Blythe and Fox remain separated and share custody of 11-year-old Violet. One day, Violet shows Blythe a YouTube compilation of a mother whose maternal reflexes cause her to save her son from danger again and again. It’s a clear attempt to provoke Blythe over the death of Sam. Blythe thinks to herself, “You stupid fucking little girl. You killer” (210).

Blythe thinks about the painting of the mother and child, which she now calls “Sam’s painting”—and which Fox took when he moved out.

Violet continues to provoke Blythe, this time over Fox’s new girlfriend who now lives with him. She cryptically tells her mother, “There’s something you should know about her” (213), without revealing what that is.

When Blythe is 12, about a year after Cecilia left, she goes to a diner with the Ellingtons and sees her mother there. Cecilia has completely reinvented herself: She calls herself by her middle name, “Annie”; wears black heels; and speaks with affected sophistication. Blythe is relieved that Cecilia does not see her.

That night, Blythe prays for her mother to die.