The Inheritance Games

Later that day, Avery goes home where she has an exchange with her half-sister Libby, who is seven years older and an orderly at an assisted living facility. They share the same father but have different mothers. She gives Libby the tips she’s earned from her after-school waitressing job at “a hole-in-the-wall diner” (5). Libby has baked chocolate cupcakes. The sight of them fills Avery with foreboding because “[Libby] was an apology cupcake baker. A guilty cupcake baker. A please-don’t-be-mad-at-me cupcake baker” (6). Libby reveals she’s letting her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Drake Sanders, move back in. Avery tells Libby she’s going to live in her car.

Avery retreats to her “ancient Pontiac” (8). She texts her best friend, Maxine Liu, “Max,” telling her “You-know-who is back” (8). Max moved away the summer after eighth grade, but the two still text regularly. Max responds to Avery’s text with a stream of coded expletives (“mother-faxer”) directed at Drake and follows up with a phone call to make sure Avery is okay. Avery replies: “You know me, Maxine. I always land on my feet” (9).

At school the next day, Avery is called into the principals’ office. She finds Libby and a strange young man in the room, Grayson Hawthorne. Grayson’s grandfather, Tobias Hawthorne has passed away and named Avery in his will. Avery has no idea why and neither does Grayson. Grayson has made travel arrangements for Libby and Avery to attend the reading of the will in Texas.

Avery and Libby head to Dallas. It’s Avery’s first time flying. In Dallas, the sisters are met by Alisa Ortega from McNamara, Ortega, and Jones, the law firm representing Tobias’s estate. Alisa drives the girls to Hawthorne House, where they’ll be staying. Her father was Tobias’s longstanding attorney, and she knows the Hawthornes well. Avery suggests that Hawthorne House is “quite something” to which Alisa response: “Good guess. Mr. Hawthorne was fond of good guessers” (20). Avery has an eerie feeling wash over her, “almost like a premonition” as she wonders: “Is that why he choose me?” (20).

Alisa, Libby, and Avery arrive at Hawthorne House, a sprawling mansion. It’s revealed that there are four Hawthorne brothers. Grayson welcomes them upon their arrival and introduces them to another one of the brothers, Alexander or “Xander” for short—the “baby” of the family. They meet Xander when he emerges from a coat closet. He reveals that there’s a secret passage at the back of the closet: “This place is full of them” (25).

Grayson introduces Avery to his mother, Skye Hawthorne; his aunt, Zara Hawthorne-Calligaris; and Zara’s husband, Mr. Calligaris. Skye is laid-back and breezy, asking when Avery’s birthday is to determine her star sign. Zara is austere, asking Avery how she knew Tobias. It’s revealed that Grayson has three brothers, all from the same mother (Skye) but four different fathers. Skye refers to Grayson as the “heir apparent,” indicating to Avery that the Hawthorne family doesn’t know what to expect from Tobias Hawthorne’s will. Avery is shocked as she realizes how eager the entire family is to have the will read: “I suddenly felt like I’d stepped into an arena, utterly unaware of the rules of the game” (29). They proceed to the Great Room for the reading of the will.

The lawyers of McNamara, Ortega, and Jones are in the Great Room for the reading of the will. Also present are: Libby and Avery; Tobias’s grandsons, Grayson, Xander, and Nash; Tobias’s daughters, Skye and Zara; Zara’s husband Mr. Calligaris; and Nan, Tobias’s mother-in-law. One grandson, Jameson Hawthorne, is missing. Avery finds him in the backyard, drunk, shirtless, and precariously balanced on the edge of a balcony. Jameson greets Avery as “Mystery Girl” and coins the nickname “M.G.” Avery recognizes that Jameson is grieving and has empathy for him: “I hadn’t allowed myself to self-destruct when my mom died. That didn’t mean I hadn’t felt the call” (33). She watches with concern as Jameson jumps off the balcony (he’s fine).

Avery returns to the Great Room for the reading of the will. The party is now complete, as Jameson is also there. The lawyers distribute sealed letters from Tobias to the people present. They then start reading the will. The first signs of strife arise when the lawyers announce that Tobias is leaving only $50,000 each to his daughters Skye and Zara. The following exchange takes place between the sisters:

‘You did this.’ Zara turned towards Skye. She didn’t raise her voice, but it was deadly all the same.

‘Me?’ Skye said, indignant.

‘Daddy was never the same after Toby died,’ Zara continued.

‘Disappeared,’ Skye corrected.

‘God, listen to you!’ Zara lost her hold on her tone. ‘You got in his head, didn’t you, Skye? Batted your eyelashes and convinced to bypass us and leave everything to your—’

‘Sons.’ Skye’s voice was crisp. ‘The world you’re looking for is sons.’

‘The word she’s looking for is bastards.’ Nash Hawthorne had the thickest Texas accent of anyone in the room (37).

The lawyers continue reading the will. Tobias leaves each of his grandsons only $250,000 each. Given the extent of Tobias’s wealth, this is a miniscule amount. Mr. Ortega concludes the reading of the will, revealing that Tobias has left the remainder of his estate to Avery.

Avery is in shock following the announcement that she’s meant to inherit Tobias’s fortune. Zara, Skye, and Zara’s husband are angry. Grayson asserts that there must be a mistake. Mr. Ortega assures all involved that the will is correct and ironclad. Further, if anyone tries to challenge it, they will lose their part of the inheritance. The tension escalates. John Oren, (or “Oren” as Avery refers to him throughout the book), the head of security who Tobias left part of his fortune to, steps between Avery and the angry family. He informs them that the letter he got from Tobias asked him to continue serving as a security detail at Hawthorne House—for Avery. Jameson informs her: “The entire world’s going to want a piece of you, Mystery Girl. This has story of the century written all over it” (42).