Ms. Steward faces a chaotic night when a drunken Xavier disrupts the household. He gropes her; she resists and demands Ethan, who has already left. She scrubs off where he touched and refuses offers of help while Xavier coldly insists their marriage is a sham and will never be real. Gossipers in the house brand her "some nobody who slept her way into Xavier's bed." When she asks staff for food, they refuse—they're off duty until 8 a.m.—leaving Molly hungry, isolated, and forced to fend for herself until morning as rumor spreads.