Chapter 37 Summary: Grayson's Chapter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary {#summary}
Grayson opens the chapter by concluding that Eve has placed a dangerous watcher on the Grayson family. A flashback shows Eve confronting him at a pool, where she identifies herself as an “affair baby” and displays a bruised temple; Grayson silently vows that whoever hurt her will pay. Back in the present, he returns to his hotel, checks the room for listening devices and cameras, and finds the 3D printer he requested. His computer shows seventeen missed messages from Gigi, who is demanding the photograph of Trowbridge’s passwords and has resorted to sending pictures of hairless cats and all-caps pleas.
Grayson transfers the photo to his computer and deliberately alters the passwords—changing a 9 to an 8, a 7 to a 2, morphing a V into a W, an L into a D, a Z into a 7, and deleting digits from the ends of sequences. He sends the doctored image to Gigi with a message saying he will need a copy of the files tomorrow if she does not get anywhere tonight, knowing she will fail by design. He then prints two keys: one an exact duplicate of Gigi’s and one a decoy. He messages Zabrowski with three directives: the keys are ready for pickup, Zabrowski should update him on progress, and Zabrowski should identify a driver photographed in a car—described as six foot two, roughly one hundred sixty-five pounds, blond hair, dark eyes, a scar through his left eyebrow, age sixteen to twenty, with tattoos on his upper arms and neck. Grayson transfers another payment to Zabrowski’s account.
Grayson turns his attention to the fake USB drive and the index card. He notices notches on the card: two on the top edge and one on the right, with the other edges unblemished. He wonders whether the notches could have been caused by the card being taped inside a computer and pulled off repeatedly, or whether he is seeing meaning where none exists. He tests the fake USB against the card and finds nothing. He thinks about the altered photograph he sent Gigi and about Savannah, then sets the items aside, places the printed keys in an envelope, and sends them to the front desk for Zabrowski’s pickup.
In the bathroom, Grayson turns the shower on as hot as it will go and strips off his shirt. He paces to the double doors between the bathroom and bedroom, judges the frame wide enough, and performs a doorframe hold—palms flat on each side, arms in a V, lifting himself off the ground. He holds the position while the mirror fogs over, letting thoughts of Gigi, Savannah, Eve, and the spy bleed from his mind. When his arms give out, he falls to his knees, then gets up and stands under the punishingly hot spray.
His phone rings with a blocked number. He answers, expecting Eve’s spy, but it is the girl who called before. She says she wants two answers. She recounts her fourth birthday: she lived with her mom and barely knew her father, but she was with him that day. He gave her a candy necklace with three pieces of candy left and a calla lily, then whispered in her ear, “A Hawthorne did this.” He turned, walked upstairs with a gun, said words that did not make sense, and disappeared. Less than a minute later, she heard a gunshot. She says she did not go upstairs, that her mom and stepdad arrived and it was over, and that she blocked the memory out until the Hawthorne name flooded the news a couple of years ago.
Grayson asks what his grandfather did. He says he cannot say for certain, but that probabilities being what they are, whatever Tobias Hawthorne did or did not do likely ruined her father financially. He tries to ask for her father’s name, but she refuses. She repeats the last words her father said: “What begins a bet?” and then “Not that.” Grayson says the words mean nothing to him, but he suggests it might be a riddle, noting that his grandfather was very big into riddles. She hangs up. Grayson holds the phone to his ear for a long time, then texts Xander, asking if he is back at Hawthorne House. Xander replies that he is not but has connections, and Grayson asks him to have someone look back through the old man’s List.
Key Events {#key-events}
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Grayson concludes Eve has someone watching the Grayson family, and he treats the hotel room as potentially compromised.
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He alters the photograph of Trowbridge’s passwords before sending it to Gigi, ensuring she cannot succeed.
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He prints a duplicate key and a decoy key, then messages Zabrowski with pickup instructions, a progress request, and a request to identify a watcher from a car photograph.
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He examines the index card and notices notches on two edges, wondering if they are meaningful or accidental.
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He performs a doorframe hold and takes an extremely hot shower as a form of mental discipline.
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The mystery caller recounts her father’s suicide on her fourth birthday, including the candy necklace, the calla lily, the whispered accusation “A Hawthorne did this,” and the final words “What begins a bet? Not that.”
