In a flashback to two years earlier, Demi is with her sister, Layla. They are imprisoned in unsanitary conditions, and Layla is comforting Demi when she can’t sleep. The man holding them in Nashville is Trent, the head of a human-trafficking ring. He has repeatedly raped Layla but hasn’t assaulted Demi. Demi recalls watching movies through a crack in their cage, especially Titanic, with Layla. Neighbors play music, so Demi comes to dislike music because she associates it with being imprisoned.

One day, Layla tells Demi to run away to Charlotte and offers a distraction. When Demi gets to Layla, she has been severely assaulted and is near death. She begs Demi to kill her with a knife. Demi thinks about calling the police, but Trent is a police officer. She refuses to kill Layla until Layla begs her to do it, using her nickname. Then, Demi stabs her sister repeatedly to end the pain.

Back in the present moment, Demi lies in bed, still wondering how Conrad knows her nickname. She eventually falls asleep and remains so until her alarm goes off. Bradley arrives after Demi has gotten ready and hugs her. He admits that he was concerned about her after her reckless action of calling the police. Bradley says that she is supposed to help feed the women today and then clean Ian’s office. In the first cage, Demi drops a fork. This causes the woman to giggle and smile. Demi concludes that she has been deprived of noise and color.

Bradley pulls Demi out of the room and chastises her for making noise. Demi points out that the women are enduring sensory deprivation. Bradley gets a text and tells Demi to go to the next cage alone. There, the woman says hello and asserts that “[i]t’s safe” (222). In the next cage, Demi recognizes the woman as the person who mouthed the word “run” to her earlier. However, she doesn’t acknowledge Demi as she carefully serves the white food. Bradley comes into the room and tells the woman that he loves her and calls her his sister. Demi believes that Bradley is at the Ivory Estate to look out for his sister.

Bradley kisses his sister on the cheek before he goes into the hall with Demi. He says that his sister is “someone’s favorite girl” (226), while Demi is “[t]heir favorite girl” (226). Bradley won’t specify who is included in the pronoun “their.” He says that they have to plan his sister’s wedding. Demi says that they should escape with her, and Bradley says that there is no escape. He also teases Demi about her first kiss being with Conrad.

Bradley takes Demi to meet with Ian, Daphne, Conrad, and a client of theirs named Mason Davenport. Ian tells Demi that she should help Mason select a product, that is, a woman they are selling, from a binder. Demi is appalled by this, but Bradley warns her not to react. Mason selects Bradley’s sister, amazed that he finally got off the waitlist, and Ian reminds him that the marriage must be consummated, and the woman’s “virginity” taken, at the Ivory Estate. Mason selects the color of contacts, hairstyle, and lingerie for his bride-to-be. Ian makes Bradley commend the latter choice. The “white-therapy,” Ian claims, makes the women completely submissive. Demi is shocked that Conrad doesn’t respond to this transaction. Daphne says that the wedding will take place the next day.

Bradley walks Demi back to her room. She invites him in, and they talk about his sister, Daisy. He claims that he came to work at the estate after they obtained Daisy from Trent Smith, Ian’s supplier in Tennessee. Demi realizes that this is the same man who bought Demi and her sister. She also realizes that she was set up to come to the Ivory Estate after Bradley reveals that Raina works for the Ivory family. Bradley explains that the “white-torture” is abusive and that Demi is the first one to not be subjected to it in many years (236). Next, Bradley shares that the price for a woman is in the millions.

Then, Bradley reveals that Conrad picked Demi out from another binder full of women; she is his favorite girl. Bradley admits that he wears green contacts over his brown eyes and bleaches his hair to fit the Ivory aesthetic. As Bradley warns Demi that she will be tortured if she doesn’t marry Conrad, Conrad appears. He tells Bradley to leave, and Bradley does.

Demi shares that she knows Conrad picked her out from a binder, and Conrad gets upset at Bradley. He demands to know if Demi slept with Bradley. Conrad starts to sexually assault Demi, demanding to see the blood of her broken hymen, but he changes his mind and stops. He says that he’ll wait until after they are married and asserts that they will be married the following day instead of Mason and Daisy. If Demi doesn’t marry him, Conrad will torture and murder Bradley and Daisy. As Conrad leaves, Demi decides to go through with the wedding, as she cares for the brother and sister.

In the morning, Demi ignores her alarm clock. Becca comes in to wake her and says that today is her wedding day. Demi dry heaves in the bathroom, and Ian is behind her when she looks in the mirror. He calls her his “bird” and says that he’s delayed the wedding. Her task that day is to plant a peony bush in the garden with Conrad. Ian forces Demi to sit on his lap and tells her the myth of Paeonia being turned into a peony flower. He kisses her neck, ears, and mouth, while saying that Conrad will share her with him. Ian pins her on the bed and takes off his pants. He threatens to kill Bradley if Demi looks away, so she is forced to watch him masturbate. He ejaculates into a pair of her panties and shoves them into her mouth, and Demi vomits. Ian then tells her to clean up her mess and leaves.

