Ruby goes to the registry to replace a chewed marriage certificate and is told the document is fake. She confronts Zephyr, who admits they used a forged certificate and fears Lily—the Walter family's legal wife—will expel him if she finds out. Zephyr, recently told he has less than a year to live, asks Ruby to keep the secret while he remains publicly with Lily. Lily discovers the affair and angrily heads to Nolan University to recruit a healthy student to father her child. The episode ends as Lily rushes to the university, putting Ruby and Zephyr's deception on the line.
When Lily's family learns Zephyr is the Harrisons' illegitimate son, her father pressures her to refuse the match. Lily insists she loves Zephyr; he kneels in the rain to propose, runs a 104°F fever and is hospitalized while calling her name. After recalling their childhood, Lily is shaken by how quickly his love changed and accepts her father's warning. She pivots to a pragmatic plan: she wants a child, not a husband, and insists on hiring a male college student. The Lloyd heir replies, "I'll become whatever kind of man she wants," leaving the decision unresolved.
Mr. Lloyd is shown still obsessed after Ms. Walter rejected his proposal, insisting her refusal proves she won’t love him for power. The main thread cuts to a man on the run who urges a companion, “Come with me,” saying the police are after him because he wants to take Mr. Moore’s research home. In a cramped car the companion is grazed; friends scramble to stop the bleeding and debate survival skills while the injured says it’s only a graze. With the wound stabilized they resolve to press on. The episode ends as the leader orders, “Follow the plan,” with police closing in.
In the university library, Ms. Walter is confronted by a rowdy student clique while Mr. Lloyd stages a showy hero move to impress her. She deflects taunts and demonstrates combat skill, drawing onlookers' praise. The group then urges her to save a brooding, six-two Riverton top scorer, but Ms. Walter calmly walks away and earns surprising respect. Tension shifts when the top scorer never appears: his phone is missing and others say he is smart and good-looking but weak. The episode ends with a student saying, 'I have other targets,' leaving his fate uncertain.
Ms. Walter orders an immediate dossier on a college student, Caleb Lowe. Her aides reveal Caleb is a 23-year-old prodigy on a combined Master's-PhD track, favored by a top professor, whose middle-class family fell into debt after his father's bad investment, leaving Caleb with loans. Refusing divorce, Ms. Walter wants revenge on Zephyr; Bennett suggests paying Caleb to father her child but hesitates over coercion and character. Lloyd pushes the plan and vows to accept humiliation to help. A meeting is set, leaving who will actually become the donor unresolved.
Staff barges in on Ms. Walter with a livestream of Caleb, claiming he's broke, doing paid group streams and at risk of degrading night work. They push a cash-for-a-baby arrangement and tell Mr. Bennett to put in a big bid to 'save him.' The episode shifts to a quieter domestic moment when someone brings Lily egg tarts and reveals she lied about getting soaked. At a reception guests notice matching jewelry; Ruby offers her earrings and says, "I'll put them on you." With the bid now underway, Ms. Walter is left to decide.
Lily swats at a mosquito but Ruby ends up bitten; Zephyr storms in, accuses Lily and shouts, "You're not sleeping here tonight. Get out!" Ms. Walter quietly gives Ruby earrings as bystanders watch. Later two people reveal they need Lily to get pregnant so she cannot leave. A messenger delivers something from Mr. Bennett to Mr. Lloyd, and a child rushes home yelling that they were chosen. The episode ends with an order to fetch Zephyr, leaving Lily expelled and the pregnancy plot unresolved.
Lily is forced into a struggle when her fiancé Zephyr insists she get pregnant immediately to lock in her inheritance after her father brought home an illegitimate child. Zephyr tries to physically coerce her, promising the baby will secure the shares and block Aspen's claims. Their fight is interrupted when Mr. Harrison gets a call: Mr. Wayne of Brightway will only wait thirty minutes at Goldmane Clubhouse. Zephyr abandons the confrontation to meet Wayne, vows to use the favor to change Lily and Jason's view, and books a Granton Hotel meeting—leaving Lily resisting and the succession unsettled.
At a corporate dinner Zephyr introduces Mr. Wayne to the chamber chairman and Sterling's GM. Guests reveal someone 'actually tried to force Lily,' so colleagues plan revenge with laxatives and by blowing the drain line; the device goes off and a splash exposes the sabotage. Mr. Lloyd rushes because Lily waits, but Mr. Bennett says Ms. Walter is meeting other candidates at the hotel. Lloyd checks his keycard and discovers he's number ten, panics about his looks and says, 'I'm trying for a baby.' He must learn flirting fast to catch up with nine rivals.
Ms. Walter runs a blunt screening of male candidates and repeatedly rejects them. One man is ordered to undress; another is escorted out by guards. An aide later presents a medical report, calling the candidate "top-tier," but Ms. Walter still says she’s not interested and tells them to release him. The aide begs for one minute and makes a provocative offer—“I can get you in the mood,” even asking, “wanna ride the rocking horse? Get on me.” Her refusal holds for now, leaving the aide’s audacious final bid unanswered and the selection unresolved.