For two and a half years, Evelyn and Rex upheld their publicity marriage while co-producing films at Paramount, commuting together and maintaining separate private lives. Each had casual flings, which Evelyn treated as meaningless. The routine breaks when Rex admits he has fallen in love with Joy Nathan, a woman he has seen on and off over the years.

Evelyn immediately starts planning a careful exit to protect her upcoming film, Carolina Sunset, which she believes could be significant for her. She proposes a narrative that the strain of filming a story about infidelity led them both into affairs. The plan is upended when Rex reveals Joy is pregnant and he intends to marry her before the birth, forcing a swift, high-impact strategy.

Evelyn suggests framing both spouses as unfaithful—Rex with Joy and Evelyn with Harry—so the public sees a victimless imbalance and still buys tickets. Harry arrives and agrees in principle, but warns the story may not be credible to industry insiders who know he is gay. To make it undeniable, Evelyn and Harry agree to stage candid photos of themselves looking like illicit lovers.

During their drive to the tennis club, Harry discloses he is seeing John Braverman and has seen Celia, confirming Celia’s marriage to John is fake and that they sleep separately. The news rattles Evelyn and revives her longing, but she chooses not to reach out to Celia and instead focuses on executing the plan, arranging a secluded parking spot and potential paparazzi discovery.

To ensure the leak appears authentic, Evelyn asks Ruby Reilly to tip off photographers, instructing her to claim she saw Evelyn and Harry necking in the Trousdale Estates. During the call, Ruby reveals she has divorced Don Adler and that he abused her, echoing Evelyn’s own past. Evelyn feels complicit for not having exposed him earlier, then recommits to the plan to time the scandal and divorce to cushion Rex’s transition to fatherhood with Joy and to bolster Carolina Sunset’s release.