Cameron surprises Adalyn with a stargazing date in the woods. During their walk, Adalyn asks Cameron about his future, and he admits he doesn’t want the pundit job in London. They settle on a blanket, and Adalyn opens up about her insecurities, confessing she feels her father has never truly believed in her.

Prompted by Cameron, Adalyn shares the full story behind her viral outburst. She explains that her ex-boyfriend, David, used her in a business deal with her father, who promised David a high-level position at the Miami Flames soccer club if they married. David later dropped Adalyn once the position was secured, then threatened to expose the arrangement when her father tried to remove him, using that leverage to keep his job. Adalyn overheard David bragging about all of this to Paul, the person wearing the team’s mascot costume. Feeling betrayed, she saw the mascot celebrating minutes later and attacked the him.

Cameron comforts her. Knowing how much shame she feels about the video, he confesses that, watching it, “once the shock and anger at the world for being so fucking ugly had passed, [He’d] never been more in awe, more stunned silly, more turned on, by such a display of viciousness […] All that fire” (282).