Hugo Lawson

Hugo Lawson, a character in the A Very Scandalous Proposal book, is Simon/Ava Montjoy's third cousin. He is first seen in Chapter 4.

Appearance
Hugo has light reddish skin, short brown hair and green eyes. He has a light stubble, and his casual outfit consists of a brown blazer over a pink shirt. You note him to be a squat, sour-faced man.

Personality
Hugo is generally rude, haughty and demeaning. He feels that Barrington is his birthright not Simon/Ava's, and works to improve his "reputation" to show that he is more deserving; such as taking up pheasant hunting even though he doesn't know anything about shooting. According to Genevieve, he has always favored brute force over subterfuge.

A Very Scandalous Proposal

 * Chapter 2: The Proposal (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 4: Everyone Who's Anyone
 * Chapter 5: Secrets of the Estate
 * Chapter 6: Out on the Town (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 8: The Royal Ascot
 * Chapter 9: The Charity Gala
 * Chapter 10: Treachery Afoot
 * Chapter 11: The Plot Thickens (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 12: United Front (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 14: Revelations (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 15: Weathering the Storm (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 16: The Next Generation

Genevieve
Genevieve is Hugo's wife and mother of his children. They had met years ago at the Viscount and Viscountess Milgram's golden jubilee. Their parents had been trying to arrange their match since they were both young, thinking they would be perfect for each other and they were at first. He used to have a strong sense of humor, and was especially merciless when it came to cutting down snobs. However, over the years, Hugo's disposition changed. Nowadays, he won't let Genevieve leave the house without approving her clothes and wants their eight-year-old son, Julian, to go to boarding school.

Simon/Ava Montjoy
Simon/Ava is Hugo's third cousin and his obstacle to gaining the Barrington estate. Hugo told Simon/Ava himself that if he gets Barrington, he plans to sell it to developers. If asked about his last name, Hugo says his mother was Simon/Ava's father's second cousin.

Your Character
You meet Hugo and his wife, Genevieve, at your engagement party to Simon/Ava. He is automatically snide and condescending towards you, although you can catch him off-guard by being warm and friendly and "overly American". When you take a moment later to compose yourself, you overhear him admonishing his wife in the library. She tries to reason that she was just being polite, but he dismisses her excuses and insults her.

In Chapter 5, when you give Patrice, your editor, a few details about the Montjoy family, you find Hugo outside your window and you wonder how much he heard. In Chapter 8 while you're at the Royal Ascot with the Montjoy family, she calls you pushing for more substance and again, you find Hugo eavesdropping before Tommy finds you to escort you to meet the Sinclairs. He gives you a wicked smile which causes your stomach to sink.

In Chapter 9, he does an about-face when talking to you at the charity gala, which stuns you and Genevieve. Later, you find out it is because he has the all-tell article that you "wrote". He reads it aloud to all the gala attendees, destroying the relationships you built with the Montjoy family and their friends. You believe he is behind the whole thing, but if you research the article and/or follow Genevieve in Chapter 10's premium scene(s), you find out that he is not technically savvy enough to hack into your email account nor would he know all the personal and private details of Simon/Ava and his/her relationship with his/her grandparents.

In Chapter 16, at Simon/Ava's birthday gala, you confront him about paying Tommy to be able to announce the article at the charity event. Depending on your relationship with Genevieve, he either leaves in a huff or runs after his wife, trying to apologize for his behavior.

Tommy Harrington
When you and Simon confront Tommy in Chapter 15, he tries to shift the blame onto Hugo. He states that Hugo had gotten wind of the article -possibly someone from Daily Star reaching out to him for a comment- and offered to pay Tommy more if he could break it at the gala in an extravagant fashion.

Trivia

 * His character model resembles Bryce Sterling from Veil of Secrets.
 * He shares the same first name as Hugo from Mother of the Year and Hugo from Wolf Bride.