The Inheritance Games Chapters 36–43 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 36–43

Chapter 36

On Sunday, Oren takes Avery to the offices of McNamara, Ortega, and Jones to read the Red Will. Alisa escorts Avery to a small corner office with no furniture other than a desk. Avery sits down with the piece of red film and reads through the will, the paper erasing every word printed in red ink. Every bit of the will disappears except for the four boys’ middle names—Westbrook, Davenport, Winchester, and Blackwood. Convinced this is their next clue, Avery texts Jameson about her discovery.

Chapter 37

Moving with a sense of urgency upon returning to the Hawthorne House, Avery stops when she runs into Nash. He asks what she is up to, and after Alisa tells him that she read a special copy of the will, he ensures her that he is not interested in playing the game. Alisa leaves, but Nash shows Avery to the solarium where she is supposed to meet Jameson. Along the way, he tells her about the puzzles and traditions that his grandfather would pull out on the boys’ birthdays, and asks whether she’s been told about the Saturday puzzles, to which she says yes. Nash eventually hints to Avery that Jameson may be using her as a pawn to solve this final puzzle on his own.

Chapter 38

When Avery enters the solarium, she finds Jameson shirtless and drunk. He insists that his mother has never answered any questions about their middle names or who any of their fathers were, but he invites Avery to come with him as he talks to her. Together, they travel through the secret passageway that starts in the foyer coat closet. Avery confronts him about Nash’s warning, but Jameson insists that coming with him is the only way she can get answers. When they reach the end of the passage, they find Skye soaking in her bathtub. Jameson asks about his father, and she agrees to offer an answer after she speaks privately to Avery.

Chapter 39

Jameson agrees, leaving Avery alone with his mother soaking in the bubble-filled tub. Skye boldly states that she forgives Avery and assumes she will continue receiving some level of financial support from her. She then asks Avery about her intentions with Jameson, a question that catches her off guard. Jameson, Skye explains, takes after her father and her brother, Toby, with his special hunger and drive. As their conversation comes to an end, Skye offers Avery champagne and reveals that Tobias Hawthorne chose his grandsons’ middle names.

Chapter 40

Avery reports back to Jameson with the information she received from Skye, and he realizes that his grandfather “was playing a long game.” After giving Jameson time to sober up, Avery meets him at the fireplace passageway, and he guides her to a massive garage at the opposite end of the house. He picks a car and then drives Avery to a racetrack away from the estate. She initially fears the consequences of such a choice, but once they start driving at one hundred and fifty miles an hour, she feels completely free.

Chapter 41

Oren tracks down Avery and Jameson at the racetrack and scolds both of them. In the middle of the night, Avery receives a phone call from Max about paparazzi photos of Avery and Jameson in the car. Avery insists nothing is going on between them. At school, everyone continues to avoid her, including Jameson. Xander teases Avery as they head into a science lab, but he takes a seat by Thea, leaving Avery to sit next to a red-haired girl she recognizes from the school library. After working quietly together, Avery eventually asks the girl for her name. She introduces herself as Rebecca Laughlin, granddaughter of the Hawthorne House’s caretakers. Avery sees a picture of Rebecca and another, equally captivating girl on her tablet screen, and Rebecca reveals that her sister was Emily.

Chapter 42

Emily is still on Avery’s mind as Oren drops her off at the Hawthorne Foundation where she is supposed to meet Zara. However, Grayson approaches and tells her that Zara sent him instead. She is less than thrilled, especially since Grayson ran unauthorized background checks on both her and her mother. Avery is surprised that the only thing in her folder is a blank page, and Grayson explains it is a list of what she has purchased since inheriting the Hawthorne fortune. Apologizing for having misjudged her, Grayson leads her into a conference room full of maps and emphasizes the importance of focusing on the greater good rather than the individual. They discuss graphs and statistics, and Avery finds herself starting to fall for Grayson despite herself. When Grayson receives a phone call from Nash, Avery admires a map of Hawthorne House and realizes the boys’ middle names correspond to locations on the map. Grayson returns and tells her that Nash called about Libby.

Chapter 43

As soon as they get in the car, Avery calls Alisa to interrogate her about the news she received from Nash about Drake’s arrival outside Hawthorne House. Alisa reassures her that she will take care of it, but Avery fears that Drake will manipulate Libby into forgiving him. They pull up to the house and see paparazzi surrounding Drake and two police officers at the front gate. Unwilling to let Drake continue shaping the story about her and Libby, Avery gets out of the car and faces the press herself. She declares that she knows why Tobias Hawthorne changed his will, and as a fight breaks out between Drake and the police behind her, she emphasizes that she will withhold that information from anyone who publishes a story about Drake.

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