Genevieve and Rowin, recuperating in the meadow room’s river after experimenting with the bridge’s loose stones, conclude that most stones release gilded fish while a few produce white fish, but catching several white fish yields no token. Exhausted, they lie on the bank with their feet in the water; Rowin, still injured and shirtless from diving, prompts Genevieve to tell the story behind her quitting whiskey.

Genevieve recounts meeting Farrow Henry at age fifteen after she distracted a bartender to help him steal bourbon at a charity gala. Later that night on the Riverwalk, Farrow and his friends shared the bourbon and he took Genevieve to his wealthy family’s Garden District mansion, where she had her first sexual experience. He courted her that summer, sent letters from boarding school that dwindled and stopped on her sixteenth birthday, and she eventually moved on.

Years later, Farrow returned, insinuated himself into her new friend group (Basile, Iris, Luci), and after three months of pursuit, convinced Genevieve to rekindle their relationship, promising marriage, support, and stability as her family neared bankruptcy. On February twentieth of the previous year, he renounced her, citing his affluent family’s refusal to accept paranormal blood, announced his engagement to a London woman, and offered Genevieve two more nights.

In response, Genevieve got very drunk on whiskey and arranged for Farrow to meet her in a Mardi Gras parade float; when he arrived, he found Genevieve and Basile in a compromising situation. Farrow reacted with slurs and set the float on fire with them locked inside. Too drunk to use magic, Genevieve fainted; both were rescued, but Basile suffered burns over half his body while Genevieve recovered slowly. Farrow’s father paid off the police and sent hush money to Grimm Manor.

Genevieve helped Basile purchase an expensive elixir with his hush money to treat his scars, but she remained burdened by guilt. Later, through new connections, she arranged revenge against Farrow—implying the Henry estate was burned, with her condition that no one be inside, though she admits she did not make that a sworn term. Rowin, angered, supports the idea of fiery retribution.

When Rowin asks which part should change his view of her, Genevieve admits she is ashamed and unsure she deserves to forget, believing she must live with the memory while Basile bears the scars. Rowin tells her the light is where she is and insists she is not to blame, deriding Farrow. When she hesitates to accept this, Rowin insists her doubt “better be” a lie, reaffirming his conviction that responsibility lies with Farrow, not Genevieve.