On the contract's third anniversary, Shirley confronts Adrian after realizing her three-year engagement was a staged cover for Adrian's affair with his adopted sister Laura, who has just returned. Flashbacks show Shirley signed a three-year contract that promised $10 million after she saved Laura from drowning. Late at night she accuses Adrian of using Laura's life as leverage and demands to break the engagement. Adrian pushes back, saying the family wouldn't accept Laura and calling Shirley the one causing trouble now that Laura is back. Her breakup demand is left unanswered, the engagement's fate unresolved.
She confronts Adrian, demanding love, marriage and immediate cancellation of their contract. Adrian coldly insists his heart is off-limits but agrees to end it—only if they attend Grandpa’s upcoming birthday together and never show a crack; he’ll file for annulment in a month. Flashbacks reveal he saved her three years ago and she posed as his fiancée to repay him. The deal forces them into one more month of public pretense. The episode closes in heavy rain as she accepts the delayed annulment and the month-long facade begins, unresolved.
On a rain-soaked street, Mr. Hopkin—Charon, Adrian's feared cousin—is confronted by Ms. Trump, who reveals she's Adrian's fiancée. Rumors call Charon merciless, but he insists on driving her home when she tries to hail a cab. Later he finds her wet and tells her to remove the clothes, despite her warning, 'I'm your cousin's fiancée.' He refuses any impropriety yet helps: offers his coat and tells her to put it on. The exchange shifts his image from menace to protector, and he closes by asking, 'Is Adrian good to you?'
After a late-night drive home and a small exchange about returning a jacket, Mr. Hopkin reveals he checked Adrian and Ms. Trump's situation: their three-year engagement has been distant and Adrian has been in deep contact with Laura. At a family gathering Adrian's long-engaged fiancée shows up, and relatives angrily call out her years of waiting and accuse her of shamelessness, pitying Adrian and Laura. The fiancée is publicly shamed and Adrian's divided loyalties are exposed, leaving the household stunned and an immediate, unresolved confrontation to follow.
At a family banquet Laura returns late and finds Shirley pushed aside by Dora, who accuses Laura of having been sent abroad and stealing "my brother" and Grandpa's affection — implicitly tying Adrian to the dispute. Dora forbids Shirley from sitting next to Adrian and threatens to starve herself. Others scold Dora and tell Laura to sit with the servants, escalating the humiliation. The room shifts when someone quietly calls, "Come here. Sit with me," offering Shirley a place at the table. The episode ends on that offer, with Dora's protest unresolved and the family split over whom to side with.
At a Hopkin family dinner, a woman who hasn't returned in years endures relatives' scorn and gossip that she took an older lover and ruined the Trump family's reputation. The youngest Hopkin chairman sits nearby; she notices the eldest grandson's favor toward Shirley and wonders if Shirley meant Charon when she asked for love. Her family orders her to return, marry properly, and bring dowry. An uncle sends two bottles of homemade plum wine for the Master's birthday. Mr. Hopkin tells a servant, "Make her a bowl of ginger soup." The episode ends with her unsure what the kindness means.
At Grandpa's birthday the family reunites at the old house when Charon returns early, and tensions flare over Shirley: relatives whisper she's ordinary yet someone thanks another, saying, "I just want to thank you for helping me take care of my fiancée." Rain threatens, so Shirley agrees to stay and a nervous promise to sneak back if thunder comes prompts awkward sleeping arrangements. Later, an argument over orchids—copying Laura, class assumptions, and ownership of purchases—escalates into sharp insults. The episode closes when someone notices a man's sitting posture that matches "the man from that night," leaving a new suspicion unresolved.
At midnight Ms. Trump reads alone when a visitor from the Hopkin family—who calls her Charon—appears, flirts and then confronts her. He accuses her of probing her father's plane crash, says the trail led to her dead uncle, insists their engagement is already broken, and warns her to leave or 'you'll never get out.' Later among the books another man jokes about her midnight reading and recommends a possessive romance. The episode ends when Mr. Hopkin appears and seizes Ms. Trump; she cries 'let go,' and her fate stays unresolved.
Mr. Hopkin slips a key into Shirley's room at night; she demands he let go while someone pounds on the door. Laura warns Adrian to stay nearby because Grandpa and Charon are in the house and being caught would be bad. Shirley insists they aren't having an affair but fears Adrian finding out would ruin her $10 million deal. Mr. Hopkin taunts her—"The entire Hopkin family is mine"—then declares, "I call the shots in the family," shifting power and forcing secrecy. A voice calls, "Charon?" as he approaches, risking immediate exposure.
At a family gathering to honor Grandpa, relatives exchange gifts and share a homemade plum wine. After Dora sips it she suddenly doubles over, vomiting and claiming the drink is poisoned. Guests immediately accuse Shirley—who was already snubbed earlier—and shout for guards. Shirley protests, "I didn't poison her." Guards seize her and insist on taking her to the police to test the wine. The episode ends with Shirley dragged away and the household divided, the poisoning accusation standing and her fate left unresolved.