Merritt storms into Luca’s office, confronting him for hiring Lydia without her knowledge. He claims he was following her suggestion to help Lydia move on. When Merritt questions the expense, Luca admits they cannot afford a new employee. As their argument escalates, Merritt has a Braxton-Hicks contraction, and Luca’s demeanor shifts to concern. He helps her calm down before she drives home, but she is convinced she is losing her husband.

On her first day at work, Lydia meets Luca in her new office, where he gives her an envelope of cash. She tells him it is not enough and demands he arrange a new, fake identity for her so she can open a bank account. She justifies the request by recounting her difficult months of survival after her escape. Privately, Lydia is only using the demand as a tactic to buy time and extort more money.

The next afternoon, Merritt brings lunch to Lydia’s office to build a connection with her. Merritt shares details about her difficult relationship with her mother, and Lydia reveals her own mother died when she was young. Merritt then describes Luca’s abusive childhood—his parents were “a narcissist and an alcoholic” (139)—to build sympathy for him. Merritt’s baby is due in a week, and her goal is to assess if Lydia is a threat to her family.

That evening, Lydia brings takeout from the restaurant home for Delphine. She lies to Delphine about her job, saying it’s mostly office work. Really, she browses the internet all day. When Lydia offers to pay rent, Delphine tells her to wait for a formal paycheck. Alone, Lydia inventories the $3,000 in cash hidden in her backpack and reaffirms her commitment to her plan, vowing not to let sympathy for Merritt or Luca deter her.

A week before her scheduled C-section, Merritt packs a hospital bag and confronts Luca about his emotional distance. He seems like a different person, a “secretive doppelgänger” (142). He avoids a direct confrontation, offering only a vague promise that things will return to normal, which temporarily placates her.

On Thursday, Lydia finds Luca’s office locked. She then overhears staff gossiping about the Colettos’ financial troubles and that Merritt had her baby the previous night. Lydia returns to her apartment to find Delphine with the stacks of cash from her room. Prompted by the discovery, Lydia tells Delphine the truth: her identity, her abduction by The Monster, the nine years of captivity, and his murder attempt. She reveals that her abductor was Luca, and he had her declared legally dead. She shows Delphine scars on her body, including Luca’s name carved into her skin.

Lydia thought Luca was shy and misunderstood when they first met though she sometimes feared his “dark,” cold personality. On their first date, he was surprisingly charming and talkative. She figures the abduction was Luca’s “sick sexual fantasy” of control (150). Luca must have lied to Merritt about his parents. They were “militaristic” with “OCD” standards for him to live up to (151). Marrying Lydia was his form of rebellion.

As a child, Luca tortured animals, and Lydia doesn’t think he’s redeemable. She wants to bankrupt him and ruin his life but doesn’t plan to hurt Merritt or their children.

In the hospital, Merritt and Luca welcome their son, “Everett John,” named after Luca’s paternal grandfather, who took Luca in when he was 17. Merritt asks Luca whether he texted her sister, Adair, to let her know the baby was born, and if checked up on Elsie, who is with the nanny Annette. He answers both questions, but she worries she’s micromanaging him.

When his phone chimes, he hides the screen. Merritt confronts him about Lydia and his secrecy, but he tearfully begs her to just “let [him] have this day” (160). He avoids more questions by turning away with the baby.

Delphine insists Lydia go to the police, but Lydia refuses, arguing Luca would manipulate the system and leave her unsafe. Delphine cautions her not to “fight evil with evil” (161), but Lydia denies having bad intentions.

Lydia receives a text from Merritt with a picture of the new baby. She shows it to Delphine, who voices that Merritt might know about Luca’s dark side. Even so, Delphine says it’s okay if Lydia wants to be Merritt’s friend. Delphine gives Lydia a beaded necklace for protection, warning her that she may only think she has the upper hand because Luca is allowing it. Then Delphine prays silently for a moment, as she often does. The warning unnerves Lydia.

Two nights later at the hospital, Merritt struggles as her newborn refuses to breastfeed. A nurse takes the baby to the nursery to give him formula, and Merritt feels a mix of guilt and relief. Everett is much fussier than Elsie was, and Luca doesn’t seem as excited about Everett’s birth as was about Elsie’s. For the last few days, he’s been gentle but distant. Merritt also worries because Lydia hasn’t responded to her text. She watches Luca asleep on the hospital room couch, dreading their return home.

On Monday, Lydia collects more money from Luca at the restaurant. She plans to leave soon, get her own apartment, and go to the police. Luca’s nervousness around her is uncharacteristic, and she wonders whether he’s playing her, as Delphine suggested. He’s wearing rumpled clothes now, not his usual expensive ones. He says he is taking two weeks off for the new baby and begs Lydia to leave them alone. He promises her a car and new identity upon his return.

After he leaves his office, he puts the key in the lock but doesn’t turn it, leaving it unlocked. Lydia slips inside, searches the office, and uses a paper clip to unlock the file cabinet. In a file marked “estate,” she finds her old marriage certificate, which she takes, planning to destroy it. She then finds several life insurance policies with Luca as the sole beneficiary: a $2 million policy on her, a $4 million policy on Merritt, and a $1 million policy on their daughter, Elsie. Lydia now understands how Luca funded his restaurants, why he abducted her, and what he plans to do with Merritt.

When Luca returns home from the restaurant, he proposes a sudden two-week family trip to their remote farmhouse in Willow Branch, Oregon, framing it as a way to get away from Lydia and spend time together. Merritt is exhausted and in pain from C-section; going on a trip with a newborn is the last thing she wants.

Though suspicious of Luca’s motives, Merritt is desperate to repair their relationship. She agrees, seeing it as a sign of his renewed commitment. As she packs, she notes Luca’s forgetfulness of small items: He sees the big picture but doesn’t pay attention to details like Merritt does.

Lydia visits an insurance agent who confirms her multi-million-dollar policy existed but can’t tell her whether it’s been cashed out. He explains how a marital relationship can override an insurer’s red flags, like someone on a low salary taking out a $2 million policy on a waitress. The plan had cost $3,000, but Luca couldn’t have afforded that—unless he had saved up for years. Lydia realizes Luca must have been planning her murder for years.

On her way home, she receives a cryptic text from Luca with geographic coordinates, “For your fresh start” (184). She assumes he wants to give her the fake ID but still doesn’t trust him. Aware of the other life insurance policies, Lydia knows Merritt and Elsie are in danger and begins to formulate a new plan.

The Colettos arrive at the remote farmhouse, which Merritt finds isolating and depressing. Luca convinced her that eventually, it would be peaceful summer getaway for their children, with its greenery and fishpond. Merritt envisions a happy future there with her family.

The next morning, Merritt, who is still in pain, discovers their bank accounts are empty. She confronts Luca, who admits to their financial collapse. Merritt was the “brains” of their restaurant business, designing everything from scratch. She’s offended that the buyers passed.

Merritt is tired of role-playing the innocent, submissive wife and breaks their 10-year silence about Lydia. She demands to know why Lydia is still alive, and Luca confesses that he shot her but failed to confirm her death.

Furious, Merritt thinks back to how she invented the entire scheme, manipulating Luca—her grimy, suggestable neighbor who collected “torture porn”—into kidnapping and murdering Lydia for insurance money. With no family, Lydia was the perfect mark: If not her, Luca would likely rape and torture another girl. Merritt used his tendencies to her advantage. She didn’t expect Luca to keep Lydia alive for nine years and regrets letting him do so. After becoming pregnant with Everett, she told him to end it.

Contemptuous of Luca’s failure, Merritt tells him to go pick up the groceries while she decides what to do next.