The Inheritance Games Chapters 53–60 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 53–60

Chapter 53

Avery’s mind is numb as Oren guides them to a safe place and calls for backup. When the additional security arrives, they head into the woods while Oren drives Avery and Jameson to Wayback Cottage. As Avery begins processing what has happened, she can tell that Oren fears the threat came from someone inside Hawthorne House. Mrs. Laughlin welcomes them in and makes tea for Avery as Oren removes the bark and stitches her wounds. Mr. Laughlin comes in and, after hearing about the shooting, asks about Rebecca’s whereabouts. Avery and Jameson are surprised to learn that she is on the grounds.

Chapter 54

Avery goes into the bathroom to clean herself up, but she cannot bring herself to turn on the water. Jameson appears behind her and gently begins to clean the dirt off of her hands and face as well as the blood from her wound. Finally feeling seen and protected, she leans in to kiss him, and he kisses her back. Avery feels like she is on fire until Jameson pulls away and begins talking about the game again, suddenly invalidating everything she thought she knew about their relationship. She challenges him, emphasizing that not everything is a game.

Chapter 55

Jameson leaves, and Avery is determined to not let him get to her. She reaches out to Max one more time, texting her about kissing Jameson, and hopes for a response. As Avery walks out of the bathroom and into the attached bedroom, she sees Rebecca come in. Rebecca explains that her grandmother asked her to check on Avery, but their conversation quickly turns to Emily. Looking around the room she once shared with her sister, Rebecca begins to warn Avery and tells her that Emily did not always treat the Hawthorne boys well. She implies that her sister dated both Grayson and Jameson, and when they found out, she turned their relationships into a competition to be won.

Chapter 56

By the time that Oren finally allows Avery to return to Hawthorne House, his security team has verified that each member of the family has an alibi. Their next step is to investigate the staff members on the grounds at the time of the shooting, one of whom was Mellie. Alisa meets them at the house, and Avery finally explodes in anger, emphasizing that both of them had reassured her that she would be safe. Alisa admits that she found a previously overlooked detail in the will that could allow others to challenge it if she died—that is, she can’t live in Hawthorne House for a year, as stipulated in the will, if she’s dead—and a similar issue surrounds the paperwork for the Hawthorne Foundation. As Alisa and Oren brainstorm ways to protect Avery, Oren reveals that security camera footage shows Jameson and Grayson inspecting guns in the Hawthorne Armory. Alisa tells Avery that Mr. Hawthorne has one of the world’s largest collections of Winchester rifles, and Avery suddenly realizes that they were looking for clues about the boys’ middle names.

Chapter 57

Avery asks Oren to take her to the armory, and he obliges. Once they arrive, she explains to him that she is looking for a clue that Tobias Hawthorne may have left behind on one of the Winchester rifles. On the fourth one Avery inspects, she finds the letters “O.N.E” etched into a lever. This finding confirms for Avery that the clue from the bridge was the number eight.

Chapter 58

Oren escorts Avery back to her room, and she breaks down crying in the shower. Her fear does not last long, however, because she receives a phone call from Max. While she is initially thrilled to hear from her, she is surprised that Max tells her to leave despite the fact that she would lose her inheritance for doing so. This difference of opinion leads to a tense conversation in which Max calls Avery out for not acknowledging that her life has also changed because of Avery’s sudden rise to fame. Once Avery puts her phone down, she hears a sound coming from the passageway behind her fireplace. She decides to tell Oren about it, and he instructs her to go sleep in Libby’s room while they investigate the passageway. In the morning, Avery wakes up to find Libby gone and texts on her phone from Drake.

Chapter 59

Avery asks Oren about Libby’s whereabouts, and he reveals that she is downstairs eating breakfast. She goes to find her and sees Zara, Constantine, Xander, and Nan in addition to Libby and Nash. Already uneasy, Avery jumps when Thea comes up behind her. Thea tells her that Rebecca texted her about Avery’s kiss with Jameson, and Xander admits that he also knows about it. When Avery’s injuries cause her to flinch while picking up a breakfast tray, Xander becomes suspicious. Grayson then enters and asks to speak with her privately.

Chapter 60

Grayson immediately confronts Avery about being injured, and while she initially tries to deny it, she eventually tells him the story. Grayson chastises Oren, emphasizing that he will view him as personally responsible if anything happens to Avery. Jameson comes up to them, and the tension in the room grows exponentially. Nash also enters, and when Avery tells Oren that she will not be going to school that day, he asks if Libby knows that she is skipping.

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