Convinced the Instagram instructions could only come from Athena, June arms herself with a flashlight, pepper spray, a knife, and firecrackers, and heads to the Georgetown Exorcist steps at eleven. In the cold, empty dark, she hears Athena’s distinctive, media-polished voice drifting around her. The disembodied prompts prod June into admitting envy and theft, and she pleads for forgiveness.

The voice glitches and repeats until footsteps approach. A figure emerges: not Athena, but Candice Lee, the former sensitivity reader June helped get removed. Candice, furious about being blacklisted and fired over a Goodreads rating, reveals she commandeered Athena’s Instagram via a publicist’s login, faked images with Photoshop, and picked the steps from Athena’s public tweets.

Candice plays back June’s damning words, shows multiple hidden cameras, and frames her plan as exposing industry hypocrisy—positioning herself to publish an exposé. She rejects June’s pleas and bribes, argues that Athena’s “success” came with constraints, and declares she will go public.

Fearing ruin, June tackles Candice to seize the recordings. They grapple near the steps; June briefly pins Candice, considers the implications if Candice fell, then loses control when Candice bites her. Candice kicks June hard, and June reels backward into empty air as the chapter ends.