The next morning, Lizzie drives 90 minutes to the ranch, calculating that Rebecca had time to drive there and murder Grayson. Grayson’s body had been found around 7 am by one of the workers on the property. Lizzie thinks back to the text she saw on Rebecca’s phone, speculating that perhaps Grayson had found out about his wife’s impending business expansion. Prior to driving to the ranch, Lizzie researched the terrain and located a back gate in a remote part of the ranch property. She hopes to enter discreetly there, avoiding the police who she knows will be all over the property. 

Lizzie locates the gate and uses the provided code to enter. She drives onto the property, recognizing landmarks from Rebecca’s social media posts. Ignoring the police tape cordoning off the house, Lizzie uses the key she was given to enter. Inside, she marvels at the pristine and lavish house. Eventually, she comes to a locked door at the end of a hallway, which she uses the second key to enter. Behind the door is a messy, lived-in space—the family’s actual quarters. Lizzie enters the main bedroom and is preparing to search when she hears someone enter downstairs. Lizzie impulsively grabs two books from the bedside table and hides in the adjoining bathroom.

Lizzie feels the need to alert someone to her location in case she is in danger. She texts first Rebecca, and then Olivia. Only the latter responds; when Olivia learns that someone gave Lizzie keys so that she could access the house, she tells Lizzie to get out of the house and meet her just outside the ranch property. Terrified, Lizzie hears someone climb the stairs, enter the bedroom, and rummage around. They try to open the bathroom door, which Lizzie locked behind her. Lizzie climbs out the bathroom window and runs for her car; she pauses only to photograph the license plate on the truck parked outside the house (presumably the vehicle driven by the other intruder). Once in her car, Lizzie speeds away and leaves the property through the same gate she entered by. 

Eventually, she stops at a gas station and inspects the books and the two Polaroid photos tucked inside. The photos show Rebecca with severe injuries. The first is recent; the second, from 14 years ago, was taken the week Lizzie visited San Francisco. Lizzie realizes that when Rebecca ghosted her, she was hiding her bruises and injuries. She also surmises that Rebecca intentionally planted the photos for Lizzie to find: They were tucked in a copy of a book that Lizzie lent to Rebecca years earlier. The second book is a copy of Marsden’s autobiography, which Rebecca has underlined and annotated. Lizzie is left confused as to what to do next.

Rebecca’s narrative reveals that she is in hiding, staying in an anonymous motel and disguising her identity. Her children are also in hiding, although she does not explain where. Rebecca recounts how she has taken pains to protect their privacy: She uses their middle names, never shows their faces clearly after the age of two, and never mentions birthdays. Grayson’s family money ran out five years ago, making them dependent on her income. Over the past year, she siphoned off $20,000 in cash, sensing she would need it to escape.

Rebecca is pleased that her plan for Lizzie to uncover information about her abusive marriage is unfolding correctly. She thinks back to the time when Grayson first hurt her, wondering if she should have confided the truth to Lizzie then. After Grayson’s first assault, she was in a painkiller haze and didn’t remember Lizzie’s planned visit until days later. When Grayson showed her furious messages from Lizzie, she chose not to reply or engage further, choosing pride and shame over the friendship. After healing, she threw herself into the bakery. For a long time, Gray did not drink or physically hurt her again, lavishing her with affection and expensive gifts. When the bakery failed and Gray proposed, she accepted, wanting financial security and believing he had changed.

Rebecca and Grayson began trying to conceive as soon as they married, but Rebecca struggled with prolonged infertility. Her desire to get pregnant played a role in her agreeing to move to the ranch since she hoped “life out there would be beautiful and much simpler” (233). After the move to the ranch, Rebecca began seeing Dr. Carmichael, an OB-GYN who had a longstanding relationship with Grayson’s family. He reassured her and initiated IUI treatments (in which sperm is injected directly into the uterus with a catheter); Rebecca quickly became pregnant with Alice, her eldest child. 

Rebecca thinks back to the recent past, recalling how Alice saw her injuries after Grayson attacked her. Alice was already beginning to adapt to her father’s violence, and Rebecca became determined to save herself and her children.

Olivia Jackson meets Lizzie at the gas station near the ranch. Lizzie tells her about the truck, but neither of them is sure who else was in the house. When Lizzie shows her the Polaroids of Rebecca’s injuries, Olivia is unsurprised, though she has not seen these specific photos. She urges Lizzie to write about the abuse to create a narrative supporting Rebecca, but Lizzie is hesitant. Lizzie asks Olivia about the whereabouts of Rebecca and the children; Olivia doesn’t know anything about the former, admitting that Rebecca is not responding to calls, texts, or emails. She is insistent that the children are safe, prompting Lizzie to think that she knows more than she is letting on. 

