Alisa confronts Avery in private, demanding to know why Avery is proceeding with the dangerous chess-match gambit against Blake. Avery refuses to explain anything that might reach Blake, but Avery tries to communicate through tone that she has a plan, can handle it, and needs Alisa to trust her.

Alisa insists that Avery does not have to take this risk, but Avery silently makes clear that she will not back down. Realizing she cannot stop Avery, Alisa shifts into a personal confession about why Alisa and Nash ended their engagement.

Alisa explains that Nash was determined not to let Tobias Hawthorne control either of them and expected Alisa to walk away from the Hawthorne world, too. Alisa could not do that, because Tobias Hawthorne had helped shape Alisa as well; she stayed, lost Nash, and was later designated by Tobias to take the lead with Avery.

Alisa blames herself for failing in that role, citing her kidnapping and Avery’s current perilous choice. Avery counters that Alisa may have done exactly what Tobias trained and chose her to do, implying that Tobias chose Avery for this moment as well.

Alisa understands Avery’s meaning: Avery believes this dangerous final play is not reckless improvisation but the purpose Tobias Hawthorne prepared her for. When Alisa warns again how risky it is, Avery answers that the risk began the moment Tobias changed his will, accepting this as both Tobias’s gamble and her own.