The Inheritance Games: Chapter 61–Epilogue

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Avery Grambs learns that Tobias Hawthorne, a deceased billionaire she never met, left most of his fortune to her. But in order to receive the inheritance, she has to live in Hawthorne's mansion for one year and contend with his angry family members who are out to get her.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–25, Chapters 26–40, Chapters 41–60, Chapter 61–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. palatial
    relating to or being a large and stately residence
    I’d seen the music rooms, the gymnasium, the bowling alley, the showroom for Tobias Hawthorne’s cars, the solarium...and that wasn’t even a quarter of what there was to see.
    “Enormous.”
    “Palatial,” Libby chirped.
  2. obfuscate
    make obscure or unclear
    My head of security couldn’t—or wouldn’t—obfuscate more than he already had. “It’s unclear if the shots were meant to scare Avery, or if she was a genuine target. The shooter missed, but she was injured by debris.”
  3. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    Nan looked at the piano, then at her gnarled, bird-boned hand.
  4. brunt
    the main part, especially of a force or shock
    “This ain’t easy for her, kid. You’re at the eye of the storm, where things are calm. She’s taking the brunt of it, from all sides.”
  5. compensate
    make amends for
    “Skye was seventeen when I was born.” Nash shrugged. “She made an attempt at playing parent. Didn’t stick. The old man tried to compensate.”
  6. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    Grayson gave me a look I couldn’t quite discern.
  7. wheedle
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    “I’ll give you a hint,” my mom wheedles.
  8. dredge up
    bring to mind something unpleasant from the past
    “I will accept that you didn’t fall into the Jameson Hawthorne trap for the purpose of dredging up memories of Jameson and Emily.”
  9. magnanimous
    generous and understanding and tolerant
    Thea clearly thought she was being magnanimous. “But that’s where my generosity ends. Rebecca’s painfully beautiful, but the girl cries ugly. I know what she looks like when she’s spent all night crying. Whatever her deal is—this isn’t just about Jameson. What happened at the cottage?”
  10. quell
    suppress or crush completely
    I felt something flicker in my chest—a what-if—but quelled it.
  11. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
    The sound of sirens—police sirens—barely broke through the cacophony of panic in my head.
  12. keen
    express grief verbally
    I tried to scream, but it wasn’t loud or shrill. I was keening, and I couldn’t make it stop.
  13. apprehend
    take into police custody
    “Did they apprehend the driver?”
  14. demur
    politely refuse or take exception to
    “The three things we will be practicing today are what to say, how to say it, and how to identify things you shouldn’t say and demur.”
  15. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    “How do you think you sound?”
    “Pissed?” I guessed dourly.
  16. accolade
    an expression of praise or admiration
    I expected accolades but got none.
  17. abet
    assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing
    She wasn’t apologizing for aiding and abetting Drake.
  18. loath
    strongly opposed
    “Zara was loath to part with any seats, but since it’s technically your foundation, she didn’t have much of a choice.”
  19. unseemly
    not in keeping with accepted standards of what is proper
    “And what about the unseemly theories that one of them—at least one—wants me dead?”
  20. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
    His voice was guttural.
  21. rote
    characterized by mechanical or thoughtless repetition
    “Of course not,” Grayson replied, his tone stiff, the words rote.
  22. felicitation
    an expression of pleasure at the good fortune of another
    “Congratulations, Heiress,” Jameson called back, his voice dripping with everything but felicitations.
  23. consummate
    complete and utter; without qualification or limitation
    She’d breeze in for the summers, the consummate daredevil.
  24. engender
    call forth
    What I held in my hand should have engendered at least a glimmer of curiosity, but when he turned to face me, his eyes dull, all he said was “Toss it over with the rest."
  25. excise
    remove by cutting
    “Sometimes, you gotta excise a wound before it can heal.”
  26. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    Is this whole twisted game just a reminder—an incessant reminder—to put family first?
  27. diffuse
    spread through
    Sun shone through the window, causing diffused colored lights to appear on the Great Room Floor.
  28. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    I walked toward the letters, mesmerized, and then I saw a red laser-like light pass over my face.
  29. relent
    give in, as to influence or pressure
    “If he hadn’t,” Rebecca replied, “maybe she wouldn’t have needed to push things so much. Maybe she would have relented and jumped from one of the lower cliffs. Maybe it would have been okay.”
  30. garbled
    lacking orderly continuity
    Rebecca made a garbled sound the second I said Thea's name.
  31. indictment
    an accusation of wrongdoing
    “You don’t know when to stop, do you, Heiress?” That didn’t exactly feel like an indictment.
  32. bog
    get stuck while doing something
    “He knew that any game he left, I would play. Nash might say screw it, Grayson might get bogged down in legalities, Xander might be thinking about a thousand and one other things—but I would play."
  33. culpable
    deserving blame or censure as being wrong or injurious
    He told me that he knew I’d been there and asked whether I felt culpable.
  34. whim
    a sudden desire
    And you’re telling me that on a whim, he wiped out the will he’d had for twenty years?
  35. purge
    rid of impurities
    “Something to purge the poison.”
  36. volition
    the act of making a choice
    “Mother left of her own volition,” Grayson said evenly. “She was made to understand it was the better option.”
  37. sequester
    set apart from others
    My call got sent to voicemail. “This is Maxine Liu. I’ve been sequestered in the technological equivalent of a virtual convent. Have a blessed day, you rotten scoundrels.”
  38. commandeer
    take arbitrarily or by force
    “You have reached Isaac Liu.” Max had commandeered his voicemail as well. “He is an entirely tolerable younger brother, and if you leave a message, he will probably call you back. Avery, if this is you, stop trying to get yourself killed. You owe me Australia!”
  39. dissemble
    make believe with the intent to deceive
    I considered dissembling, but she’d pretty much proven she wasn’t the type for niceties.
  40. omission
    something that has been left out
    Tobias Hawthorne, he’d signed it, no middle name, and now the reason for that omission was clear.
Created on Wed Jan 12 10:07:29 EST 2022 (updated Fri Jan 21 14:26:12 EST 2022)

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