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Grayson tells her Tobias Hawthorne likely ruined her father financially, and he suggests the final words may be a riddle.
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He texts Xander to have someone search the old man’s List.
Character Development {#character-development}
Grayson shows a deepening moral conflict. He feels a tug of affection for Gigi even as he deliberately sabotages her efforts, and he tries not to feel guilty about setting her up to fail. His physical discipline—the doorframe hold and the scalding shower—functions as a way to silence intrusive thoughts, suggesting he relies on bodily control to manage emotional weight. His response to the caller reveals a more empathetic side: he does not interrupt her, he listens to every pause, and he admits he does not want her to hang up. His suggestion that the words might be a riddle shows he is willing to engage with her pain rather than dismiss it.
The caller is developed through her fragmented, deliberate storytelling. She speaks in a way that sounds like she is relaying something that happened to someone else, and she admits she blocked the memory out until the Hawthorne name resurfaced in the news. Her refusal to name her father and her precise correction of Grayson (“I said that I wanted two answers”) show both guardedness and a need for resolution.
Eve appears only in flashback, but the memory establishes her as someone Grayson feels protective of despite the threat she poses. Her bruised temple and her self-description as an “affair baby” reinforce the idea that she is both family and outsider.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs {#themes-symbols-or-motifs}
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Surveillance and stalking: Eve’s watcher is the chapter’s driving threat, and Grayson’s careful room check underscores how pervasive the surveillance has become.
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Deception and manipulation: Grayson alters the passwords, prints a decoy key, and sends Zabrowski a payment—each act a layer of misdirection.
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Riddles and puzzles: The caller’s father’s final words (“What begins a bet? Not that.”) are framed as a potential riddle, and the notches on the index card raise the question of whether hidden meaning exists in physical details.
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Legacy of past actions: Grayson’s statement that Tobias Hawthorne likely ruined the caller’s father financially ties the grandfather’s legacy directly to the caller’s trauma.
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Repressed trauma and memory: The caller describes blocking out her father’s suicide and only remembering it in dreams after the Hawthorne name became public.
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Physical discipline as mental control: The doorframe hold and the hot shower are used by Grayson to empty his mind, linking bodily endurance to emotional regulation.
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Family secrets: The List, Sheffield Grayson’s hidden whereabouts, and the caller’s unnamed father all point to secrets that span generations.
Why This Chapter Matters {#why-this-chapter-matters}
This chapter deepens the mystery of the caller and connects it directly to Tobias Hawthorne’s legacy. The riddle-like final words (“What begins a bet? Not that.”) introduce a puzzle that will likely require the Hawthorne brothers to investigate the old man’s List, setting up future plot threads. The chapter also shows Grayson’s moral compromise in sabotaging Gigi, establishing a cost to his mission that may have consequences later. The notches on the index card and the request to identify Eve’s watcher both advance the investigation on multiple fronts, making this a pivotal chapter for both the mystery and Grayson’s character arc.
Study Questions and Answers {#study-questions-and-answers}
- Why does Grayson alter the photograph of Trowbridge’s passwords before sending it to Gigi?
Grayson changes digits and letters in the passwords so that Gigi will not be able to use them successfully. He sends her the doctored image along with a message implying he expects results, knowing she will fail by design. This shows his willingness to deceive someone he has grown fond of in order to protect his own objectives.
- What does the caller’s story reveal about the impact of Tobias Hawthorne’s actions?
The caller describes her father giving her a candy necklace and a calla lily on her fourth birthday, whispering “A Hawthorne did this,” and then going upstairs with a gun. Grayson tells her that whatever Tobias Hawthorne did or did not do likely ruined her father financially. The story suggests that Tobias’s actions had devastating, multi-generational consequences that reached beyond the Hawthorne family itself.
- How does Grayson use physical discipline in this chapter, and what does it suggest about his character?
Grayson performs a doorframe hold with his arms in a V, holding himself aloft until his arms give out, and then stands under a shower hot enough to punish. He uses these physical exertions to empty his mind of thoughts about Gigi, Savannah, Eve, and the spy. This suggests he relies on bodily control to manage emotional distress, and that he is accustomed to suppressing rather than processing difficult feelings.