On the drive home, Roy refuses to believe Jodie’s account of the incident with Phillip and continues to verbally abuse her, accusing her of trying to sell herself. Later that night, they have sex, during which Roy chokes her. When she fights him off, he claims he thought she would enjoy it. Jodie accuses him of having killed Deborah in the same manner, which enrages him.

The next morning, Jodie notices new changes to her face, including swelling under one eye and a scar-like line near her lip. She realizes with horror that Roy is disfiguring her face just as she suspects he did to Deborah. 

Jodie thanks Marie for corroborating her account of finding the office key. Marie responds by announcing she is taking the day off and having a massage, which she expects Jodie to pay for. Understanding that this is the price of Marie’s help, Jodie gives her the money. She also questions Marie, asking if Roy was doing things to Deborah’s face before she died. Marie denies knowing anything but reveals a critical detail: Roy gave her a full week off around the time of Deborah’s death, not just the single day he claimed. Jodie concludes that Roy sent Marie away so there would be no witnesses to his abuse.

Determined to learn more, Jodie bakes a lemon tart and uses it as an excuse to visit Meredith. She asks Meredith about a previous comment she had made about not having seen Deborah “at the end” (162). Meredith admits that about a week before Deborah died, she caught a glimpse of her through a window and was shocked to see that she looked disheveled and “older.” Roy quickly intercepted Meredith, claiming Deborah was resting.

Meredith reveals that Roy had told their social circle that Deborah was “mad” and was “doing terrible things to herself” (163). Expressing her own dislike for Deborah, whom she considered weak, Meredith defends Roy as a “saint” who was burdened by his wife. The conversation ends with Meredith telling Jodie that Roy never looks at her with the same love he showed Deborah.

Jodie returns home, now certain that Roy was abusing Deborah. Knowing Marie is preparing a roast chicken for dinner, Jodie secretly turns the oven down to ruin the meal. She then takes Roy a drink in his office. As always, he instructs her to turn away when he opens his safe. Jodie uses a compact mirror to secretly observe the combination: 586413.

At dinner, the chicken is raw, and Roy is displeased with Marie. Jodie seizes the opportunity to present a beef casserole she had previously prepared, successfully undermining the housekeeper, who gives Jodie a look of pure hatred.

That night, Jodie waits for Roy to fall asleep before sneaking into his office. The safe combination she observed, 586413, fails twice. Believing she has only one attempt left before the safe locks, she tries 586473—swapping the fifth digit—and the safe opens. Inside are patient files, each containing a USB drive with recorded therapy sessions. At the bottom of the safe, she finds a loose USB drive.

Jodie plays the drive on Roy’s computer and is horrified to see a video of Deborah. In the recording, Deborah is imprisoned in a dim, unfamiliar room. Her face is swollen and looks much older. An off-camera Roy accuses her of self-harm and fabricating her symptoms, diagnosing “factitious disorder.” He also accuses her of having an affair with their gardener. Deborah, distraught, begs to be released, but Roy refuses, claiming he is trying to help her. She threatens to expose him as a monster, and the video cuts out.

Jodie hears a noise in the house and, in a panic, slams the laptop shut, accidentally dropping the USB drive. She bolts to the safe and slams the door, but it bounces open. Unable to recall the code, she punches in random digits; the safe whirs and locks. Investigating the noise, she finds a kitchen cupboard ajar and discovers that the jar of cookies from Deborah’s special shelf is empty.

Jodie suspects that Marie roams the house at night and lied about being diabetic. She decides it is too risky to search for the lost USB drive. Overwhelmed with grief for her sister, she devises a plan to take the drive and Veronica’s letter to the police. However, she fears that her true identity and criminal record will be exposed, allowing Roy to manipulate the situation and frame her.

Deciding she needs an intermediary, Jodie texts Erin and arranges to meet. She examines her own face in the mirror, increasingly worried about the disfiguring marks Roy is inflicting upon her.

The next morning, Jodie’s search for the USB drive is complicated when she discovers Roy is working from home. She justifies entering his office by asking to read one of his books. He gives her “Unlock: How to Change Your Thoughts and Release Your Best Self.” 

Jodie panics when Marie begins vacuuming the office, convinced the small drive will be sucked up. She tries to stop the housekeeper, leading to a struggle over the vacuum cleaner. Roy intervenes, calls Jodie’s behavior “ridiculous,” and forces her to leave while Marie finishes cleaning.

Later, after confirming the drive is not in the office, Jodie bribes Marie with $600 for a facial to get her out of the house. She then retrieves the vacuum bag, takes it outside, and meticulously sifts through its contents, but the drive is not there. As she cleans up, she notices Meredith watching her from a window next door. With her primary evidence gone, Jodie resolves that her meeting with Erin is now more critical than ever.

Jodie meets Erin at the café and reveals that Roy murdered her sister, Deborah. Jodie confesses that she served time in prison and changed her name after her release. She recounts how her former boyfriend, Beau, killed a man while driving drunk and convinced her to take the blame, leading to her conviction for manslaughter. 

Jodie lays out her case against Roy, citing the unlikelihood of Deborah’s suicide, his affair with a woman named Veronica, and the lack of a prenuptial agreement. She then tells Erin about the video she found in the safe, describing how Roy gaslit and abused a disfigured Deborah. When she admits she lost the USB drive, Erin becomes skeptical. Desperate to be believed, Jodie frantically rubs her own face raw to show Erin the marks Roy has been inflicting on her. Erin tells her she is “sounding crazy” (198), suggests she seek professional help, and leaves abruptly. Feeling abandoned and out of options, Jodie concludes that she must kill Roy.

When Jodie returns home, she discovers Roy has changed the front door code, locking her out. Marie lets her in. Determined to follow through on her decision, Jodie goes to Roy’s office, retrieves the rifle from its cabinet, and loads it. She plans to wait for Roy and shoot him the moment he opens the door. However, she quickly realizes the futility of her plan. Shooting Roy would mean a quick, painless death for him while guaranteeing she would spend the rest of her life in prison. She puts the rifle away and goes to her room to rest.

Jodie wakes in the evening to the sound of Roy in his office, speaking lovingly on the phone to a woman he calls “darling” (204). While eavesdropping at the keyhole, Jodie is approached by Marie, who asks her for the night off. After granting it, Jodie continues listening and hears Roy plan to visit Vee later that night. He confesses he made a “terrible mistake” and promises to make things right.

Realizing Roy’s former mistress, Veronica, is back, Jodie plans to confront her. To get Veronica’s address, she decides to drug Roy and access his phone. Unable to find Ambien, she searches Marie’s quarters and takes a handful of sleeping pills from an unopened bottle. While there, she notices photos of Marie and Deborah together, appearing to be close friends.

Curiosity leads Jodie to a locked attic room that Roy had dismissed as storage. Inside, she finds a small, whitewashed room with a single bed and a wooden chair—the same room where Roy imprisoned and videoed Deborah.

Jodie crushes five sleeping pills into a half-bottle of red wine and serves it to Roy at dinner. He drinks it without suspicion and soon falls asleep in an armchair, a book on his lap. Jodie uses his sleeping face to unlock his phone with facial recognition. She finds Veronica’s address in Sherman Oaks and, posing as Roy, texts her to arrange a visit in half an hour. She then deletes the messages.

Jodie disguises herself in Roy’s jacket, baseball cap, and sunglasses, and takes the keys to his Lexus. For emotional leverage, she also brings her wedding album. When she arrives at the address, a woman emerges from the house and calls out, “Roy?” Jodie removes her sunglasses and is stunned to see that the woman is Erin.