In New Orleans in 1984, Addie lies with Luc in a candlelit bedroom and briefly mistakes the darkness and familiarity for home, even love. The realization sickens her: she has let herself forget the one thing she must remember—that Luc is not a man offering a life, but a force waging a long, patient war to make her yield.

Addie asks Luc if he loves her and, when he says yes, demands that he let her go and set her free. Luc claims he cannot break their deal, but tempts her with the idea of bending it and changing the terms—if Addie will surrender. The word snaps Addie back to the true shape of his offer, revealing it as another trap built from language and leverage.

Furious, Addie refuses to trust him and accuses him of enjoying the chase, calling his softened approach just another strategy. Luc’s momentary hurt vanishes into a cold, grim admission that the game has become tiresome, and Addie’s remaining illusions fracture; she decides she will give him nothing ever again.

The confrontation ignites into destruction. Addie cannot later say how the fire starts—whether by candles, a lamp, shattered lights, or spite—but the house burns all the same, and Luc either allows it or lets it happen. Addie stands on Bourbon Street and watches the place become ash before firefighters can save anything.

With her home gone and even the key seemingly taken from her, Addie clings only to the wooden ring at her throat. She rips it off and throws it into the smoking ruins, abandoning that version of a life with Luc, and walks away into the night.