Cassia wanders off to the bathroom to collect herself. Just outside, she runs into Ellis and asks him about the different plantings he chose, particularly intrigued by a tree growing over the open-air restroom. While talking about the tree, Ellis expresses his sustained feelings for Cassia, and they end up kissing until they hear a toilet flush. Daniel appears, immediately noticing Cassia’s lipstick on Ellis.

Daniel punches Ellis in the face. A brawl ensues, which Cassia tries to stop by yelling at the men. Finally, Marcella and Ellis’s parents appear, and the men back off. Cassia begs Daniel for forgiveness, insisting that the kiss meant nothing. Ellis is visibly hurt. The scene breaks up. Cassia gets Ellis alone again, and he professes his love, admitting that he has never been okay with her and Daniel’s relationship and has never understood why their age gap meant so much to her.

Marcella drives Cassia home. They talk about what happened, and Marcella encourages Cassia to follow her heart. Sunny arrives, interrupting the conversation. After Marcella heads out, Sunny says that she and Cassia need to talk.

Sunny explains that Evette’s husband and Cassia’s father, Matthew, was in fact Evette’s fated. Evette didn’t want to be with him when they met in art school because she knew that he was her fated. She resented Halmoni for reading her face. Despite her resistance, she and Matthew ended up together, but she got pregnant not long afterward, and fatherhood was too much for Matthew. Halmoni and the family didn’t want Cassia to know the truth because they were shocked that Matthew could leave Evette despite their destiny. She also reveals that she is still in touch with Matthew and gives Cassia his information so that they can be in touch. Before leaving, she shows Cassia a piece of paper stitched with Matthew’s name in black thread. The red thread turned black when Matthew left.

Cassia makes the impulsive decision to fly to Detroit to meet Matthew. Her mind races with questions on her trip there.

Cassia shows up on Matthew’s doorstep. He immediately recognizes her and invites her in, revealing that he remarried (to a woman named Rachel) but hasn’t had any more children. Cassia admits that she came here after learning the truth about his and Evette’s relationship from Sunny. When Matthew asserts that this is “so like them” (289), Cassia becomes defensive but admits that she wants his side of the story.

Matthew tells Cassia the story of his and Evette’s relationship. He was smitten with Evette when they met in school. He persisted even after Evette gave him the cold shoulder, and soon they started dating. He admits that he was surprised when Evette got pregnant and wasn’t ready to be a father. However, he always loved Evette, and he has cared about Cassia all these years, even if he couldn’t be there for her. He explains that while he and Evette were fated, he never believed in destiny the way Evette’s family did. He then notices that Cassia needs rest and insists that she stay with him and Rachel. Cassia gives in, settling into the guest room for a nap.

Cassia wakes up to find Rachel in the kitchen. They drink wine and chat until Matthew returns with takeout. Rachel gives the two some space, and they continue their conversation. Matthew asks about Cassia’s love life, and she opens up about Daniel and her confused feelings, including her longstanding belief that she’d end up like Evette if she rejected her fate. She also admits that she is afraid: If she doesn’t stay with Daniel, she won’t know what the future holds. Matthew suggests that there could be excitement in that kind of life, too.

Cassia calls Marcella as soon as she returns home. It’s late, and Marcella is still at the restaurant managing renovations. Cassia heads over to the restaurant, where she and Marcella drink wine and chat about everything that’s happened. Cassia admits that she wants to let Matthew into her life but wants to figure out her feelings for Daniel and Ellis first. Marcella urges her to talk to her family, too.

Cassia texts Daniel an apology, and they make plans to meet up. That night, they take a drive and talk. Cassia apologizes again for what happened with Ellis. She stresses how meaningful their relationship was, even if she can’t be with him. Daniel is forgiving.

Cassia wakes up in the middle of the night to her house shaking. Then, she gets several alerts on her phone, reporting an earthquake. She panics, terrified about the office. She calls the fire department and heads to the site, devastated when she sees the office in flames. She expresses her desperation to a fireman, who agrees to let her inside once the fire is quelled. Cassia is overcome by emotion when she sees all of her family’s ruined heirlooms. Before leaving, she finds the paper with Daniel’s name, discovering that the red thread has turned black.

Cassia drives to her grandparents’, realizing all that is ahead of her. Inside, she confronts her family regarding all she has learned about Matthew. Her grandparents get upset. Halmoni insists that they couldn’t tell her the truth because they didn’t want to lose her, too. Halmoni has always blamed herself for Evette’s death, convinced that if she had let Evette make her own path, she would have been happier. They also explain that Matthew’s abandonment was a flaw in their system that they couldn’t reconcile. Cassia expresses her feelings, insisting that all of this is wrong. She admits that she met Matthew and says that she wants her grandparents to let go of their anger with him. Sunny and Emoni are in tears.

Cassia continues talking to her family, admitting that she ended things with Daniel because she wants to be with Ellis. Then she explains that she has to go so that she can talk to him immediately. Cassia drives to Ellis’s office, and the two step outside to talk. In an alley, Cassia tells Ellis everything: about past lives, face-reading, Matthew, Daniel being her fated, and her desire to be with Ellis. She professes her love, too. An overwhelmed Ellis thanks her for the information but says that he needs time to process.

Over the following weeks, Cassia devotes herself to rebuilding the business after the fire. It takes time to renovate the building. When the team returns to work, Halmoni officially announces her retirement and appoints Cassia the new president. Afterward, Cassia tours the new office, which she redesigned with Ellis’s help. Up on the roof, she finds a feathery cassia with a figure of Betty and a commemorative plaque for Evette.

Cassia attends Marcella’s restaurant opening, where she ends up sitting next to Ellis. He explains that her family invited him and that he was initially hesitant to attend but changed his mind. He catches Cassia up on his life, revealing that he started his own landscaping firm. He attributes his inspiration to her.

Eventually, Cassia and Ellis leave together. They head to the office, and Ellis gives her a tour of his designs and plantings. Near the feathery cassia, Ellis expresses his love for Cassia and apologizes for his frustration over Daniel. These past weeks, he had doubts over whether they should be together, but he can’t get over his love for her. Cassia professes her love, too, listing everything she loves about Ellis.

A year later, Cassia and Ellis are living together. On Cassia’s birthday, she gets a call from the fertility clinic about scheduling an appointment for egg-implantation. Afterward, Cassia and Ellis celebrate the news and call Marcella. Then, the couple hosts Cassia’s interns for dinner. Studying the table, Cassia feels Evette’s presence and is thankful for her love.

The narrative shifts into the third person and depicts one of Cassia’s past lives. Here, she is a young girl living in a provincial home. A young man passes by to see her, often watching her riding her horse. One day, the two end up interacting and falling into the water. They laugh at the incident before parting ways. She gets the sense that the young man will always be with her.