Avery, Max, and Libby search the Hawthorne game room for chess sets because Avery has decoded Tobias Hawthorne’s satchel clues as Queen’s Gambit chess notation. Avery tries to keep her focus on the puzzle and away from the growing emotional tension between herself, Jameson, and Grayson.

As the three search, Max talks through her new relationship with Xander. Max admits the situation is new and unexpectedly fun, especially because Max and Xander were friends first. Libby and Avery listen while they locate six chess sets.

Avery inspects all six sets for hidden writing, missing pieces, and invisible-ink clues using the flashlight from Tobias’s satchel. The search produces nothing. Grayson then appears in the doorway and tells Max that Xander is looking for her because Xander is Max’s ride to the airport.

Max leaves for college with a bodyguard assigned by Oren, and Libby exits soon after, leaving Avery alone with Grayson. Grayson does not press Avery about the chess sets. Instead, Grayson says he spoke to Eve and believes seeing Toby’s old wing would help Eve, even though that space has deep meaning for Avery.

Avery recognizes that Toby’s bricked-up wing is full of Hawthorne secrets and that letting Eve in may feel like another intrusion. Avery agrees to show Eve the wing only if Grayson tells Avery how he is truly doing. Grayson answers honestly that everything hurts, while insisting he knows the man he was raised to be.