Avery agrees to meet with Alisa’s media consultant, Landon, not because Avery plans to attend the charity gala, but because complying is the easiest way to keep everyone from pressing her. Landon explains that after the morning’s attack, public interest in Avery and Libby will intensify, and Avery’s legal team wants Avery to say as little as possible about the incident.

As Landon drills Avery on the approved line, Avery struggles to repeat that she is grateful to be alive and grateful to be at the gala. Avery’s thoughts keep returning to Libby and Drake: Avery desperately insists to herself that Libby would never hurt her or knowingly let Drake hurt her, but Avery is shaken by the fact that Libby did not block Drake’s number.

Landon coaches Avery on posture, tone, and emotional presentation, telling Avery that the public sees Avery as a spectacle rather than a real person. Landon urges Avery to seem vulnerable without actually becoming vulnerable, and Avery begins to connect the scripted gratitude to something real: money means safety, and despite everything, Avery wants to live.

Landon then tests Avery with hostile, invasive questions, teaching Avery not to answer unless she can redirect to the practiced message. Avery manages to hold back when asked about her mother and Tobias Hawthorne, whether Avery staged the attack, and how Avery feels about the Hawthorne family, then uses a question about her injuries to repeat the gratitude line.

When Landon asks whether Libby is involved with the man who tried to kill Avery or connected to the attempt on Avery’s life, Avery loses control and blurts that Libby had nothing to do with it. Landon calmly restarts the exercise, making clear that Avery has not yet mastered the emotional discipline needed for the gala.