Avery returns to Hawthorne House after examining the special copy of Tobias Hawthorne’s will and hurries to meet Jameson. Nash stops Avery, and Alisa reveals that Avery has just read a special will. Nash connects this to the puzzling letter Tobias left him, confirming that he also received a clue like Jameson and Grayson.

Nash insists that he is not participating because he does not want the money, while Alisa emphasizes that the will remains legally secure. Nash and Alisa’s tense, familiar exchange reveals lingering personal history between them, especially when Nash calls Alisa by an old nickname. Alisa leaves abruptly and angrily.

After Alisa exits, Nash asks where Avery is going. Avery admits that Jameson told her to meet him in the solarium but that Avery does not know what a solarium is. Instead of immediately directing Avery, Nash asks about Avery’s birthdays and describes Tobias Hawthorne’s annual birthday ritual for the grandsons: invest money, cultivate a skill, and create something impressive by the next year.

Nash explains that Tobias gave the boys ten thousand dollars to invest, unlimited resources to pursue a talent, and a demanding creative assignment. Avery initially sees the opportunity as extraordinary, but Nash’s tone makes clear that Tobias’s gifts came with heavy expectations and pressure.

As Nash walks Avery toward the solarium, Nash describes Tobias’s weekly riddles, which often began with random objects that all became necessary to solve the puzzle. Nash recalls competing with Jameson and Grayson, who teamed up against him before betraying each other at the end. When Avery asks why Nash is telling her all this, Nash does not directly answer.

Nash finally points Avery to the solarium, then warns Avery that Jameson does not view Avery as a fellow player in the current puzzle. Nash says the Hawthornes and Hawthorne House are not normal, and Avery may be less a player than an object in the game: either the glass ballerina or the knife.