Shortly after they marry, Milton takes Joan to a video store specializing in Chinese films. Joan is surprised when Milton invites her to enter the curtained area of the video store, where pornographic films are kept. She is curious about the range of films displayed there. A few weeks later, Joan finishes packing up her things and completes the move into Milton’s apartment (where she will be living now that they are married). Joan’s landlady, an elderly woman named Iris, has exploited Joan by charging her expensive rent while also requiring Joan to perform many domestic chores; however, Iris seems very sad that Joan is leaving.

To celebrate Joan moving in, she and Milton return to the video store. While they are in the curtained area, they run into (seemingly by chance) one of Milton’s friends, a man named Kenny. Joan is appalled as she gradually realizes that Milton has engineered the encounter and wants Kenny to join the couple for viewing pornography “and stay for whatever happens after” (20). Milton brushes aside Joan’s objections, asserting his right to tell her what to do. Joan becomes more vociferous in her refusal and Milton slaps and hits her repeatedly. She grabs a pair of calipers (a steel tool used for measuring dimensions and distance) from her bag and stabs Milton, causing him minor injuries.

Outside of the store, Milton and Joan continue to argue. He is enraged and insistent that she has overreacted. Calmly, she tells him that she wants a divorce.

The next day, Joan phones her parents and tells them she is getting divorced. Her parents are very unhappy and urge her to reconsider. However, Joan gains a newfound sense of confidence in her decision, since “she had taken charge and left a mean-spirited man who would have likely only become meaner” (27). After this conversation, Joan’s parents refuse to take her calls and she does not speak to them for the next two years.

Milton broadcasts a one-sided version of why he and Joan are splitting up, and many of their mutual friends side with him. Joan returns to living with Iris and tries to fill all her time with work and studying. She begins taking community classes and exploring new interests such as art and entrepreneurship. Sometimes, Joan simply sits on campus, observing people around her. While doing so, a man named Bill Lauder strikes up a conversation with her. Bill is older (51) and a Stanford alum; he still enjoys spending time on campus. Bill has been divorced three times, has grown children, and is semi-retired. When Bill asks Joan out on a date, she is both intrigued and hesitant. The age gap and racial difference (Bill is white) both leave her doubtful.

Bill and Joan continue to spend time together and begin a sexual relationship. Joan enjoys sex more with Bill than with Milton, and she also enjoys his sophistication and wealth. She sometimes has misgivings and doubts about their relationship, but Bill seems blissful.

Bill and Joan become engaged after less than a year of dating; his children, Theo and Juliet, are astonished. They have had two stepmothers already (their mother, Agatha, was Bill’s first wife). At the time when Bill and Joan become engaged, Theo and Juliet are 24 (they are twins). The siblings react in different ways: Theo (who has a volatile temper) is enraged, whereas Juliet (a medical student) is more pragmatic. Both Theo and Juliet have grown up with wealth and privilege; at the time when Bill and Joan become engaged, Theo is dating a woman named Charlotte but struggling to plan for a future and relying on his mother for access to money.

The news about the marriage also impacts Bill’s three younger siblings: Henry, Bridget, and Misty. Because Joan has only known Bill for a short time, she knows very little about his family.

In the lead-up to the wedding, Bill arranges for Joan to meet with his lawyer, Nelson Das. Nelson has worked with Bill for years and has arranged previous prenups and divorce agreements. Nelson is shocked when Joan proposes an agreement in which (should she and Bill divorce) she will be entitled to a percentage of ownership of his house, based on the number of years they have been married. Bill’s house was designed by a famous architect and is known as “Falling House.” Joan negotiates the agreement, which Theo and Juliet are not aware of. At the wedding, Theo and Juliet reveal to Nelson that they assume he has protected their financial interests by preparing a prenup that disadvantages Joan.

Shortly after she marries Bill, Joan completes her studies. She feels aimless and struggles to fit in with Bill’s wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Joan attends many parties and gatherings but often finds the conversation shallow and the connections inauthentic. A few months after her marriage, Joan is excited when a woman named Sue invites her to attend the opera. Joan arrives in San Francisco early and falls asleep while waiting in a park, observing the world around her. Sue happens upon her and clearly finds Joan behavior bizarre. Shortly thereafter, Joan learns that she is pregnant. Bill seems somewhat ambivalent about this news.