Back in the present day, Faye awakens in a small cabin at Lake Wanika (the remote lake where Henry owns property that has been part of his family for generations). The property has a larger main house and a small cabin; she is being held in the latter. Henry has left her food and water, but the door is locked and she is unable to leave. 

Faye wakes again hours later to find Henry sitting in the room. He tells her she will only be held for a few days. When Faye demands her phone, Henry grabs her by the throat, choking her and warning her not to give him orders again. Henry eventually releases her, promising to explain everything in the morning. After he leaves, Faye reflects that Henry seems frightened.

In the morning, Henry takes Faye to the main house. She believes he is punishing her for the television episode that depicted the end of their relationship and tries to defend the episode. Henry has accessed her phone and reveals he has read all her private messages and changed her passcodes. He knows she has cleared her schedule for the week and that “not that many people are checking on you” (87). He is also aware that she has been meeting with a rival agent, Caroline. Henry shows Faye an Instagram post he has created, filled with out-of-context, professionally damaging quotes from her private conversations. Then he locks up her phone in a safe. The post is scheduled to go live and Henry cautions that as long as she obeys him, he will keep delaying the post. If at any point she attacks him, the post will go live and her career will be ruined. Henry also notes that the cabin’s remote setting will make it extremely hard for Faye to flee. 

After making her breakfast, Henry forces Faye to remove all her jewelry. She taunts him and references a necklace from Tiffany’s (a famous jewelry brand). Their confrontation escalates into a physical struggle and Henry injures Faye’s ankle. He roughly carries her back to the smaller cabin and locks her inside.

The narrative flashes back as Faye recalls her two-and-a-half-year relationship with Henry during their college years. They split up the summer after they graduated. During that time, inspired by a pornographic video they watched together, they developed a sexualized game in which Faye would perform submissive acts to earn gifts from Henry. Just before their relationship ended, she had been in the process of earning a Tiffany heart necklace, which she never received. In the present, Faye ponders Henry’s claim that he is trying to protect her by keeping her imprisoned in the cabin.

Henry leaves Faye locked in the cabin overnight without food or water. The next morning, he returns with a bottle of water and forces Faye to crawl to his feet and beg for it. In exchange for the water, Henry demands that Faye “have dinner with me and be normal. Drink wine. Talk to me” (102). Faye agrees and that evening, he leads her to the main house. During dinner, they have a surprisingly intimate conversation, including admitting that they both take prescription medication for anxiety and depression. Faye reveals that she became extremely isolated and anxious after the release of the famous episode and the mistaken assumption that she was acting as a spokesperson for women who survived abusive relationships. Henry also shocks Faye by admitting that he and his wife are in the process of getting a divorce. 

The fragile truce shatters when Henry accidentally spills wine on Faye and insists on removing her soaked clothing. Faye has hidden hairbrush bristles in her pocket, planning to put them in Henry’s food to make him choke; fearing he is about to discover this, she grabs the glass decanter and hits him over the head with it, then seizes the boat keys and runs to the dock. Her escape attempt fails when she is unable to start the boat’s motor. Henry dives into the lake, swims to the boat, and climbs aboard. He grabs her and holds her head underwater. As Faye loses consciousness, she hears a woman’s voice calling her name.

Faye regains consciousness in the small cabin. When she asks Henry about the woman’s voice, he claims there is no one else on the island. He tells her he did not mean to hold her underwater for so long and admits he thought she was dead. Faye struggles to get warm and Henry gets into bed with her to warm her up, holding her until morning.

Henry leaves at dawn and returns hours later, holding Faye’s phone. He reads aloud a message he has composed, addressed to her prospective new agent, Caroline. The message will destroy any chance of Faye working with Caroline in the future. Faye is devastated because the tentative prospective partnership with Caroline is crucial for her. Her husband’s brother is a powerful figure at her current agency and if she seeks a divorce, she will need new representation. Faye has carefully been assembling a plan that will allow her to exit her marriage with her career intact, but the loss of the relationship with Caroline would jeopardize all of that. She begs Henry not to send the message, promising him that she will do anything. 

To Faye’s surprise, Henry does not request sexual favors. He claims he no longer desires her. Instead, he tells her that he wants access to her email. Because Faye was locked out of her account days earlier, he has not been able to access it. He tells her that once he obtains the required security questions, he wants her to tell him the answers so that he can log in. Faye is more confused than ever about why Henry is holding her captive. When she brings up the woman’s voice, he dismisses it as a dream and leaves, telling her this will all be over soon.

Alone in the cabin, Faye tries to make sense of Henry’s motivations. She wonders if he is trying to access her bank accounts through her email. She remains convinced that the woman’s voice was real, believing Henry’s forceful denial is proof he is hiding something. She watches from the window as Henry gets into the boat and motors away, presumably toward the shore (he needs to get closer to the shore whenever he wants Wi-Fi or cell service). Faye notices that the window is not sealed securely, offering the possibility of escape.

Faye escapes the cabin by prying open the window frame. She runs through the woods to the nearby clubhouse (a communal space that the various houses and cabins on the island can access). She recalls that the clubhouse has a landline she can use to call for help. She is stunned to find Campbell inside the clubhouse. He claims he came to the island to check on drainage pipes for PT’s property. Faye hastily tells Campbell that Henry has abducted her and has been holding her captive; she shares her theory that he wants revenge for the humiliating television episode. She tells Campbell that they need to flee immediately: Henry will be back soon and if he sees Campbell’s boat docked near the clubhouse, he’ll know that someone else is on the island. 

To Faye’s surprise, Campbell makes an excuse about why they can’t leave immediately. Faye begins to become suspicious but clings to the hope that Campbell will help her. She becomes even more alarmed when Campbell begins pressuring her to log in to her email on the office computer. Anxious and confused about “why my email matters so God damn much” (128), Faye logs in. Once she is logged in, Campbell finds the email with Emma’s script (which Faye has not yet read) and deletes it. 

Realizing she’s in danger, Faye stabs Campbell with a pen. She tries to flee the house, but he pursues her and tries to strike her with a heavy stone. Understanding that he is attempting to kill her, Faye grabs the stone and hits him in the head, killing him. Faye looks up and sees Henry standing nearby. She turns and runs.

Faye runs back inside the clubhouse, with Henry following. She rushes to the third floor and locks herself in a game room, but Henry begins to break down the door. Desperate, Faye discovers a hidden door behind a chair that leads to a chimney. She attempts to climb the chimney but just as she begins her ascent, Henry smashes through the door, grabs her ankle, and yanks her back down.