A year and a half later, Patric is in her second year of a graduate program and still working as a music manager. For years, she has vowed to buy a cottage off Mulholland Drive, where she often saw an elderly couple together in the rose garden. As the old couple has moved to a home, the cottage is now empty and will shortly be for sale. Patric takes her friend Everly to the house, which has a hole in the roof and a grand piano in the living room. Everly compares the building’s dilapidated state to Miss Havisham’s home in Great Expectations.

David still works long hours, and Patric’s relationship with him is tense. She feels that he is increasingly critical of her sociopathic behaviors and no longer loves her unconditionally. Meanwhile, Patric increasingly views her sociopathic traits in a more positive light. She believes her limited emotions make her better suited to making objective decisions than David, who likes to please people. She also sees freedom in her lack of guilt, having observed its restrictive effects upon both David and Everly. A kind and emotional individual, Everly envies Patric’s lack of guilt and makes her feel wholly accepted.