Her breath caught in her throat, Avery impatiently waited for him to continue. Did he create an identity from scratch for her? Or was the identity bought illegally? Either way, she knew it would not be hard for a man of his status to accomplish such feat.
She could only hope he didn't buy her a criminal's identity whereby she would have a hard time trying to take revenge while avoiding the police, the press, and other enemies that might accompany the new identity.
Seeing Archie continue to play with the cup in his hand, Avery was forced to ask, "What is my new name?"
"Thought you would never ask," he said, flashing an eerie smile that disappeared as soon as it came. "It's Ava Donovan."
"Ava?" Avery echoed. She knew no one that went by that name except…herself. But that was a nickname only Archie called her, the same way others called him Arch while she called him Archie. It was their way of irritating each other; at least that was what she used to think. Still Ava Donovan…it was rare to find anyone with that surname in the entire country. Except it was Archie's family member!
"Uhm…Archie, I am not stealing your sister's identity, right?" she asked, not sure if that was the best option of an identity that she could get. She added, "I don't think you have a cousin so."
"I do not have sisters and cousins," he affirmed, "If you must know, the identity you are borrowing is my wife's."
Avery was almost laughing at such an unbelievable joke but the serious expression on Archie's face helped her restrain herself.
''Your wife?'' she repeated, her brows furrowed in confusion. ''To the best of my knowledge, you are not married.''
A subtle smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, Archie nodded, ''I was, or would it be more accurate to say I still am? It's a good thing I didn't get divorced.''
''What?! When-no-why did you get married? Who was it?'' Before she could stop herself, Avery had already walked across the room to join him at the bar, genuine curiosity evident in her eyes.
''Why? You're scared you lost a man like me to marriage?''
Scrunching her nose up in faked disgust, Avery replied, ''No, I'll say I was rather excited that a menace like you is finally tied to a woman. How is 'she' doing if I may ask?'' She failed to notice how Archie's lips thinned at her question, his cold blue eyes hardening.
''Last I heard, she wasn't in a good condition,'' he stated. Refilling his glass with whiskey, he added a few blocks of ice before lifting it up to his lips. ''No more questions about my marriage, Ava. Tell me how you plan to destroy your ex fiance and family.''
''I…'' Avery hesitated, lowering her gaze to stare at her chapped fingernails. She had been nibbling at it a lot this past week that she had lost the beautiful nails she used to adore so much, yet her anger and anxiety hadn't reduced one bit. ''Can I…?'' she cut herself short again.
''Can I take it that you don't have a plan yet?'' Archie asked, to which she shook her head in reply.
''I do. But you said I will be borrowing your wife's name so-''
He interrupted her, ''So what? I asked what your plan is and nothing more than that.''
''Okay…The thing is, I understand if you think my plans are stupid but I'll say it anyway. I plan to venture into acting and modelling at the same time, attend university at the same time. That way, I can clear Emma's reputation as a starter, then I'll move on to the others from there on…'' She trailed off, feeling his gaze on her grow colder the more she spoke. ''Why? You must be thinking I am a selfish bitch trying to join showbiz so I can take my dead sister's place,'' she guessed.
''Anything else Mrs Donovan thinks I 'must be thinking'?'' Archie asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Avery didn't seem to notice that, as she went ahead to say the words that had been on her mind for the past week, ''There are a lot of negative things I know you must be thinking about me but you hated me even before you started thinking of those, so it does not change bullshit. You must be thinking I am a curse for letting my stupidity kill my adopted family—"
Archie took his time staring at her, as if he was trying to make out what was going through her narrow mind and dumb brain. How could anyone be so stupid? Only Avery McCallum…his Ava, had the power to make him so frustrated.
He let himself completely zone out of her speech where all he could hear was think, think and think; and busied himself with the bottle of whisky before him, until she finally went quiet.
"You done with your thinking poem?" he asked jokingly.
Avery remained quiet, her eyes glued to his long fingers wrapped around the glass cup. Instead of answering his question, she asked one of hers while tapping lightly against the bottle of whiskey,
"What's the alcohol by volume percentage of that?"
"55. Why?" Archie didn't need to ask, for the response came to him the next moment when Avery brought the bottle straight to her mouth and without restraint, gulped the rest of the liquor down.