After the Rostelecom Cup, Katarina inspects her costume and concludes that the sequins on the ice did not come from her dress. She becomes convinced that Heath and Katarina were sabotaged, but she also recognizes that pressing the accusation would feed the public narrative that they thrive on scandal. Back in Los Angeles, paparazzi force Katarina to retreat to the Ice Palace, where she, Heath, and Bella live together in an arrangement that feels cramped and emotionally volatile despite the size of the house.

Heath begins a careful recovery plan for his injured back, relying on rest, physical therapy, and approved pain medication while Katarina trains alone. During the Grand Prix Final broadcast, Katarina watches Gaskell and Kovalenko win gold and realizes that the Olympic field is moving on without them. That fear deepens overnight when Katarina hears Heath go into Bella's room and stay there until morning; even without proof of anything physical, their quiet intimacy leaves Katarina feeling excluded and jealous.

A week before Christmas, Heath is finally cleared to return to the ice, though not yet for lifts. When Heath and Katarina first try a lift off-ice, Heath's body shakes with pain, but Heath refuses to stop because their comeback matters too much to abandon. By the time they reach Boston for U.S. Nationals, they can complete full run-throughs again, even if the free dance still feels weaker than they want. Katarina also switches to a new short-dance dress with no sequins, a practical answer to the Moscow incident.

At Nationals, Heath and Katarina benefit from mistakes by Gaskell and Kovalenko and take the lead after the short dance. Katarina knows that second place would probably still send them to the Olympics, but she wants the title as proof that their return is real and that their rivals were wrong to dismiss them. Before the free dance, however, Heath is still visibly in pain from his back, and Bella is oddly absent from the usual warm-up routine.

Ellis Dean corners Katarina for another needling interview, then moves on when Bella is nowhere to be found. Concerned both by Heath's worsening pain and Bella's strange behavior in Boston, Katarina goes looking for Bella and remembers that Bella has barely eaten for two days. Katarina finds Bella alone by the vending machines, still wearing her coat, and Bella does not respond when Katarina calls to her. The chapter ends as Bella suddenly slumps to the floor, turning the team's crucial competition night into a medical emergency.