Avery's Game Of Revenge
Chapter 163: Ghost, Phantom, or Avery?

Chapter 163: Ghost, Phantom, or Avery?

Then, finally, Stephanie spoke, her voice laced with uncertainty.

"Is that you... Avery?"

Avery let out a nervous laugh.

"No," she said, forcing a light tone. "But... as everyone in the country knows, I look a lot like her, so I’m not surprised you think I am." She forced a smile, hoping desperately, that her words sounded convincing enough.

"I don’t believe you though," Stephanie shattered her hope.

"Uh?" Avery couldn’t believe her ears. What did that mean? That she knew she was Avery and that she wasn’t dead, or what? In her shock, she couldn’t take her eyes of Stephanie’s face to see how her hands were shaking?

Stephanie, on the other hand, had her heart pounding in her chest from a flurry of emotions; fear, anticipation, shock, happiness, excitement. Name it.

When Archie had told her weeks ago when he threatened to fire her that all she had to do was meet Valentina, she had been scared and angry at the same time. Why would he want her to meet Valentina, someone she now considered an enemy after what happened to her best friend, her crush, their kind sister and old grandfather, someone he was also supposed to consider an enemy?

Though she wasn’t sure how it was possible, she had known with no doubt in mind that Avery wasn’t the culprit of the crime being broadcasted all over the news. That it was the rest of the McCallum’s. And that was the exact reason she’d been scared.

So when Archie hadn’t mentioned it again for weeks, she thought she was safe and he had forgotten. Or better still, that he didn’t need her to meet Valentina anymore. That was why she had been taken aback when he suddenly told her she had to meet Valentina the previous night. She’d asked why, and he had replied that she just followed his instructions and complete the task.

She had asked how she was to meet Valentina, since they didn’t frequent the same place or had the same circle of acquaintances. And he had assured her he would arrange all of that.

Stephanie prayed all through the night that he forget for a few more weeks, so when he called her earlier today and told her his driver would drop her here and that all she had to do cause trouble with Valentina in the lobby, her stomach had dropped.

He had added that she make something up to put herself in danger, act innocent, and not try to fight back if Valentina attempted to attack her. She had followed his instructions to the letter, and after arriving here and finding Valentina in the lobby talking to someone, she’d approached fearlessly. If everything was happening so seamlessly, it had to mean Archie had planned it. And if a man like him planned something, could it ever go wrong?

Her task had only been made easier when Valentina spotted her from afar and asked her assistant or whoever the lady who was with her had been, to leave her alone for a minute.

The two ladies met each other halfway through the lobby, with the passers–by oblivious to the tension between them, and Valentina had immediately asked what she was doing in a place like this.

Since Stephanie’s intent was to annoy Valentina into attacking her—hopefully not so much that she’d have to enroll in an hospital—she had mustered a challenging tone, suppressed her fear and said, "What do you think? I came here to see how my best friend’s murderer has been doing."

Even as the words dropped from her mouth, Stephanie had known that was a very dangerous step to take. If Valentina was truly the one behind Avery and her family’s destruction, then nothing stopped her from taking out her and her family, too, especially after she was challenging her publicly like this.

However, since that was the only idea she could think of at the time, she could only hope Archie would help her in protecting her family since it was his instruction she was obeying.

Something inside her had asked why Archie hadn’t protected Avery and the rest, and saved only Arthur, if he was that capable, but she hadn’t been able to dwell on the thought as Valentina released a maniacal chuckle just then.

"Your best friend’s murderer? Hah! How presumptuous?" she’d asked, but the annoyance in her eyes had been enough for Stephanie to know she was on the right path.

"Alright, maybe not my best friend’s murderer. But you can’t deny that you’re nothing more than scavengers, feeding off the scraps of the life they built. Pathetically trying to mold yourselves in their image while begging people to choose you. How ridiculous. The only reason you even have fame and power is because you exploited their deaths—framing Avery to manipulate the public’s sympathy," she spat.

"Shut your mouth," Valentina had interrupted her through gritted teeth. "You don’t know what you’re talking about."

Stephanie had nodded, a small but shaky smirk curling on her lips as she replied, "Maybe I didn’t know before, but with this reaction, I am sure of it now. You copy—" She hadn’t even finished her sentence when Valentina’s hand struck her cheek with a sharp slap.

Stephanie barely had time to react before the latter burst into tears, sobbing hysterically about how she had lost her family and how cruel it was for someone to bring it up so viciously.

Realizing the game had shifted in an unfair direction, Stephanie quickly adjusted her strategy. Adopting a wounded expression, she raised her voice in protest. "I didn’t do it!" If the bitch before her was going to draw attention with her dramatic breakdown, then she might as well do the same by yelling.

Within seconds, a crowd had gathered, phones raised, eager to record the unfolding scene between the tearful Valentina McCallum and an unfamiliar woman. Instead of stepping in to stop the altercation, most people merely speculated about the situation, with many instantly siding with Valentina, throwing taunts at Stephanie without even knowing the full story.

After enduring three more slaps in between Valentina’s sobs, Stephanie started to worry. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this with all her limbs intact? Just as panic crept in, an unexpected savior arrived—a strikingly beautiful actress.

The woman barely spared Stephanie a glance before addressing Valentina in a cool, commanding tone. She didn’t sugarcoat her words, outright telling Valentina to leave the premises if she was here to cause trouble.

Even when Alice had turned to Stephanie with an apology and told her she could go, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the actress had no real intention of getting involved. It was as if she was only stepping in reluctantly,or because someone had forced her hand.

Still, Stephanie didn’t waste time dwelling on it. She had done what she was told. Heading straight outside, she reached for her phone, ready to call Archie and report that she had completed her task.

But just as she unlocked her screen, she froze.

Standing right in front of her, clear as day, was Avery.

It had to be Avery. Fuck! Avery wasn’t dead? This had to be a hallucination. She was seeing ghosts! Was it a side effect of the slaps she’d been dealt with in the lobby a few minutes ago?

"Hi?"

She was shocked to the marrow when she heard the voice. The ghost spoke. And it also had Avery voice.

"Is that you... Avery?" she asked.

The ghost laughed, a hint of nervousness in her tone.

"No, but... as everyone in the country knows, I look a lot like her, so I’m not surprised you think I’m her."

"I don’t believe you," Stephanie said flatly, shaking her head.

She took a step forward, expecting the phantom that looked like Avery to evaporate from her sight but the gh—no, the lady, just stood there, staring at her as warily as Stephanie knew she must also look.

She took another step forward, and all of a sudden, everything fell into place. How... How the hell could she not have thought of this? And why the hell had she believed Archie when he said Avery was dead? Why did she not connect the dots when he said he was already married, or rather, that he had been married for three years?