The novel flashes back to Gabriel and Frida’s time in the cult. They are at their morning lessons. Émile writes books and authors web seminars, and they are being lectured on one of his foundational texts. Gabriel looks pale, and when they rise to go to the cafeteria, Frida notices he can barely walk. Gabriel tells her that he feels like someone hit his head with something heavy. Mealtimes are supposed to be silent affairs characterized by quiet gratitude, but Frida wonders if she should say something to one of the mothers. Gabriel stumbles on his way to the table, looks extremely ill, and then gets up with a clatter. When he lurches toward the door, several mothers and Émile observe him angrily. One of the mothers tries to stop him, but he vomits and is taken away. Émile looks furious. At that moment, something breaks inside of Frida. Illnesses in the cult are usually treated with well wishes only. Injuries are not properly cared for. Suddenly, Frida realizes how wrong all this is, and she wants to scream. Later, she finds Gabriel and tells him that they have to leave. She is sure that in the outside world, there are medications that can treat whatever is wrong with Gabriel.

At their hotel in the present timeline, Gabriel and Frida are at the pool. Frida paid for their hotel stay as she makes more money than Gabriel. He loves his job, and she loves hers, but she went into a more lucrative field. She was a financial analyst until the news story about Annie broke. She made the mistake of giving an interview, and after her coworkers and supervisor saw it, she ended up leaving her firm. Frida hates to be the center of attention, and she could not stand being gossiped about. Still, she loved the rhythm of the work and became a day trader. Now, she puts in long days but is rewarded by a comfortable salary.

After she and Gabriel drifted apart, she tried to fill her life with other people and activities. She got a dog, took up rock climbing and pottery, and bought a convertible. She enjoys driving around rural New York, taking in the sights. Still, nothing has been able to erase her anxiety. Now, sitting by the pool, she has a panic attack. Gabriel eases her out of it, and she notices the police officer, Detective Harris, watching them.

In a flashback, Frida recalls creeping into Émile’s office in the middle of the night. She is surprised to find it unlocked but then realizes that he trusts them because he has absolute control over his subjects. Frida is looking for money to pay for medication to treat Gabriel once they are on the outside. She finds a wooden box with some loose bills inside. One of them contains the imprint of a women’s lips in red lipstick. Fascinated, she pockets this bill. The rest—what she would later come to realize was about $40—she tucks away, planning to spend it on medication.

Suddenly, Frida hears footsteps, and Émile enters. In a panic, she explains that she was looking for him because she wanted to know more about one of his recent sermons. Looking at her intently, he begins to spout a “word salad” that Frida realizes is largely nonsense. It dawns on her in that moment that Émile himself doesn’t pay much attention to the actual content of his “teachings.” He tells her that he will begin instructing her privately before assembly. Frida doesn’t care: She thinks that now that she has the money, she and Gabriel can leave.

Back in the present timeline, Frida worries about an injured coyote near the hotel. She calls a local wildlife rehabilitation center, and they tell her that they will send someone to help it. Still, she brings water and food to its den whenever she can get a moment away from Gabriel. She remembers one time during her childhood when a coyote appeared on the grounds of the cult’s property. It was the talk of the entire group until it disappeared. It was the closest thing to a pet that she ever had.

William returns to the hotel, and Frida is stunned. She is sure that he is guilty and feels a mixture of fear and anger that the police would release him so quickly. She and Gabriel whisper about his presence at dinner and then notice him move in his chair to take a selfie at a strange angle. They both wonder if he was photographing them in the background. At night in their room, Frida and Gabriel link their fingers together just before bed—a goodnight gesture left over from childhood. After Émile died, they got confirmation that they were not biological siblings. They even found out their parents’ names. In the press, there was speculation about the nature of their relationship, but there was no truth to the insinuations. All they’d wanted from each other was family.

Just as Gabriel and Frida are checking out, Detective Harris asks all the guests to gather in the dining room. He explains that Sabrina is now the subject of a murder investigation and asks that everyone remain at the hotel so they can be interviewed. His tone is relaxed, but the look in his eyes is not. Reluctantly, Gabriel and Frida head back to their room.

Frida does some digging and finds out that William owns the tabloids that published the most accusatory pieces about Gabriel in the months following Annie’s death. They christened Gabriel the “shady hubby” (97). Years before, one of William’s tabloids had dubbed Émile the “sicko Svengali” (97). Frida is sure now that William took a clandestine photo of her with Gabriel while he was taking what appeared to be a selfie. He must have recognized Gabriel from his own media coverage.

Frida decides that she needs some air, but on her way out she runs into Detective Harris. He asks to interview her and her brother, and she realizes that he, too, must have done some digging. She and Gabriel are not, after all, biologically related. In order to have come up with that fact, he must have learned exactly who they are.

In a flashback to their time in the cult, Gabriel and Frida sneak out of the compound for the first time. They stay in town only a few minutes before returning. Frida feels alive for the first time. Afterward, she begins her lessons with Émile. Although he does talk, he mostly asks her to help him with administrative tasks in his office. She is nervous when he tasks her with finding typos in his writing, but she is pleased when he seems happy rather than angry when she points them out. Her favorite job, however, is accounting. The number patterns are easy to identify, and the work does not require self-reflection or the “radical” honesty that Émile preaches. Numbers are either correct or not, and Frida likes this. The others notice her new role. Some respect her more because she has garnered their leader’s favor. Others, like 19-year-old Edwina, bully her because of it. Meanwhile, Émile discovers the missing money, but he blames one of the mothers instead of Frida, and she is relieved.

Frida does not want Detective Harris to interview Gabriel without her present, but the two sit on the patio to talk and she eavesdrops. Detective Harris asks about the night of the murder, and Gabriel tells him that he did not leave the table during their meal. This is untrue: He got up briefly to get a sweater. The detective then asks if Gabriel ever interacted with Sabrina, and Gabriel replies that he did not. Frida realizes that this is also untrue. They met briefly, and Frida recalls how strange she thought it was that Gabriel briefly grabbed Sabrina’s hand, and Sabrina did not pull away. Gabriel had smiled broadly in a way that Frida had not seen him do since Annie died. She cannot figure out if he is omitting details or if he has forgotten them.

In a flashback to the past, Gabriel and Frida sneak out of the cult’s quarters more and more often, staying out longer each time. They find a pharmacy in town, and Frida explains Gabriel’s headaches to the man behind the counter. They leave with a bottle of pills, thrilled to have done something so “normal.”