What Happened to Nina?

The story opens from the perspective of twenty-year-old Nina Fraser. She recounts her relationship with her boyfriend, Simon Jordan, which began as a sweet high school romance but has become controlling and physically abusive during their sophomore year of college. During a tense vacation at his family's property near Stowe, Vermont, they go rock climbing. After a minor argument, Simon suggests a dangerous simultaneous rappel. During the descent, Nina's rope goes slack, and she falls, surviving only because of her helmet. Back at the house, she realizes Simon intentionally caused her fall. Seeing the bruises on her body, she resolves to end the relationship and goes downstairs to confront him.

On Sunday, two days later, Nina's mother, Leanne Fraser, is worried because Nina has not returned home to Waitsfield or answered her calls. Leanne's husband, Andy, learns from a local gas station attendant that Simon returned from Stowe alone on Friday night. Leanne and Andy drive to the home of Simon's wealthy parents, Jamie and Rory Jordan. Jamie is dismissive, claiming Nina broke up with Simon and left with another man. Rory confirms the breakup story, stating Simon has not heard from Nina since Friday. Meanwhile, Simon tells his mother, Jamie, a fabricated story that Nina was cheating on him and ended their relationship.

On Monday, Detective Matthew Wright of the Vermont State Police begins investigating Nina's disappearance. He and his new partner, Sarah Jane Reid, discover that Nina's phone and credit cards have been inactive since just after midnight on Saturday morning. They go to the Jordans' home to interview Simon. Simon first claims the breakup was amicable but then repeats the lie he told his mother about Nina cheating on him. He adds that Nina planned for a friend, Olivia Darlington, to pick her up from the Stowe house on Saturday morning. The interview is cut short when Rory arrives and insists their lawyer be present for any further questioning.

That evening, Leanne, consumed by the fear that Nina is injured and trapped in the Stowe house, drives there and breaks in. She finds Nina's hiking gear and other personal items, convincing her that Nina would not have left willingly. The police arrive and arrest Leanne for breaking and entering. At the station, Detective Wright secures the Jordans' agreement not to press charges but reprimands Leanne for contaminating a potential crime scene. He reveals he has a warrant to search the house and has scheduled a press conference. The next morning, they tell their younger daughter, Grace, that Nina is missing and temporarily close their family business, the Black Friar Inn.

Before the press conference, Matthew and Sarah Jane interview Nina's friend Olivia, who shows them text messages from Nina's phone sent late Friday night. The texts, uncharacteristic in tone, mention the breakup and a new love interest, leading Sarah Jane to suspect Simon sent them to create a false trail. At the press conference, Leanne and Andy's public request successfully pressures the Jordans into allowing a search of their land. In response, Rory hires a reputation management firm that launches an online smear campaign, creating a Justice for Simon YouTube channel to attack the Frasers' character and create counter-narratives.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, before the search is to begin, Rory reviews his security footage from the Stowe house. He discovers a camera was moved at midnight on Friday to hide a trailhead from view, confirming Simon is hiding something. Driven by suspicion, Rory goes to the property, finds a shallow grave, and unearths Nina's body, wrapped in a rug. Seeing a large bruise on her face, he sinks her body in the property's lake to protect his son.

The search begins later that morning. During the search, Leanne learns that a retired cadaver dog alerted to a patch of disturbed earth. She also overhears a forensics expert telling Matthew that the living room floor was cleaned with a product that masks luminol tests for blood. Convinced Simon murdered Nina, Leanne finds him and punches him in the face. Matthew arrests her for assault. His investigation also uncovers that Nina's friend, Julie Bradley, had seen fingerprint-shaped bruises on Nina's wrist weeks before she disappeared. False rumors spread that Andy is a pedophile, which begin to affect his business. That night, Rory confronts Simon, who confesses that Nina's death was an accident, claiming she fell and hit her head during an argument. Rory vows to protect him.

On Thursday, Grace ditches school and secretly meets Simon in the woods. His behavior becomes predatory, and she escapes on her horse. When Grace returns home and tells her parents what happened, a distraught Leanne confronts the Jordans, who deny everything. The next day, Andy's business collapses due to the online rumors. That night, believing Simon will never face justice, Andy takes his gun and hikes to the Jordans' house. He sees Simon leaving with a backpack and follows him to a remote hiker's hut on the Long Trail. Andy confronts Simon at gunpoint. Simon admits to a fight but blames Nina, claiming she provoked him. Andy shoots and kills him.

Andy calls Leanne and confesses. She creates an alibi for him, and together they bring Simon's body back to their property. Meanwhile, police divers, searching the lake at Stowe for Simon's phone, which Jamie had thrown in, discover Nina's body. The autopsy confirms sustained violence: Nina had old and new bruises, a fractured jaw, and a fractured skull. Leanne and Andy bury Simon's body in a deep grave under the floor of their barn. Simon is declared a fugitive. Weeks later, Rory is arrested and charged as an accessory to murder for moving Nina's body. Months after, Jamie, believing Simon must be dead, confronts Leanne and begs her, mother to mother, for a silent confirmation. Leanne, thinking of her own family's survival, tells her, I can't help you, and closes the door.