Two weeks after her mother’s death, Catharine has avoided Linna, who interprets the distance as grief rather than the rage it actually is. Catharine hid the bag of money and documents in a secret compartment beneath the stage floor, a spot she and Linna had used as children to stash small treasures. Though her anger is largely directed at her mother for secretly planning to leave her, Catharine keeps this from everyone.

At the funeral, her father delivers a eulogy that omits their divorce entirely, framing their relationship as unbroken. Afterward, Linna approaches Catharine for the first time since the death, apologizes for her silence, and asks if they can spend time together in the treehouse. Catharine agrees. Left alone at the gravesite, she listens to her father philosophize about death and weakness, implying that her mother’s doubts made her vulnerable. Catharine privately realizes that he doesn’t know how far her mother’s plans had progressed, and a fierce, involuntary protectiveness stops her from revealing the money.

Her father then praises Catharine, calling “doubt” a spreading “sickness” and insisting that she report any to him. Internally, she decides to give him the money after she meets with Linna. He carelessly walks across the gravesite as he leaves; Catharine covers his footprint with the last shovelful of dirt.

Catharine tells Holly that she remembers her now and then bluntly states that her father told them Holly had died. Holly confirms this without surprise. When Catharine asks whether Holly simply abandoned them after the car accident, Holly responds that there was never an accident. Reese turns on his recorder as the conversation begins in earnest.

Catharine feels used since Reese let her believe that she was meeting her sister, but she resolves to question Holly on Linna’s behalf. Holly notes that Catharine strongly resembles her father. Catharine replies that Holly resembles Linna, which brings Holly to tears; she realizes that Catharine is the only one in the room who knew Linna as a young adult. Catharine is struck by the understanding that they’re both searching for the same person.

Holly begins her account. At 19, she was a single mother working at a health-food store when Catharine’s father began coming in regularly. After nearly a year, he invited Holly and Linna to the farm, having convinced her that life there would be easier. Holly mentions that she and Catharine’s mother were close friends during those years—something Catharine can’t reconcile with her own memories. Holly reflects that the two women worked hard to shield the girls from anything difficult, but in doing so, they learned to hide the bad things from themselves as well.

On the night of the funeral, Catharine walks to the treehouse and finds Linna sitting on the bare floor surrounded by the bag’s contents. Linna reveals that the bag holds $20,000. After Lisa died, she watched Catharine hide the bag in the stage and took it herself, afraid that Catharine’s father would find it.

Catharine lashes out, insisting that the bag was her mother’s plan to abandon her. Linna disagrees, spreading out the documents to show that Catharine’s name appears on several of them—including a truck registration transferred into her name shortly after she got her license. Linna argues that Lisa was trying to protect Catharine, not escape from her. Catharine remains unpersuaded, still shaped by her father’s words at the grave.

She tells Linna to take the money and go wherever she and Kent want. When Linna quietly reveals that she wants to go “somewhere cold. With seasons. Snow” (203), Catharine suppresses the instinctive pull she feels toward the same dream. She instead echoes her father’s language, accusing Linna of not being built for farm life. Linna pushes back, telling Catharine that their father wants her to believe the farm is what makes her “special.” She reminds her that Catharine was there for her when her own mother died. Catharine insists that she will hand everything over to her father. Linna warns that doing so will destroy his trust in her and trap her on the farm permanently. Exhausted, Catharine agrees to wait a month. They sit in silence until Linna says she no longer wants to be constantly “hungry” for “[l]ife, food. Any of it” (205).

Back in the conference room, Catharine challenges Holly directly, questioning how bad things could have been if she married Catharine’s father and allowed him to adopt Linna. Holly explains that she rationalized the discomfort of farm life as proof that real change was happening and adds that Catharine’s deep attachment to the farm made it harder for Lisa to leave.

Holly describes how Catharine’s father grew threatened by two of the farm’s most devoted early members and expresses bitter shame at having participated in his dietary experiments. She went nearly a month without a real meal before she left. Catharine struggles to reconcile this with her own memories.

