you ’selfish’ annoyed me so much I had to spike her meal. There, you have your answer."

Avery fell speechless. She had no idea whether to thank him or to do the opposite; to be happy that someone noticed these little things she had been doing for years now, or to be creeped out that the person who noticed it wasn’t someone from her family but Archibald fucking Donovan.

"I... Well..." she trailed off again, averting her gaze from his piercing glare. "With your argument just now, what would you have done if she called me something worse then?"

"To me, there’s no worse insult to you than being called selfish. Hell, if I’d heard her calling you dumb or stupid, I would have rewarded her that day for seeing something everyone else was so blind to see. But selfish? You are far from that," he stated. If Avery wasn’t mistaken, she could swear she heard a hint of adoration in his voice when he continued, "Just look at you now, you are here to revenge what those fuckers did to your family. Not even what they did to you. A selfish and smart person would have asked me for money to move out and faraway from the country. But here you are. I don’t think I need to say more."

"And I don’t know what to say," Avery breathed, unable to glare at him for calling her stupid.

"You don’t have to say anything," Archie stated. "The deal is complete. I told you what she called you, and you will be spending the night with me. Now, care to tell me all about the meeting you had with your fucking cast mate?"

His serious tone discarded thoughts of the conversation just now to the back of Avery’s mind, where she would be visiting it later. For now, she reminded herself of the conversation with Stuart few hours ago and a despondent shadow fell over her face.

Archie seemed to notice it, as he immediately asked, "Did someone hurt you?"

"No," Avery shook her head. Her face flushed red with embarrassment as she added, "He actually chastised me. He said... he said I don’t know how to look aroused... like turned on."

"What?!"