The Inheritance Games Chapter Rewrites

Let It Hurt (Ch. 54 of TIG)

"Heiress?" I didn't reply. Another sigh. "Look, I know I came off as in-

"I could've been shot."

"Pardon? I didn't-"

"I said I could've been shot." I spun around, catching him blink in surprise. "Shot, Jameson. Do you know what that means?" I stared at him sharply for a long moment before he looked aside, something like guilt or shame evident on his face. "I just inherited your family's stupidly big fortune which made me a target of basically everyone related to you and anyone else in the world that made me their problem. I could have been killed. You could have been. Don't you get that?"

He looked up again and tilted his head, giving me a small wry smile. "Don't worry about me, Heiress. A bullet still wouldn't stop me." My jaw dropped; he was still attempting humor.

"A-Are you being serious right now? Do you hear yourself?" He stayed silent. "Oren just pulled a chunk of wood out of my chest and if things had worked out a little differently, he could have been pulling out a bullet. Same goes for you. And meanwhile you're over here thinking about a damn tree? This mystery, us running around acting like we're Mystery Inc, you figuring out why your grandfather chose me, it's all meaningless to you if I die. And if you got shot, your family would be out for me, we both know that much. And then what? Not everything is a game, Hawthorne."

"Perhaps you're right but that's just it, MG. If Emily taught me anything, it's that everything is a game. Even this." I was about ready to throttle him. But I withheld and rolled my eyes, laughing anxiously instead. "Jameson, get real. Emily's dead, I almost died, your grandfather is dead, you're not one of the heirs, your family hates me, the inheritance is not in the rightful hands, and now someone is after me. This is reality for me and you right now. This isn't in your head. Life comes with risk, I know, but this isn't a game."

That elicited a reaction. His jaw got tight and his eyes narrowed. "You don't think I know that Heiress? Unfortunately, my grandfather raised us treating everything like a damn game from the moment we could talk and think. Don't pretend you even know the beginning of my life story, we'd be here all day."

"And I'm not. But you are acting like what just happened is something to push aside. Newsflash, it can't be. I can get you pretending that covering me with yourself in the woods, cleaning my wound, our kiss doesn't matter but not my life or yours being on the line for some stupid mystery. That's all I ask." That's when it hit me. "Why do you act like that? Like you don't matter?"

I caught the panic in his eyes when they widened for a brief second as he turned away from me and ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply. He'd been doing that a lot. After a long pause, he spoke. "Because I've done worse. There's a lot of things from my past that I'm not proud of. Things with Gray, things with Emily, things with Xan and Nash, the old man..." I put a hand on his shoulder. He side-eyed me and smirked knowingly. "If you're expecting for this to turn into a confession, you're going to be sorely disappointed."

This time I sighed and shook my head. "No, I don't. I don't expect you to say anything you're not comfortable sharing. But Jameson? We've all done things we're not proud of, don't be so hard on yourself for that."

He turned his head toward me fully and the smirk turned into his signature crooked grin. "Don't pity me, Heiress. Self-loathing is a very good look for me." But I saw the sadness in his eyes and something about it gave me a hollow feeling, like he'd been holding it in for so long. Yet that didn't last either. "I know what you're thinking and contrary to what you believe, I deserve it. Call it my role in the family."