Just before the Olympic free dance, Bella shows Katarina a Kiss & Cry article about Heath. The post uses an old photo and claims that after leaving Katarina in Nagano, Heath went to Moscow, asked Veronika Volkova to coach him, endured brutal training, skated with Yelena Volkova, pursued Russian citizenship, and shared information about Katarina and her coaches so the Russians could use it against them. Katarina initially refuses to believe any of it.

When Heath appears, Katarina expects him to dismiss the story as a lie. Instead, his expression and his plea to explain confirm enough of the article that Katarina realizes he hid a major part of his past from her. She runs from him, devastated by the idea that he not only trained with rivals but also betrayed her trust by revealing her weaknesses.

Heath admits he should have told Katarina sooner, but argues that the timing proves someone released the story to divide them before the final. He takes her hands and insists that everything he did came from love for her. Katarina can understand his past desperation and might have forgiven the original actions, but she cannot forgive his years of secrecy and the way that secrecy now endangers them both.

Katarina cuts off the confrontation because the final group is about to begin. She clasps her choker herself, tells Heath they will talk later, and walks away to focus on skating. The chapter jumps from that hallway confrontation to the Olympic final itself, with Katarina remembering almost nothing of the preparations except the overwhelming fury she carries onto the ice.