Archer's mind raced, trying to process the information, he blinked twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "How did Ferguson find out?" he stammered, disbelief evident in his voice. "I've been cautious."Madison's bitter chuckle cut through the tension. "Allow me to rephrase, Ferguson didn't find out, he bought the heir himself. Brought him right into our meeting."Archer's eyes widened, the shock palpable. "Brought? But I've been discreet, covering my tracks...Wait a minute, brought?"He took a step back before he snarled, "What do you mean brought? Did he bring a total stranger to pose as the heir? How?"Madison's expression darkened. " Ferguson has ways, Archer. He's resourceful and he damn well brought a stranger to pose as the heir."Archer's eyes bulged through the sockets and the questions just kept pouring from his lips."What was the guy like?""Does he have a relation with me? Is he like a cousin?""How on earth did Ferguson plan this?""Calm down, Archer." Archer paced the
Archer didn't have time to read when Hailey walked straight to him, pushed Madison, and slapped him hard on his face.She smirked with satisfaction when she saw him wince and cradle his cheek.Archer stared at her, not flinching. Hailey met his gaze with her challenging ones. Her chest heading from anger.Originally, she had come once she heard the news of Archer putting Jack in jail but all thoughts of civility flew out the window once she saw Madison standing close to her.Hailey hated the woman with everything in her because Madison was everything she wanted to be."What the hell?" Madison yelled at her but Hailey shook her head and leveled Archer with a glare."What did you do?" she asked.Archer leaned back on the ball of his feet and nonchalantly shrugged as Hailey's frustration simmered beneath her calm exterior. The dismissive gesture seemed to be the spark that ignited her irritation. Eager to regain composure, she began pacing back and forth in the room,Stopping abruptly,
Hailey lifted her chin in defiance as she met Archer's eyes."I am sure you care, you just got better at hiding it because you are now playing devil's advocate.""I like that. Devil's advocate." Archer was amused.She gritted her teeth. Her words had the opposite effect of what she wanted."You are pissing me off," Hailey said."it's because you have no point. You are just here to throw a tantrum and I have no time to listen to your childish antics."Hailey stomped her feet like a child, her lips pouted like she wanted to cry. She wanted to make a point."That's what you are doing now? Behaving like a child?" Archer asked,"I don't know what you are talking about, " Hailey mumbled."I suggest you stop looking for the old version of me. It stopped existing when you betrayed and humiliated me. It would do you good if you adjust to me now."Archer warned."I will never accept this version of you." Hailey snapped.Madison studied her like she could see through her, her eyes shone when she r
Hailey stood In front of the massive building. Her nerves were bunched up as she tried to rethink her decision to come here.Something Archer said made her so mad that she got into a cab and came straight here. She needed answers.A part of her wanted it to be that Archer cared enough to go after people she had been with but the sensible part of her argued about that.Hailey wanted to eat her cake and have it. She had hurt Archer but she still wanted him and she had no idea why.She had expected him to beg him, grovel, and be miserable but that wasn't the case. He seemed like getting rid of her was the best thing that had ever happened to him.Hailey took a deep breath and entered the building, she saw the armed guards and a rush of air escaped her lips."I can do this," she whispered to herself.The gate opened and her eyes widened when she stepped into the prison compound, the sound of the gate closing made her flinch.All around, guards were situated everywhere with their guns and s
Archer grunted as his partner hit him on the cheek. He smiled at the other man, "nice,""You are not here," the man said.Archer nodded, he was indeed elsewhere. His mind was far away when another kick to the ribs had him seeing stars.The force of it sent him flying across the other side of the ring. He groaned as he got up and put himself in a fighting stance."Archer, keep your head in the game." Gabriel barked from the sides.Archer stretched his shoulders and circled the other person in the ring. He took up boxing after the day he had a breakdown.He realized it was better to put his energy to good use and brush up on his skills. Gabriel had been coaching him.He had been supporting all of his whims and for that, Archer was grateful. After his breakdown, Gabriel cornered him and told him he had a way of channeling his anger and making himself cool-headed.And it worked, he had learned a lot and the truth about killing Ferguson died down once he has punched the shit out of the bag
The minute he turned, Archer regretted it and blamed his curious nature on the sight in front of him.Archer closed his eyes and wished for the power to transport himself back to the haven of his room.Standing In front of him was Dean Collins, the number one asshole on the planet Earth and Archer's bane of existence. There was no memory of Dean where he was never the villain. The asshole loved bullying people and pushing them around to suit his needs.Archer gritted his teeth as memory upon memory slammed into him.Dean pushed his head into the toilet, harassing him while he worked. One in particular that broke him was when they knew Archer was working odd jobs.They cornered him after slaving away for one week straight, he had paid for most of the things he needed and had a little to feed himself.They had beaten him up so bad and collected his money, that he was hurt and starved at the same time. It was a good thing that the doctor at the time took pity on him and treated him as a
Archer dropped his bag and plopped his ass on his seat, he rubbed his hand to get rid of the weariness.He appeared to have aged since meeting Dean, he wished he would have given Dean a taste of his medicine but that would be unprofessional.He knew the board meeting that was scheduled today was to officially announce the heir to the media and he still didn't have a plan.Not even a single one, he was going to watch while that slimy bastard brought in another bastard to take over what's his.Archer clenched and unclenched his fists, his nose flaring and eyes wide like a wounded animal.Granted that the conversation he just had with Devlin still reeled in his mind, it left him shaking and confused.Taking what was his? What the hell does that mean? Archer chalked it up to the jealousy that clouded Dean's mind at seeing him successful.That was what it was. Dean was jealous of him and wanted to lash out.It wasn't every day you confronted the guy that made your life hell all through yo
Archer was enraged, he curled his fingers around the arm of his chair. He kept bouncing his leg, and the energy he had expelled came back in full force.Dean? Fucking Dean? Murmurs filled the room as the other men showed their disregard for the news."Ferguson is biting more than he can chew, we asked him to wait before he made the announcement."Archer turned, "You didn't know about this?"They shook their heads, Madison grabbed his hand and squeezed it before letting it go."So he went ahead against your orders to parade some stranger?"They nodded,"And you guys are doing nothing about this?"Maxfield cleared his throat, "I have the perfect punishment for him. He would regret going against orders."The older man met Archer's gaze and nodded.Archer nodded back. He was lucky that someone had his back this time.Madison's voice was cold when and spoke, "Ferguson disrespected my authority. I am supposed to step down because he brought a stranger with no confirmation to take my place?