In the present-day framing, Evelyn orders dinner as Monique confronts her about what she suspected during the story so far. When Monique asks who was the love of her life, Evelyn finally says Celia St. James, and the admission brings Evelyn visible relief and joy.

Monique then asks if the biography will out Evelyn as a gay woman. Evelyn corrects her, insisting she is bisexual and refusing to be boxed in. Monique recognizes her mistake through the lens of her own biracial identity, apologizes, and reframes the question. Evelyn accepts the apology and agrees the book will present her as bisexual.

Monique asks how Evelyn realized she loved Celia. Evelyn explains that at Ari Sullivan’s party, jealousy hit from two sides: learning Celia was interested in women made her fear she was only a small part of Celia’s life, and discovering Don was cheating upstairs embarrassed her and threatened her carefully constructed marriage.

Evelyn reflects that she lacked a template then to recognize romantic love for a woman and misread her bond with Celia as friendship while blaming her marriage’s collapse solely on Don. When Monique asks whom she sought out first, Evelyn says one of them came to her, leaving the past timeline poised for the encounter.