When Catharine asks if Holly is a writer, Holly laughs and says no—her extensive journaling was for personal “processing.” She’s a massage therapist now, based in Austin. This collapses Catharine’s long-held theory that Linna was the author Marion Earl. Holly mentions that Reese told her Catharine wasn’t ready to meet yet, confirming that he misled both women. Holly quietly says that she would understand if Catharine has been protecting Linna from her all this time. Feeling hurt by the comment, Catharine announces that she needs a break and walks out, eventually getting into bed fully dressed. She thinks about their session and concludes that regardless of outside influence, people must ultimately “live with the choices [they] make” (211).

Days after the funeral, Catharine’s father wakes her before dawn and leads her to his private cottage. The air conditioning, spotless white furniture, and walls of unread books strike Catharine as unsettlingly luxurious—she has never owned anything that isn’t worn and secondhand.

Her father comments on their physical resemblance and says that Catharine has an edge he can’t quite name, which makes her recoil slightly. He then pivots to the farm’s future, framing the problem of dissenters through an extended aphid metaphor: Just as an infestation must be eliminated before it spreads, so must doubt be dealt with systematically. He asks for her help and reminds her that it’s the two of them now.

He tells her that he can practically detect the doubt on someone—clearly meaning Linna—and waits for Catharine to confirm it. Instead, Catharine names Kent as the one who wants to leave, withholding everything she knows about Linna. Her father accepts this without question, and Catharine feels relief undercut by a faint sting of guilt. He thanks her, insisting that things will become better and calling her “little one” as he leaves.

The day after meeting Holly, Reese sends a series of texts that Catharine ignores, deliberately turning on her read receipts so that he knows. She reflects on how completely wrong she was about Holly’s identity and how her theory about Linna being Earl has now collapsed. She feels a creeping shame at having divided her childhood into a good period and a bad period, still insisting that some of it was innocent.

That night, Reese shows up at her apartment unannounced and slightly drunk, hoping to catch her off guard. Catharine lets him in and deliberately relaxes, allowing him to think he has the upper hand while she controls the interaction.

Reese explains that Holly contacted him two years ago after finding an article he had written on extremist groups. Holly’s account of serious abuse and a missing daughter convinced him to investigate. He tells Catharine that he eventually traveled to Florida to locate the farm property and then reveals that the land has long been abandoned and seized by the state—the entire site is now a Sam’s Club. Catharine absorbs the news without outwardly reacting.

Reese then confesses that he never actually read the book Lighthouse—he named it and called it “remarkable” solely to impress her. This small lie lands harder than everything else. He admits that he’s not himself around her and that the tension she created made it easier for him to detect when she was holding something back. He tells her that he can tell she’s “calculating” even now.

The night after Catharine informed on Kent, her father wakes her again before dawn. Catharine had spent the previous day in paranoid vigilance, watching Kent but convincing herself that whatever her father chose to do would be manageable. The announcement is simpler than she feared: a 10-day, water-only fast to purge the community’s doubt and weakness.

Catharine hesitates, recalling a previous five-day fast that left everyone too depleted to work and ruined a strawberry crop. Her father shuts down her resistance, arguing that difficulty is the entire point. She agrees and sets aside her fear by imagining the pride she will feel afterward.

At dinner, Linna notices Catharine’s strange behavior. Before she can press further, Catharine’s father mounts the stage—something he has not done in years—and announces that Kent chose to leave after being confronted about his desire for outside life. He winks at Catharine as he names Kent, making her role visible to her alone. He then states aloud that Catharine came to him with concerns about the community’s commitment, exposing her in front of everyone. Every person in the room turns to look at her.

He brings out a scale and sets it on the stage, declaring that “[c]ommitment is nothing without accountability” (238), and looks directly at Linna. Catharine immediately volunteers to go first, hoping to deflect his attention. He praises her and lets her proceed. Her father announces her weight aloud and remarks that there is “[a]lways room for improvement” (239). Looking down from the stage, she sees a single tear run down Linna’s face.