Avery's Game Of Revenge
Chapter 157: Destruction

Chapter 157: Destruction

They arrived at the adjoining penthouse in bare minutes. Dumping Arthur on his bed, Archie stepped away from him to allow Stephanie tuck him in and check his vitals. He watched her actions with a small frown on his face, looking like he would rather be anywhere than here.

"Will he be alright?" he asked when she finally moved away from the bed, his voice echoing in the quiet room.

Stephanie nodded. "Yes, I’d say he fainted due to exhaustion. He wasn’t supposed to be walking around and talking as much as he did, when it’s only been hours since he woke up."

"Hmm," Archie hummed in understanding. His frown deepened. "I trust there won’t be a reoccurrence of what just happened."

"Yes, Mr Donovan. I’m sorry I—" Stephanie started to apologize.

He cut her off, "Keep the apologies to yourself."

Stephanie nodded, her shoulders relaxing in relief for a second before tensing again like she just remembered something scary. She sucked her lips in like that would stop her from blurting out the question at the tip of her tongue.

It worked. But only for a few seconds, before she exploded.

"You were telling Arthur something about a wife earlier, Mr Donovan. You are not... married, right? It was not a joke."

Archie’s eyes flickered in amusement.

"I don’t think you’re going to believe me if I say it’s not a joke, so look it up online. Though, I must say, my wife is extremely private and you won’t be able to see any pictures of her online."

Stephanie’s eyes widened in horror.

"You are really married?! What about Avery then?" she was almost yelling.

"Dead," Archie replied, his tone void of emotions. "You saw the news of her death." The confusion on the younger woman’s face almost made him want to burst out in laughter.

She must have really believed that he would save her friend, since he saved her brother. She, Stephanie Brookes, was the only one who knew the level of his obsession and understood that if Avery had really died that day, the country would have been reduced to debris by now.

But he was confusing her. And from her face, he knew she badly wanted to believe he was lying.

"But... But how are you married so soon after her death?" Stephanie managed to ask, in the midst of trying to assemble her emotions and not burst out in tears right now. Or better still, slap this man in front of her. If she did the former, the worst he would do would be to stare at her on disgust and if she did the latter, the worst he would do was to send her to meet Avery. The question now was... Is Avery in heaven or in hell?

"I got married three years ago. Your friend died three months ago. Any more questions?"

Stephanie shook her head slowly, obviously too shocked to form coherent words.

Archie gave a curt nod and continued, "About the deal we made few days ago, tomorrow is the D-Day."

"I—I am to meet Valentina tomorrow?" Stephanie’s eyes widened again, this time in shock and a little bit of anger.

"You are to meet Valentina tomorrow," he confirmed. "Stick to the plan and make sure nothing goes wrong." He waited only until she had nodded in agreement before turning to walk out of the room.

The fact that his Ava wasn’t in the right state to meet her siblings at the moment, didn’t mean she should continue to brave this alone. He wasn’t delusional to think he was enough to fill in the cracks in her heart, or to believe that Jodi was all she needed as a friend.

Stupidly thinking that would mean he was to expect several more breakdowns like the one he met her in, on the day he arrived from the business trip. She had been wrecked. Totally.

And now that she accepted his obsession and wasn’t going to question his actions, it was time to unleash himself and do what he knew how to do best.

Destruction.

~

Avery hadn’t even noticed that the door was clicked shut from the outside. As soon as she heard the door close behind Archie, she had walked into his closet to change out of her wet... What was she to call it? Makeshift bikini?

Few minutes later, she sauntered out of the closet in a long t-shirt that reached her knees and equally long sweatpants that swept the rug under her feet, looking like she was thrown into a sack. As soon as she got to the bed, she tumbled into it and released a loud sigh.

She looked at the door and curiosity gnawed at the corners of her heart, followed by a little bit of fear, but she hurriedly shook it away. Archie hadn’t left because he didn’t want her. She was sure of that. His unwillingness and reluctance to part with her had been obvious, coupled with the fact that he’d asked her not to sleep before he returned. But why the hell wasn’t he back now?

Calm down, Avery. It’s barely been ten minutes since he left.

The sound of Avery’s phone pinging made her sit up, and look around, spotting it on the bed side drawer. It was a message notification from Jodi asking how getting on Archie’s nerves went and if she was still alive. After sending a quick reply on how he picked her up from campus in a less than excited mood, she then went on to check her emails.

She sat up when she saw there was one from CS Agency, her heart rate spiking as she opened it.

"Great," she released a puff of breath, relieved, as she read the contents of the mail. It was an invitation to visit the agency the next day to look over the details of her contract. She confirmed her availability and moved on to the next, an email from Stuart’s assistant.

She read through it for the details of the audition, reading all the requirements and conditions. One of the conditions was that the model was to be represented by her agency, and seeing as the audition was to be in three days, it meant that she would have to sign her contract within that time to be eligible.

By the time she finished going through her emails and reading every single one of them, there was a reply from Jodi waiting from her which read,

"As expected, you’re the only one who can get away with vexing him. I bet you only had to wink to get him to fold."

Avery replied with a laughing emoji, her mind now far gone in another plan. She had played a stupid game that made him call off his date; wouldn’t it be perfect to plan another one and invite him to it? Finding the idea as perfect as it could get, her lips curved into a smile until she arrived at her bank app and saw her balance.

The smile fell. The money in there was probably not enough to buy a drink for Archie Donovan, not to talk of buying him a meal. She wasn’t even sure it was enough for a tip at one of the top restaurants he frequented.

"Forget it, Avery," she murmured. "Broke people don’t plan dates." She switched off her phone and got into bed properly, draping the sheets over herself.

Heck! This room might look like the devil’s haven but it was darn comfortable.

~

Avery woke up the next morning to a terrible ache piercing through her head. She blinked, trying to get her eyes accustomed to the lack of light in the room. Archie probably had the curtains closed so as not to let any light in.

Typical of the devil.

Trying to sit up and failing, it was then she noticed that she was held down by a strong hold. Or rather, a heavy arm was draped over her waist, pinning her to the bed. Knowing who it was without turning, she decided to lift the hand gently without waking him up.

Seconds later, she was heaving and huffing silently from her failure.

"Fuck, Avery! You have to resume at the gym as soon as possible," she breathed.

"I’m in support of both," Archie’s gruff voice came from behind her, his breath descending on the back of her neck as a wave of hot air. His grip tightening on her waist, he pulled her closer and continued, "We could fuck right now and later, we go to the gym and continue. I will happily train you without fee."