At home, Emmett gives his phone to Lizette to escape the online hate. Shortly after, a police detective calls Lizette and asks her to come to the station. 

Aaron then arrives at the apartment, enraged that Emmett used a weight-loss drug, which he feels has humiliated him. He calls Emmett a “fucking monster” and fires him. The insult triggers a physical reaction in Emmett; his body begins to expand, tearing his clothes. He attacks Aaron, dislocating his arm and crushing his windpipe. Overcome with a ravenous hunger, Emmett bites off Aaron’s tongue and eats it. After consuming it, his body shrinks back to its previous size, leaving Aaron maimed and cowering.

Emmett realizes that he has killed and partially eaten Aaron. In a panic, he dismembers the body with a meat cleaver and stuffs the remains into a large duffel bag. 

Lizette calls from the police station with urgent news: The police have found the bloody clothes that Emmett wore when he killed Justin, which they identified using the custom “GORDITA” tags she sewed into them. Dr. Saito from Monstera then calls, revealing that she knows he has killed four people. She tells Emmett that Monstera will help him and that a team is on its way. 

Soon after, a crime-scene sanitation crew arrives to clean up the evidence of Aaron’s murder. Dr. Saito appears moments later, instructing Emmett to bring the duffel bag containing Aaron’s remains.

While driving, Dr. Saito reveals that Monstera knew from its first trial phase that Obexity could cause violent blackouts, citing the case of Tanya Swygert, who killed her husband after taking the drug. Dr. Saito explains that Monstera has been using a contact in the police department, Assistant Chief Bautista, to cover up the murders linked to Emmett. When Emmett questions why she wouldn’t fix the deadly side effects, Dr. Saito unnervingly asks, “Who says I’m trying to fix them?” (295).

They arrive at a house in Rancho Peñasquitos that backs onto the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. Dr. Saito carries the duffel bag with Aaron’s remains to a fence and dumps the contents into the canyon, where coyotes immediately begin to devour them.

Inside the house, Dr. Saito reveals that the coyotes in the canyon were genetically modified by Monstera to be predatory toward humans, providing a convenient way to dispose of bodies. She confesses her true motive: revenge against a society that shamed her for her body. She explains that Monstera’s chief science officer, Dr. Cecil H. Smith, is unaware of her vengeful intentions.

Saito offers Emmett a deal: If he takes the fall for the murders, Monstera will fund an expert legal defense to get him acquitted on grounds of insanity and then provide him with money and a lifetime supply of Obexity. If he refuses, she threatens to use Monstera’s resources to ensure that he’s convicted. She leaves him with a briefcase containing two dozen Obexity injector pens. 

Alone, Emmett administers 12 of the injections before collapsing from an overdose.

Emmett awakens, emaciated after losing 24 pounds overnight. While exploring the house, which he learns belongs to Monstera’s chief science officer, Dr. Smith, he finds a locked desk drawer. After picking the lock, he discovers files on Monstera’s experiments, including a memo citing the Minnesota Starvation Experiment as a basis for Obexity’s development. 

In a bedroom, he finds a Book of Mormon inscribed “To Hank,” with the name “C. HENRY STAUDER” engraved on the back. Emmett realizes that Dr. Smith is his former stepfather, Hank.

This final health-journal entry begins with Emmett describing himself as feeling anxious, conflicted, and “liable to kill” (304), a state intensified by Dr. Saito’s revelations the previous night. He acknowledges that the choice she has offered is his alone but recoils from the thought of surrendering Obexity. He insists that his life before treatment was scarcely worth living and admits that Monstera now owns him. However, he has also discovered something that has allowed him to see all his experiences in a new light. He ends the entry promising to find and eat Hank alive.

Emmett calls Lizette for a ride, determined to see the original painting Portrait of a Man-eater, as a print of it was hanging in Hank’s house. Shortly after Lizette picks him up, Joanna calls to inform him that she has just landed at the San Diego airport; she came because she hadn’t heard from him. Emmett directs Lizette to drive him to the Museum of Us.

