The chapter opens by explaining how the Fletcher fortune collapsed: a private equity firm bought Haulers, decided to liquidate Consolidated Packing Solutions, Ltd., and end its exclusive contract. The factory will close, the family's quarterly payouts have stopped, and Arthur—the firm's executor and Ruth's confidant—has vanished on a mysterious sabbatical, leaving his cellphone behind. Jenny notices the missing payment first; Ruth, Nathan, and Jenny argue about the workers, Ike's broken promise to inherit the factory, and the family's lack of options.

The narrative shifts to Nathan Fletcher, a fearful land use attorney living in Middle Rock with his wife Alyssa and twin sons Ari and Josh. Nathan secretly withdrew his J.P. Morgan savings years ago to invest with childhood bully-friend Mickey Mayer; he now urgently needs a disbursement but Mickey keeps stalling. Months earlier, after Dominic Romano made partner ahead of him and after Phyllis pressured him from her deathbed to amount to something, Nathan demanded advancement. Arthur and Dominic put him on the Yellowton Giant's case, ostensibly toward a senior associate promotion.

Nathan oversaw paperwork for the controversial Giant's superstore, but on pickup day learned the Certificate of Occupancy was withdrawn by Lewis Squib of the local council. Panicked and sensing his grandmother's ghost, Nathan tracked Squib down and, fortified by a beta-blocker, took him to the Hard Life Buffet restaurant and offered a bribe through a fake charity. The next day he was placed on unpaid administrative leave after Squib produced a recording. Nathan has been hiding this from Alyssa, spending his days in movie theaters.

At home, a kitchen renovation Alyssa secretly began spirals into disaster: a flood, a foundation crack, and finally asbestos, forcing the family to move into Phyllis's empty house on the estate. Ruth pressures Nathan to sell the brownstone and the factory, but Nessman, a specialist broker, declares the polluted polystyrene plant a worthless liability. Nathan begins dreaming nightly of Phyllis, who urges him to see his situation "like the lighthouse," and remembers childhood comfort in obsessively reciting the Shema for every relative.

Mickey finally calls—but it's Penny, his wife, reporting Mickey is in a coma from extreme overtraining and performance drugs, his eyes taped shut. Penny reveals Mickey was fired from Goldman and is under DOJ investigation. Nathan hires Gal Plotkin, a former Israeli operative, who quickly uncovers the truth: Mickey ran an illicit trading scheme, was caught via mandatory vacation rules, and simply spent Nathan's millions on lifestyle to project success. Plotkin tells Nathan plainly that his money is gone.