During the twelve-hour break before phase two, Rohan decides to spend only a small portion of the time sleeping. Years at the Mercy have trained him to function on little rest, and he believes the better use of time is plotting his next move with five players left and another challenge ahead.

In the shower, Rohan mentally maps the game pieces. Knox, Odette, and Gigi are gone, but Grayson Hawthorne has entered the field. Rohan decides Grayson is not a piece to manipulate but a dangerous player, and he suspects Lyra Kane’s connection to Grayson, her father, and the mysterious notes could become useful. Brady Daniels remains harder for Rohan to read.

Rohan then focuses on Savannah Grayson, whose temporary alliance with him is his best chance of neutralizing Grayson and, by extension, Lyra. Rohan goes to Savannah’s room, where Savannah admits she nearly turned on him at the dock by provoking Grayson and blaming the power outages on Rohan, but she did not because she considers herself honorable.

Rohan presses Savannah about Avery Grambs and realizes Savannah wants the public visibility of the Grandest Game’s livestream. Their conversation turns intimate and adversarial, reinforcing that their alliance is built on attraction, manipulation, and the expectation that they will eventually destroy each other.

Rohan asks what Savannah plans to do when she wins. Savannah reveals that she intends to use the victory moment to tell the world who Avery Grambs and the Hawthornes really are, before they can control the story with lawyers or public relations. She ends by revealing her accusation: Avery Grambs killed her father.