At the ticket desk, Emmett’s former coworker Ry is shocked by his gaunt appearance but allows him to enter. Emmett finds the painting and notices two important details he had previously missed: a plaque stating that the artwork was acquired through a donation from Cecil H. Smith, PhD, and a visible dab of sky-blue liquid that visually matches the Obexity serum in a vial depicted in the painting. He photographs the painting with its plaque and immediately posts it on Instagram.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Emmett confesses to murdering Aaron Wolfe, Justin Matthews, and Marco Jiménez, attributing his actions to the side effects of Obexity. He accuses Monstera BioSciences of knowingly covering up the drug’s dangers, even using genetically modified coyotes to dispose of evidence. 

Emmett reveals that the company’s lead scientist, Dr. Cecil H. Smith, is his abusive former stepfather, Hank Stauder. Emmett claims that Hank was previously fired from a medical institute for unauthorized human testing and theorizes that he was inspired by the story of Sir Percival Blount to create a drug that turns people into cannibals.

Immediately after Emmett’s confession goes live, his post is flooded with comments of disbelief and outrage. Lizette texts to tell him that Joanna has arrived; she asks with concern about Emmett’s shocking post. 

Hearing sirens, Emmett sees police cars pulling up to the museum. He tries to flee but is spotted by an officer as he nears the main entrance. He turns to run, only to find a side exit locked, trapping him inside the building.

Emmett escapes up a staircase leading to the California Tower, which is closed for renovations. He manages to slip through a locked security gate behind two maintenance workers, temporarily blocking the pursuing police. As he frantically climbs the tower stairs, the extreme stress and physical exertion trigger a reaction with the Obexity in his system. He begins to gain weight at an uncontrollable rate, causing his hoodie to burst at the seams.

Emmett collapses onto the tower’s viewing deck as he continues to grow. The police, led by Assistant Chief Bautista, corner him at gunpoint. 

Hank, appearing as Dr. Smith, arrives and orders the officers to lower their weapons. As Emmett backs away, he stumbles against a broken balcony railing, which gives way under his immense weight. Hank confirms that he created Obexity specifically for Emmett and offers him a deal: Retract the Instagram post and cooperate with Monstera’s plan to take the fall for the murders. Emmett furiously rejects the offer, embraces his monstrous form, and screams, “This is the true me!” (321), before charging at Hank. In response, the police open fire.

The police bullets pierce Emmett’s skin but fail to stop him. He throws Hank aside and attacks the officers. Bautista shoots Emmett three times in the chest, causing him to stumble backward over the edge of the balcony, grabbing Hank’s shirt as he goes. In midair, he lets go of Hank and plummets to the courtyard below. 

At the time of impact, his body is estimated to weigh between 750 and 800 pounds. He explodes on the ground, scattering gore across the area and onto onlookers, including his mother and Lizette.

The novel presents another excerpt from the investigative report prepared by the law firm Prentice & Darrow LLP for Monstera BioSciences, this time from Part 5 of the report, entitled “Conclusion.” The report concludes that the company bears no responsibility for the murders. The report attributes the killings to Emmett’s “inherent depravity and mental fragility” (329). 

As evidence of Emmett’s pre-existing cannibalistic tendencies, the report cites a childhood blog post in which Emmett described biting Hank and tasting his blood. The report dismisses Emmett’s public accusations, using negative comments on his Instagram post to cast doubt on his claims. 

The report also reveals that Hank Stauder survived the fall with two broken ankles, fractured ribs, and a concussion. The investigation officially finds Obexity safe and exonerates Monstera of any wrongdoing.

A letter from the FDA, dated April 29, 2025, is addressed to Dr. Jenni Saito. It states that the agency is overturning its initial decision and granting full approval for Obexity to be sold on the market. The letter explicitly credits the investigative report from Prentice & Darrow LLP for reassuring the administration of the drug’s safety. The document is signed by the new director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research: Cecil H. Smith, PhD.