In Verity’s office, Lowen tries to focus on preparing to continue the series, but the floor-to-ceiling windows keep drawing her attention to the back porch, where April reads to Verity. Watching Verity intensifies Lowen’s pity and discomfort, and Lowen reflects that a life like this might be worse than death, partly because it reminds her of caring for her dying mother. When April briefly leaves Verity alone, Lowen looks up and becomes convinced Verity is staring directly at her. After April returns and adjusts Verity’s head, Lowen realizes the apparent eye contact may have been accidental, but the moment leaves her shaken.

Lowen then receives a call from an apartment manager, Donovan Baker, who tells her she has been denied housing because of a recent eviction. The rejection makes Lowen panic, since she has already left her old apartment and will not receive her money for two weeks. Jeremy overhears enough of the call to understand what happened and first offers to loan her money, then suggests she simply stay in the house until her advance arrives. Although Lowen knows remaining there is a bad idea because of Verity, the manuscript, and her growing awareness of Jeremy, she agrees because she needs more time for work and has nowhere else to go.

Later, Lowen sits on the back porch with one of Verity’s books while Jeremy and Crew work on tearing apart an old dock. Watching Jeremy with Crew makes Lowen think about her own father and notice Jeremy’s patience, but Jeremy’s bare torso also makes her think about the intimate details she has read in Verity’s autobiography. April comes outside before leaving for the night, tells Lowen that Verity has been fed, medicated, and put to bed with the television on, and seems to catch Lowen looking at Jeremy. Soon after, Crew smiles and waves toward Verity’s bedroom window rather than at Lowen, and Lowen turns just in time to see the curtain fall shut.

Already on edge, Lowen goes upstairs to check the bedroom herself. She finds Verity in bed with her eyes closed and realizes the moving curtain can be explained by an oscillating fan, which briefly reassures her. But that reassurance fades when Lowen notices the television is off even though April had said she turned it on. Unable to fully dismiss the inconsistency, Lowen retreats downstairs, locks herself back in Verity’s office, and resumes reading the autobiography in hopes of convincing herself that Verity is harmless.