Olivia suggests they get dinner, and Lizzie agrees; she is still unsure about whether she wants to reveal details about the abuse in her next story. At dinner, Olivia describes her professional expertise, explaining that she recognized potential in the region’s mommy bloggers, fostered by the local church to promote their lifestyle, and began managing them. Rebecca was one of her first and most successful clients. Olivia elaborates on the family’s financial decline, explaining that the Sommers' fortune was depleted, leaving them dependent on Rebecca’s income from chickens, merchandise, and sponsored content. Lizzie marvels that Rebecca and the other tradwife influencers are “all pushing this arcadian fantasy of homemaking and living off the land, the anti-girlbosses, when they’re all building capitalist empires” (250). 

Olivia also explains that many of the influencers’ husbands (including Grayson) have mixed emotions about the success of their wives. They like the wealth but often resent the autonomy and independence that financial success brings to women. Olivia notes that in recent years, Grayson and the church community have been pressuring Rebecca to be less visible. When Olivia begins preparing to leave, Lizzie notices that she has received several calls from Veronica Smith. Olivia urges Lizzie to write her next story and then presses her to admit her ambition to write meatier, more significant pieces than what she is currently being assigned at the magazine. Lizzie is left unsure about whether or not to trust Olivia. 

The chapter ends with the opening paragraphs of Lizzie’s article for Modern Woman, in which she reveals that Rebecca’s marriage was a sham.

Rebecca continues to reflect on her past. As an overwhelmed and lonely new mother with an unsupportive husband, she began blogging about her experiences. Her posts about motherhood received comments calling her and her children perfect, providing the affirmation she craved. Rebecca’s first viral post featured video of the home birth of her second child, Willow. 



Though she had an epidural for Alice’s delivery, Gray insisted on an unmedicated home birth for Willow. The experience was agonizing, and Gray filmed it without her knowledge. When Rebecca later found the video, she edited it to appear serene and posted it, wanting encouragement that she could endure another birth.

The video received millions of views and attracted sponsors offering payment for featuring their products. The money was welcome, and Grayson tolerated Rebecca’s content creation. The chapter concludes as Rebecca recalls the day Olivia Jackson appeared at her doorstep, promising to change her life.

Lizzie’s second article, which includes the two photos of Rebecca, goes viral. Some people rush to Grayson’s defense, while others side with Rebecca. The police reach out to Lizzie, wanting to question her again. She agrees to meet with them on the following day, with an attorney present. In the meantime, she relaxes at the hotel pool, researching Veronica Smith’s social content. Lizzie is interested since, if Veronica was having an affair with Grayson, she could be a suspect, or possibly also a victim of Grayson’s abuse. 

To Lizzie’s surprise, Veronica approaches her and invites her to attend a special dinner. Veronica explains that the dinner will take place in the desert near a rock formation called Devil’s Staircase. That evening, Lizzie gathers with a group of influencers, awaiting transport to the dinner location. At the dinner, Lizzie speaks with Katie, a woman she met earlier at the conference. Katie explains that Veronica’s family owns the hotel where the conference is taking place; despite having three intelligent daughters who are all successful influencers, their father is unwilling to leave the hotel to any of them. Veronica’s father played an active role in fostering the relationship between Veronica and Marsden, and the two married when Veronica was only 17. 

Katie also reveals that she works mostly as a nanny (she is also developing an app); Lizzie is surprised that there would be demand for nannies in a region that largely celebrates mothers staying at home. Katie points out that most influencers employ nannies, but they tend to obscure this fact. 

As the dinner begins, violent winds erupt. Veronica gives an impassioned speech framing her ambition as God’s plan, asking the women to discuss their dreams rather than their children or work. Suddenly, a violent thunderstorm strikes. Tiki torches blow over, starting fires, and women scramble for evacuation vehicles in chaos. Lizzie hears someone screaming for help in the darkness, but her dune buggy speeds away through the dangerous storm. Katie is in the same vehicle with Lizzie and some of the other women. 

Lizzie arrives at the hotel, where the power is out. Katie rushes up to her room, and Lizzie follows her. She finds Katie comforting a terrified child: Alice, Rebecca’s 12-year-old daughter.