Chapter 17 Summary: Key Events, Themes, and Analysis
⚠️ 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
Avery Grambs tracks Rebecca Laughlin to a hidden tunnel beneath the tennis courts on the Hawthorne estate. Years earlier, Tobias Hawthorne had shown these tunnel entrances to a young Rebecca, telling her she deserved something of her own—a rare gesture from the old man, who had noticed that Rebecca lived in the shadow of her older sister, Emily.
When Avery finds Rebecca, Rebecca is standing against a concrete wall, her red hair wild and her body rigid. She initially mistakes Avery for Xander and tells her to leave, but Avery refuses. Rebecca is clearly in deep distress, and Avery stays.
Rebecca reveals that she has met Eve, the young woman who has been impersonating Avery. Rebecca and the others told Eve the truth about Toby's adoption—that Toby was Rebecca's half-brother, given up by their mother, Mallory, as a teenager. Now Eve wants to meet Mallory, who is Eve's biological grandmother. Avery asks if Mallory can handle that, noting that Mallory has never been stable. Mallory gave baby Toby up for adoption without knowing that the Hawthornes were the adoptive family. Decades later, she had another child, Emily, who was born with a heart condition and died. As far as Mallory knows, Toby is also dead.
Rebecca is overwhelmed because Eve looks and sounds almost exactly like Emily. She tells Avery that Eve even sounds like her late sister. Rebecca's entire childhood was shaped by her sister's illness; she was raised to make herself small, to live in Emily's shadow. Avery tries to reassure her that Eve is not Emily, but Rebecca is consumed by guilt. She confesses that the last thing she and Emily ever did was fight—a fight about Emily's plans for the night she died. Rebecca had been right about those plans being dangerous, and she believes Emily would have made her work hard for forgiveness, even for being right. Rebecca also cut her hair, which Emily had liked long, and she worries that Emily would hate her for that too.
Avery sits beside her and insists that Rebecca is her own person, that she always has been. Rebecca admits she is afraid she is not good at being her own person. She has changed in recent months—looking different, dressing differently, going after what she wants, and letting Thea back into her life—but she fears the universe is telling her she does not get to move on. She wonders if she is a horrible person for even wanting to move forward.
Avery asks if Rebecca has told Thea about Eve, but Rebecca deflects. She is breaking down, knowing she now has to tell her mother that she has a grandchild who looks exactly like the daughter Mallory would have chosen to keep, if she had been given a choice between Emily and Rebecca. Avery offers to go with Rebecca to tell Mallory, but Rebecca declines. She says she is better at wanting things now than she used to be, but she does not get to want Avery with her for this.
Key Events
- Avery finds Rebecca in the tunnel beneath the tennis courts, a hidden space Tobias Hawthorne once showed Rebecca.
- Rebecca reveals that Eve has been told the truth about Toby's adoption and now wants to meet Mallory, her biological grandmother.
- Rebecca explains that Eve looks and sounds like Emily, her deceased sister, triggering intense grief and guilt.
- Rebecca confesses that her last interaction with Emily was a fight over the plans that led to Emily's death.
- Rebecca reveals she cut her hair, which Emily had liked long, and worries she cannot be her own person or move on.
- Avery offers to accompany Rebecca when she tells Mallory about Eve, but Rebecca refuses, saying she cannot want Avery there for this.
Character Development
Rebecca Laughlin is the emotional center of this chapter. Her grief over Emily is raw and unresolved, and seeing Eve has reopened wounds she thought were buried. Rebecca's guilt is layered: she feels responsible for the fight that preceded Emily's death, she feels she should have been the one to die, and she feels she has no right to move on. Her decision to cut her hair—a small act of independence—has become another source of self-blame because Emily liked their hair long. Rebecca's growth over the past few months is evident in her changed appearance and her willingness to want things, but she still struggles to believe she deserves a life of her own. Her refusal to let Avery accompany her is both a sign of her independence and a painful acknowledgment that some burdens she must carry alone.
