At daybreak, Daniel finishes reading Nuria Monfort’s manuscript and realizes how closely Carax’s tragic path mirrors his own. Overwhelmed by remorse and dread, Daniel pockets the manuscript and rushes out into a snowfall, clinging to the hope that he can still reach Bea in time.

Crossing a nearly empty Plaza de Catalua, Daniel notices an elegant old man in a gray overcoat laughing as he tries to catch snowflakes. As Daniel passes, the man fixes him with gold-colored eyes and seems to offer a grave blessing of good luck, which Daniel takes as a fragile omen.

Daniel arrives at the Aguilars’ building and finds the caretaker, Don Saturno Molleda, outside marveling at the snow and reciting odd poetic remarks. Daniel insists it is an emergency and hurries upstairs, bracing himself for confrontation as he pounds on the door until it opens.

Toms answers, furious and exhausted, and tells Daniel Bea is gone. Toms says Bea left home, their parents have been searching for two days, and the police are involved; he adds that Mr. Aguilar struck Bea until her mouth bled after she returned from seeing Daniel, though Bea refused to name him.

When Toms reveals Bea is pregnant, Daniel is stunned and barely able to respond. Toms attacks, beating Daniel hard, dragging him to the landing, and throwing him onto the stairs with a threat to kill him if anything has happened to Bea.

Bleeding and in pain, Daniel rejects Don Saturno’s offer of help and stumbles outside into heavier snow. Alone in the dawn, he walks away, terrified by Bea’s disappearance and the consequences closing in around him.