Cover of The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games, #2)

The Inheritance Games, #2

The Hawthorne Legacy

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes


Genre
Young Adult, Mystery, Suspense
Year
2021
Pages
373
Contents

CHAPTER 71

Overview

Avery is forced to maintain appearances at school while the adults manage the crisis around the interview and the newly recovered key. On the Art Center roof, Avery shares the postcard revelations with Jameson, and Xander pushes Avery toward a direct call with Kaylie Rooney’s mother.

The call confirms a living link to Avery’s maternal family but brings only hostility, rejection, and hints of long-buried anger around Hannah’s flight and the Hawthorne fortune. The encounter deepens Avery’s personal stake in the mystery and leaves Avery emotionally shaken, with Jameson helping Avery regain control.

Summary

Oren retrieves the key from his toolbox but gives it to Zara instead of Avery, then orders Avery to get ready for school. Avery protests because of the revelations and the public fallout from the interview, but Oren insists Heights Country Day is the safest place for her. Alisa, busy with damage control, agrees and tells Avery to act normal so the situation will not look like a crisis.

Avery goes to school in uniform with Jameson and Xander beside her. The students avoid looking directly at Avery, which makes the attention feel even more obvious. By lunch, Avery is exhausted from pretending everything is fine and hides in the archive.

Jameson finds Avery and offers a distraction. After Oren forbids Jameson’s more dangerous ideas, Jameson takes Avery to the roof of the Art Center for golf. Instead of pressing Avery for answers, Jameson waits, and Avery finally tells Jameson that Hannah was Kaylie Rooney’s sister and explains everything Avery has learned from the postcards.

Jameson begins analyzing Toby’s choices, asking what Toby left in Jackson, where it might be, how long Toby’s amnesia lasted, and why Toby stayed dead after remembering. Avery concludes that guilt kept Toby away because Toby hated himself almost as much as Toby loved Hannah. Saying aloud that Toby and Hannah loved each other forces Avery to confront how messy her own feelings are.

Xander interrupts from the roof door, admitting he overheard them, and offers Avery his phone with Kaylie Rooney’s mother’s number already entered. Xander points out that Kaylie’s mother is Avery’s grandmother and may be a missing piece of the puzzle. Avery calls despite Jameson saying she does not have to.

The woman who answers immediately recognizes Avery and viciously rejects her. Avery’s grandmother condemns Hannah, calls Avery’s inheritance blood money, denies any family bond, and threatens to make the town forget Avery’s name. The call leaves Avery frozen, but Jameson gently leads Avery to the edge of the roof, helps Avery breathe through the shock, and Avery tells Jameson and Xander everything.

Who Appears

  • Avery Grambs
    Struggles to appear normal, reveals the postcard discoveries, and calls her hostile grandmother.
  • Jameson Hawthorne
    Offers Avery a roof distraction, analyzes Toby’s motives, and comforts Avery after the call.
  • Xander Hawthorne
    Eavesdrops, identifies Avery’s grandmother as a key clue, and provides her phone number.
  • Oren
    Keeps Avery under protection, gives the key to Zara, and insists school is safest.
  • Alisa Ortega
    Manages public fallout and orders Avery to act normal by attending school.
  • Kaylie Rooney’s mother
    Avery’s grandmother; answers the call with rage, rejection, and threats.
  • Zara Hawthorne-Calligaris
    Receives the recovered key from Oren instead of Avery.
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