Avery Grambs shows her empathy and persistence. She refuses to leave Rebecca alone, even when Rebecca tries to push her away. Avery offers practical support—asking if Rebecca has told Thea, offering to go with her to see Mallory—but she also recognizes that she cannot fix Rebecca's pain. Avery's own experience with the Hawthorne brothers' grief (Jameson and Grayson) has taught her that the past can resurface violently, and she is determined not to let Rebecca face this alone, even if Rebecca ultimately chooses solitude.
Tobias Hawthorne, though dead, looms over this chapter. His decision to show Rebecca the tunnels—a secret space of her own—reveals that he saw her as a person separate from her sister. That gesture now feels both kind and haunting, as Rebecca uses that same hidden space to confront her deepest fears.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Grief and survivor's guilt dominate the chapter. Rebecca's guilt is not just about the fight but about being alive when Emily is not. She repeatedly frames her own desires—to move on, to be her own person—as selfish or wrong.
Identity and selfhood are explored through Rebecca's struggle to separate herself from Emily. She was raised to make herself small, to live in her sister's shadow, and even now she cannot cut her hair without feeling Emily's judgment. Avery's insistence that Rebecca is her own person clashes with Rebecca's fear that she does not know how to be one.
Family secrets and revelations drive the plot. The truth about Toby's adoption is now out, and Eve's desire to meet Mallory threatens to upend the Laughlin family's fragile peace. The chapter shows how secrets, once revealed, create new obligations and pain.
The past haunting the present is embodied by Eve, who is a living echo of Emily. Rebecca cannot escape her sister because Eve looks and sounds like her, forcing Rebecca to confront a grief she thought she had contained.
Mothers and daughters is a recurring motif. Mallory's loss of Toby, then Emily, and now the possibility of meeting Eve—a granddaughter who resembles the daughter she lost—creates a cycle of maternal grief. Rebecca's role as the surviving daughter is complicated by her mother's inability to see her as separate from Emily.
Hidden spaces as refuge is symbolized by the tunnel. Tobias gave Rebecca a place of her own, but she uses it to hide from the world and from her own feelings. The tunnel is both a sanctuary and a prison, reflecting Rebecca's internal conflict.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter deepens the emotional stakes of the novel by shifting focus from the puzzle of Avery's inheritance to the human cost of the Hawthorne family's secrets. Rebecca's story is a powerful counterpoint to the brothers' grief, showing that the ripple effects of Tobias Hawthorne's choices extend far beyond the Hawthorne bloodline. The revelation that Eve wants to meet Mallory sets up a major confrontation that will likely have consequences for Avery, Eve, and the entire Laughlin family. Rebecca's refusal to let Avery accompany her also reinforces Avery's role as an outsider who cannot fully protect the people she cares about, even when she wants to. The chapter also humanizes Eve, who is not just a villain but a young woman seeking connection to a family she never knew. By exploring Rebecca's guilt and her struggle to move on, the novel asks a central question: can anyone truly escape the past, or are we all, like Rebecca, standing in a tunnel with no way out?
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Rebecca cut her hair, and what does it symbolize? Rebecca cut her hair because Emily liked their hair long. The act was a small attempt to assert her own identity and separate herself from her sister's memory. However, she now feels guilty about it, believing Emily would hate her for it. The hair symbolizes Rebecca's struggle to be her own person while still being haunted by her sister's expectations.
2. How does Avery try to help Rebecca, and why does Rebecca refuse her offer? Avery offers to accompany Rebecca when she tells Mallory about Eve, and she also asks if Rebecca has told Thea. Rebecca refuses because she feels she does not deserve to want Avery's support. She says she is better at wanting things now, but she cannot want Avery with her for this. This refusal shows Rebecca's guilt and her belief that she must face her mother alone.
3. What does the tunnel beneath the tennis courts represent for Rebecca? Tobias Hawthorne showed Rebecca the tunnel entrances years ago, telling her she deserved something of her own. The tunnel is a hidden space that was meant to give her a sense of independence. In the present, Rebecca uses it as a place to hide from her emotions and from the world. It represents both the refuge Tobias offered her and the isolation she has chosen since Emily's death.