Chapter 44: The Acorn
Contains spoilers
Summary
- Elizabeth is confronted by a shocking truth from Avery Parker about Calvin's biological mother.
- Despite information suggesting Calvin's mother died in childbirth, Avery Parker suggests she is in fact Calvin's mother.
- Elizabeth questions why Avery didn't retrieve Calvin from the boys' home, leading to Avery's admission that she believed Calvin was dead.
- Avery recounts sending someone named Wilson to investigate Calvin's status, only to be misled by the bishop that Calvin had died.
- It's revealed that the orphanage manipulated Avery into providing funds under false pretenses.
- Elizabeth and Avery share personal losses; Elizabeth's brother by suicide, reinforcing their emotional connection.
- Avery reveals funding unwed mothers’ homes and orphanages, and her indirect role in making her own son an orphan.
- Due to a misunderstanding and under advice from Wilson, Avery did not directly contact Calvin, which she regrets.
- Avery explains how funding surplus was directed towards science education in honor of Calvin's athlete father.
- Elizabeth realizes that Avery Parker had been unknowingly influential in Calvin's life, including his rowing scholarship to Cambridge.
- A publication featuring Calvin prompts Avery to discover her son's true fate and learn he's alive.
- Avery Parker wrote to Calvin, never receiving a response, unaware he was the same person as the "Sad Mother" letters.
- Avery struggled with the decision on how to reconnect with her adult son, ultimately feeling she was too patient.
- Avery followed Calvin's career from a distance, later realizing the depth of Calvin and Elizabeth's relationship.
- Avery's discomfort with institutional sexism becomes apparent, revealing pleasure in defying expectations by funding Elizabeth's work.
- Miscommunications and assumptions led Avery to believe that Elizabeth and Calvin were not close before his death.
- Avery attended Calvin's funeral incognito and regretted not speaking to Elizabeth, misunderstanding their relationship.
- Elizabeth confesses her deep love for Calvin to Avery, lamenting their lost opportunity and shared chemistry.
- The chapter concludes with a cathartic moment of grief between Elizabeth and Avery over their mutual connection to Calvin.