Exodus

Collin arrives to find Cecelia with Tobias. The confrontation escalates, with Tobias pinning Collin to a lounger and punching him. Before leaving, Tobias taunts Collin about his relationship with Cecelia. Afterward, Cecelia tends to Collin’s bleeding nose.

She explains her complex past and admits that she is still in love with Tobias. Collin accepts her decision to formally end their engagement and agrees to move her belongings into storage. He then departs with the ring. Alone, Cecelia watches snow begin to fall and reflects upon the finality of her choice.

A week later, Cecelia is dining alone in a restaurant when Tobias arrives with his girlfriend, Alicia. Flustered, Cecelia accidentally spills her wine and knocks over a lit candle, making a scene when she accidentally sets fire to the tablecloth and destroys her old copy of The Thorn Birds. Tobias puts out the flames, and the two engage in a tense, coded conversation in French, acknowledging their shared history as a waitress cleans up the mess. Heartbroken over the destruction of the book, which she sees as a symbol of their past together, Cecelia leaves the restaurant abruptly. Tobias is left holding the book’s charred remains.