After Grayson leaves the gallery, Avery remains alone, unsettled by what she has learned: Jameson said he broke up with Emily, Grayson suggested he killed her, and Thea appears to be using Avery’s resemblance to Emily to hurt them both. Xander finds Avery and jokes about the party, but Avery says she wants to leave.

Xander stops Avery by pointing out that the dance floor has opened and that Avery should give Alisa and the photographers one dance before leaving. During the waltz, Xander tells Avery that Tobias Hawthorne gave the boys money to invest on their birthdays and that Xander put his into cryptocurrency, eventually selling it for nearly one hundred million dollars. Avery realizes the Hawthorne brothers may not have been left with nothing, though Xander says the brothers were forbidden from discussing their investments.

As they dance for the press, Xander hints that the photographers may assume he and Avery are dating, then reveals that he once fake-dated Thea. Emily had wanted Thea and Xander together, unaware that Thea was secretly in love with Rebecca. Xander agreed to the act not for Thea, but to protect Rebecca and give Rebecca something of her own.

Avery connects Xander’s comments and asks whether Thea and Rebecca were right to fear Emily’s reaction. Xander confirms that Emily reacted badly after discovering their relationship on the night Emily died, seeing it as a betrayal. This revelation adds another emotional conflict to the events surrounding Emily’s death.

After the dance, Alisa is satisfied that Avery has given the press a story and permits Avery to leave. Avery invites Xander to come, but Xander says he cannot because he has solved the Black Wood challenge. Although Xander could win, Xander wants Jameson and Grayson to follow Avery, so Xander instructs Avery to return to Hawthorne House, take a waiting helicopter over the Black Wood, and let the brothers pursue her.