Chapter 62 Summary: Key Events 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
The chapter opens with Avery Kylie Grambs reflecting on what Mallory Laughlin revealed about the man who fathered her child. Mallory described him as older, very charming, and named Liam—and when asked what happened to him, she only said he left. Avery begins to connect the dots: if Liam is actually Will Blake, then Will sought out a sixteen-year-old girl living on the Hawthorne estate, got her pregnant, and then disappeared for over forty years. This raises a cascade of questions: Does Toby know or suspect that Will Blake is his biological father? Did Vincent Blake know Toby was his grandson, and is that why he took him? And if the seal Toby stole from his father truly belonged to Vincent Blake's son, how did it end up in Tobias Hawthorne's possession? Avery feels like she's in free fall, barreling toward a cliff's edge.
The moment they return to Hawthorne House, Jameson intercepts Avery. He's furious, demanding to know what's wrong with her for leaving. Avery fires back, angry that he locked her in the escape room. Jameson insists he did it to keep her safe—Vincent Blake is powerful and connected, and he'll keep coming for her because she holds the keys to the kingdom. He pleads with her to promise to be more careful, but Avery refuses to be confined. She tells him she doesn't need his protection.
The argument escalates. Jameson, his voice raw, declares that this is what she's always wanted: an arrogant, duty-bound man who would die to protect the girl he loves. He says he's not Grayson, and Avery insists she doesn't want him to be. But Jameson is adamant that she does, and he confesses that he loves her, would die to protect her, and would even make her hate him to keep her safe—because some things are too precious to gamble. Avery is overwhelmed by his intensity, but she's also struck by a sudden realization.
She thinks about Eve. If Vincent Blake's son is Toby's father, then Eve is Vincent Blake's great-granddaughter. She recalls Eve telling her about a mail-in DNA test, and the moment when Avery mentioned William Blake's name and the poem