Avery's Game Of Revenge
Chapter 161: Invite To The Fundraiser

Chapter 161: Invite To The Fundraiser

"Oh... Yes, of course," Avery smiled at him, sitting up and lowering her gaze to the opened contract in front of her. She read for the next few seconds until she came across a clause that made her brows furrow into a frown. "About this," she raised her eyes to meet theirs. "What’s this about my image?"

Francis leaned forward, tapping on the exact line she had a problem with.

"You mean...the part where the contract states—"

"...that the image I will adapt and work with is ’villain’," Avery concluded for him, a crease in her brows.

"Actually, yes. We did have several meetings on this before we could decide if this was something that would turn out good or not," Francis replied. From Avery’s eyes, he could see that she was waiting for him to explain so he did, "I’m sure you know, Miss Donovan, that Miss Sherman—Alice—is one of our top stars in this agency."

"I do," she affirmed.

"Then, I believe you would like to start your career on the level she currently is, if given the opportunity, won’t you?"

Avery blinked. Of course, she wanted nothing more than that. But even she knew it was merely wishful thinking on her part unless she carried out a public stunt.

"I definitely will. But that’s not the question here, is it?"

"It leads to the answer," Francis replied. "The only way you can start on Alice’s level is to be paired with her. Two sides of a sword, the blunt edge and the sharp edge; two sides of the coin, the head and the tail; two sides of morality, the angel and the devil. That’s the plan we came up with."

"I’m sorry but I still don’t understand," Avery shook her head, a frown starting to form on her face. "She’s an A-list actress while I can barely even be called an actress; if we take away the popularity I get from being an Avery McCAllum lookalike, that is."

Francis hummed, "Let’s do this. Do you think your image being attached to Avery McCallum’s image benefits you or not?"

"Absolutely not," Avery scoffed, looking at him like he just asked the most incredulous question ever. "It makes people hate and judge me even before meeting me. Not to talk of having an anti fanbase even before I have a fanbase. In short, let’s just say it takes more opportunities from me than it could ever give."

Francis beamed.

"Then what’s stopping you from taking advantage of it? Of the popularity it brings?" he asked, pausing for a while to give his words the time to sink in her mind. "At this point, Avery McCallum’s reputation has made your name into an household name alongside Alice’s, Stuart Salvador’s, Emma McCallum’s after she was murdered, Leila Red, to mention a few in the entertainment industry. If you collaborate with Alice on this, you won’t just be benefiting from her wide fanbase, she would also be benefiting from your wide anti fan base."

Avery blinked in surprise.

"You really mean that?"

"We are a business organization here, Miss Donovan, you think we would lie about something like that? Something that will either benefit our stars—and us—or not?" Lucy was the one who replied.

Before Avery could say anything else, the door was pushed open from outside and a head peeked in.

"Mrs Reeds, I was asked to—!"

Recognizing the voice as Alice’s, Avery turned completely to see her step into the room.

"Hey," she greeted.

"You are here, Ava!" The former exclaimed, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. She pulled out the chair beside Avery, and slid into it, her gaze sparkling with curiosity. "My brother told me earlier that they would be inviting you to join us and i was so excited. Tell me you are joining our agency."

"Actually, Miss Sherman," Lucy interjected, "Miss Donovan is yet to agree to the terms and sign the contract. Your asking in that manner can be mistaken to be coercion."

Alice rolled her eyes, not taking them off Avery.

"Oh please, Mrs Reeds. You know you want me to coerce Ava if it will result in her signing the contract. Don’t be fake."

Avery smiled at that, bursting into laughter when she saw the guilty expression form on Lucy and Francis’ face.

When all five of them in the room turned to her with anxiety dominating their facial features, she stopped laughing and cleared her throat.

"The thing is... Alice, are you comfortable with the proposal about merging our images? I will be leeching off your popularity—"

"And I will be leeching off yours too," Alice deadpanned. "You think I will let just anyone reap from the popularity I suffered to attain except I’m sure they deserve it and that I’ll be getting much more?"

"So... that means you are alright with it?" Avery raised a brow.

"I am more than okay with it," Alice said flatly. "In fact, I can’t wait for you to start. This job will only get more interesting with you working alongside me. I know it!"

Avery flashed her a warm smile. Then she turned to Lucy and Francis, "One last question, please. With Alice being the angel in our pair, it’s obvious she will get many roles and would be cast as the lead, while I’d be cast as the villain. But will I ever get the chance to play a lead role?"

"Absolutely!" Came the chorused reply from Alice, Lucy, and Francis. The latter continued, "You will get more lead roles than you will ever get being cast as an angel. Why? The public want an excuse to hate on you without inhibitions or getting judged and arrested. Watching movies where you are a villain, will help them with that, and will also help you because each of the movies you are cast in as a villain will have a high chance of being a box office success."

Lucy leaned forward, clasping her hands together on the desk, and continued, "And when two successive movies you are starred in attains box office success, there will be demand for more. Only this time, they can’t just treat you as a newbie actress and would have to treat you as an A-list actress, since you are paired with Alice here. In conclusion, you two will also have shared fans. Alice’s fans can like her without liking you, and vice versa."

Avery gave a curt nod. Though she still didn’t understand all the terms of the contract, she wasn’t really scared that anything would happen to make her regret signing it since she had Archie behind her. He wouldn’t let her get involved in something that would harm her in the long run.

That much she trusted him with.

Sucking in a deep breath, she picked up the fountain pen lying on the table and scribbled her signature in the designated sections at the bottom of the pages. She was done in seconds, and the moment she dropped the pen, was pulled into a tight hug by Alice.

"Looking forward to working with you," the latter gushed.

"Same here," Avery hugged her back.

As soon as they separated, Alice said absentmindedly, "Did you tell Ava about the fundraiser ball tonight? What if she comes with me?"

"What fundraiser ball?" Avery asked, confusion evident in her gaze.

"Oh, it’s just an annual masquerade ball slash fundraiser party held in the neighboring country. All big corporations always send representatives to present their check. I always represent ours."

"And you want me to come with you?"

Alice nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, I always go alone but today, I’m sure I could use a date. It could serve as our first public appearance too."

Avery hesitated, assuming a thoughtful expression.

"What if I don’t want to be exposed yet?"

"That’s possible too," Francis replied. "It’s a masquerade ball. You will be wearing masks, and while Alice will have to take hers off since it’s doubling as PR, you can keep yours on." His voice had a hint of excitement as he added, "You hiding your face will even generate more buzz than normal! Everyone would be speculating who you are and why you are accompanying her."

"Right," Alice agreed. She squeezed Avery’s hands, "So what do you think? You don’t have to prepare anything. You will travel with me to the airport, we’ll stay in the same cabin, and when we get there, we’ll lodge in the same hotel suite. Your dress will also be arranged alongside mine, and we can come back early tomorrow morning in case you have something to attend to at home."

Avery considered it within seconds and had opened her mouth to agree when she remembered Archie’s words from earlier.

’Wewillbegoingonour

’Comehomeearly, Angel...’

She face palmed herself in embarrassment, cursing beneath her breath. How the hell could she have forgotten that?

"Alice, I’m so—" she was interrupted by the sound of her phone going off with a message notification.

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