Isabelle wakes in a dark safe house, in pain from her shoulder wound, and realizes Gaëtan is beside her. As her memory returns—Beck shooting her, Vianne killing Beck with a shovel, and Vianne’s furious rejection—Isabelle asks after Vianne. Gaëtan says Isabelle has been unconscious for four days, that Vianne stitched the wound, and that Henri and Didier hid the evidence by burying the bodies, cleaning the barn, and dismantling the motorcycle.

Gaëtan reveals Vianne escorted them to the frontier, riding with Isabelle’s coffin to ensure the crossing, and even threatened Gaëtan to keep Isabelle safe. Isabelle, ashamed of how her recklessness endangered Vianne, presses Gaëtan about their feelings. Gaëtan insists there can be no “us” during the war, but Isabelle forces a truth from him and sees love in his reaction; she turns out the lamp, curls against him, and finally falls asleep holding him.

In a nightmare sequence, the terror around Daniel’s hidden identity and Beck’s death merges into Vianne’s own waking life. Vianne jolts awake in the downstairs bedroom where she now sleeps with the children, haunted by the fact that she killed Beck and by fears about Isabelle’s fate. The room still carries Beck’s presence, turning her guilt into relentless, exhausting dread.

Vianne encounters SS officer Von Richter in the living room, where he flaunts coffee and power. He orders more coffee, grips Vianne’s wrist hard enough to bruise it, and commands her to cook supper for men he will bring that night, also complaining about Daniel’s crying. After Von Richter leaves for the day, Vianne wakes Daniel and Sophie and tries to preserve a scrap of normal family warmth while staying vigilant.

Back in the safe house, Isabelle reflects on how the war has changed her: she recognizes her impulsiveness but also the urgency of limited time. After bathing, Isabelle confronts Gaëtan, drops her towel, and refuses his attempts to push her away as “innocent” while he is a “criminal.” They finally give in to their desire; Gaëtan admits she frightens him, kisses her, and, despite warning she will regret it, reveals his own conflict by saying he is already sorry even as he kisses her again.