Demi brushes her teeth, showers, and forces herself to vomit again. Becca comes back in and says that the Ivory family will hurt her if she doesn’t get Demi ready for her date in the garden. Demi allows Becca to do her hair and makeup and then pick out a sundress for Demi to wear. In the garden, Conrad is waiting at a table. Bradley serves them wine infused with peonies. Conrad says that he hopes to conceive on their wedding night. He plans to have Demi stay at the Ivory Estate while he finishes his medical degree. Then, Conrad hints that the women who are weak end up “fertilizing [their] soil” (253), alluding to the bone garden, but Demi doesn’t realize this yet.

When Bradley objects to Demi having a second glass of wine, Conrad calls him a “bastard,” foreshadowing that Bradley is a member of the Ivory family. Bradley pours the glass, Demi drinks it, and Bradley puts out a blanket in the garden for her. Conrad tells Demi to sit on the blanket and dig the hole. As Demi digs, she discovers a human finger in the ground. She passes out from shock.

Demi wakes up in bed the next day and wonders if there is a way to die by suicide. Bradley comes in and says that Demi needs to clean Ian’s office before preparing for Daisy’s wedding. Bradley steps out while Demi gets ready, and they go to the office together. There, Bradley admits that the job was just a way to get Demi to the estate; they have a cleaning staff. Ian and his associates just enjoy watching Demi clean on the cameras. Bradley gestures to one, and Demi starts cleaning. She suspects that the wall is made from bones that don’t end up in the bone garden, from the women they couldn’t make submit. Bradley won’t confirm this.

After they leave the office, they see Daphne in the hallway. She is wearing one of the wigs that Demi brushed, and she commands Demi to have Becca fix her hair and makeup for the wedding. When Daphne orders Bradley away, Demi calls after him. Daphne calls Demi a “silly whore” and threatens violence if they don’t see her bleed from sex on her wedding night (261). Then, Daphne walks Demi to Becca. Becca is excited about the wedding, and Demi says that the bride is being forced to marry, so Becca shouldn’t be happy. Becca says that there’s no use in fighting because no one will come to save them. Demi is surprised by this admission.

Conrad comes in as Becca leaves. He apologizes for scaring Demi in the garden, pins her against a wall, and kisses her neck and ear, like his father. Then, Bradley arrives and escorts them to a large room with wedding decorations. Conrad, Bradley, and Demi sit next to Ian and Daphne. The rest of the audience fills with old men holding binders. Conrad explains that the men are their “most elite buyers” (267). The caged girls are dressed up as bridesmaids and file in. The men ogle them. Mason enters, and Ian joins him under an arch, ready to officiate. Daphne tells Bradley to get Daisy, and he walks her down the aisle. At Ian’s prompting, Bradley gives Daisy away. She smiles throughout all of this. In the pew, Bradley cries a few tears, and Demi secretly holds his hand.

After the wedding, the bride and groom go to the “holy room” to consummate the marriage in front of an audience (272). There is a glass wall between the bed and the audience. Demi objects to them making her and Bradley watch. Conrad slaps her so hard that she falls and then kicks her. Bradley punches Conrad, and Daphne forces them apart. Conrad says that he has a wedding gift to arrange with Mason and goes into another room. Demi cries, and Daphne threatens to put her in a cage.

The lights are dimmed, and Ian sets up a camera on the bed. A server brings around popcorn and candy. Demi used to dream about going to the movies and only was able to eat a dirty piece of candy when she was imprisoned by Trent. She is angry at her parents for selling her and her sister. While Ian and Daphne are talking to each other, Demi whispers to Bradley that he should pretend that they are just watching a movie. He says that his favorite movie is Titanic, and Demi tells him that it is one of the few movies she’s seen. They joke about there being room for Jack on the raft.

Ian announces that the action is about to begin and asks the audience to quiet down. He has cameras all over the room streaming to his phone, and he threatens to harm anyone who looks away or closes their eyes. Conrad leads Daisy into the room on a dog leash and collar. Bradley stands to leave, but Demi convinces him to sit back down and watch while thinking about Titanic. Mason has sex with Daisy on top of a white towel, ranting about “taking her virginity.” When he finishes, he shows the audience the blood-stained towel.

Conrad then begins undressing near the bed. Demi objects to Ian and Daphne. They shush her, and Ian says that she should have spent some time in the cages. Conrad tells Demi that this is a preview and has sex with Daisy. Mason eats and watches. Demi throws up in a popcorn container. She asks Bradley to leave, but he refuses to move, and an audience member tells her to shut up. Bradley tells Demi to calm down. Daisy’s cries remind Demi of her sister’s cries.