Cherry returns to Sydney to visit her mother, Mae, and is immediately struck by the absence of the Madame Mae sign from the letterbox. Auntie Pat has moved into Cherry's old bedroom. Mae is dressed and smiling but alarmingly thin and fragile, though she insists she feels no pain. Before Cherry can express concern, Mae and Auntie Pat tell Cherry she looks terrible. Cherry deflects, not revealing the truth about her heavy drinking, anxiety, and troubled marriage. Instead, she tells them about the infertility diagnosis she and David received.

The news turns out to be old: David had told his mother Michelle, who had already contacted Mae. Michelle has devised a plan for Cherry and David to adopt a Korean baby, arguing the child would benefit from having a Korean grandmother and half-Korean father. Michelle has been calling adoption agencies, Auntie Pat is gathering information, and Mae has lined up distinguished character references. Cherry reflects guiltily on her and David's debauched rooftop party lifestyle, but she agrees to the adoption plan, partly because it reduces her sense of responsibility—Michelle would help keep the baby alive. Cherry acknowledges they were ignorant at the time about the ethical problems surrounding Korean adoptions.

Cherry insists the conversation turn to Mae's health. Mae reveals she finally went to the doctor after Pat wore her down, and they are awaiting test results. Mae is optimistic, but Auntie Pat avoids Cherry's eyes. Mae also reveals she has retired as Madame Mae because the work had become too tiring, sometimes seeing nothing and having to fabricate readings. Her regular customers brought farewell gifts and wrote heartfelt cards, and Cherry feels guilty for not having appreciated how much her mother meant to people. Mae's last reading was with grumpy Bill Hanrob.

Cherry asks Mae for one final reading—for her. Mae's face lights up and she leaves to dress in full Madame Mae regalia. In her consultation room, she conducts a professional session, asking Cherry to hand over her rings and close her eyes. Cherry admits she doesn't feel happy and can't see a future for herself. After a meditative silence, Madame Mae describes visions: Cherry climbing a mountain trail near a castle, laughing with someone she loves; that she has already met the love of her life (though she's uncertain whether it's David); notebooks that will be important; a marriage that can be brought back from the brink; constant travel and happiness; a career change that will be very hard but successful, somewhat like Mae's own career; and a little girl whose name begins with B, who will arrive on a plane just when Cherry needs her most.

Mae's words become garbled and emotional as she speaks of terrible pain that nothing can stop, urging Cherry to keep breathing and look for the notebooks. Exhausted and sweating, Mae ends the session with a joke about charging fifty dollars. She looks vulnerable, asking if Cherry found it helpful. Cherry thanks her sincerely, still unsure whether what she witnessed was genuine psychic ability or performance. A few days later, Mae's test results confirm what everyone feared: she has a terminal illness, with six months to a year to live. Her long-ignored digestive problems, masked by fad diets, had a far more serious cause.