Jameson and Avery’s joyride is interrupted by Oren, who is not happy with their security breach. As Avery learns later, the paparazzi captured them driving on the track via aerial drones. The next day at school, Avery is partnered with a girl in science lab. She learns that the girl is Rebecca Laughlin, the granddaughter of the Laughlins who work at Hawthorne House. Rebecca is Emily’s sister.

Avery arrives at the Hawthorne Foundation where she expects to meet Zara. Instead, she’s met by Grayson. She learns that he’s the photographer behind the many pictures decorating the foundation—images of people and places around the world—and is surprised by and drawn to his talent. Grayson, who assumed Avery was a gold digger, has done a background check on her and her family. Grayson notes that she hasn’t purchased a single thing for herself since inheriting Tobias’s fortune and realizes he may have been wrong about Avery’s supposed scheming intentions, and he tells her, “I may have misjudged you” (174). Avery is surprised to find herself drawn to Grayson: “Everyone had things they found inexplicably attractive. Apparently, for me it was suit-wearing, silver-eyed guys using the word empirically and taking for granted that I knew what it meant.