Preparing for the Little Women premiere, Celia balks at attending with Robert Logan, but Evelyn insists for the sake of publicity. Leveraging Don’s current clout after The Righteous, Evelyn has Sunset loan Celia diamonds, reinforcing the image they want to project. Evelyn and Don take one car, Celia and Robert another, and the four leading women arrive in orchestrated fashion at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

On the red carpet, a reporter presses Evelyn about Celia and Robert; Don cuts the interview short. At the doors, Evelyn acts on a sudden idea and pulls Celia back so they can jointly wave to the crowd, ensuring a headline-grabbing image of the two women together. Inside, Don predicts awards for himself and Evelyn, while Evelyn quietly argues for Celia’s recognition.

As the film plays, Evelyn realizes Celia’s performance outshines everyone’s and that audiences will leave talking about Celia St. James. Instead of scheming, Evelyn feels genuinely happy for Celia and even reaches across Don and Robert to squeeze Celia’s hand during Beth’s death scene, all while anticipating Don may later punish her for the display.

At Ari Sullivan’s mansion after the screening, Don disappears, and Evelyn becomes the target of shallow party chatter. Ruby pulls Evelyn into a laundry room, demanding a strategy to counter Celia’s dominance. Evelyn refuses to undermine Celia and concedes that Celia earned the attention.

Ruby then raises circulating gossip about Evelyn and Celia and labels Celia a lesbian, provoking a visceral reaction in Evelyn. Finally, Ruby reveals Don is in Ari’s bedroom cheating with an MGM actress. Evelyn’s first thought is not her marriage but finding Celia, clarifying where her priorities and affections now lie.