Olive spends two days hiding in the hotel, lying to Anh and Malcolm while she grieves the breakup. Determined not to let Tom steal her work, she asks Dr. Aslan to introduce her to interested researchers and decides to turn her report into a publication, reframing Tom’s interest as a backhanded compliment.

When Anh and Malcolm drop by, Olive starts editing the audio of her talk to send to Dr. Aslan and inadvertently plays a captured snippet of Tom’s harassment. Shocked, her friends listen while Olive sobs in the bathroom. They urge her to tell Adam and report Tom, but Olive refuses, fearing damage to Adam’s collaboration and Harvard prospects.

As they argue, Malcolm reveals the fake-dating scheme to a stunned Anh, who quickly forgives Olive and remains supportive. Seeking a way forward, they decide Olive should ask Holden for advice, given his closeness to Adam and his past warning about Tom.

Olive meets Holden after his talk. He explains long-standing distrust of Tom, suggesting Tom engineered crises during grad school to control Adam, and emphasizes that the current collaboration benefits Tom more than Adam. He reminds Olive that scientists must consider all evidence and discloses that Adam only agreed to interview at Harvard after Olive chose Tom’s lab, implying Adam’s decision centers on her.