Summary

“Part Four: Vanessa” is narrated by Vanessa in the present tense. In Chapter 24, she wakes up next to Michael and remembers they drunkenly ran off to Reno the previous night and got married. She is wearing the ring he was going to propose to Ashley with, and Nina feels victorious.

In Chapter 25, Vanessa remembers how cool and intimidating she had thought Ashley was. She thinks back to how she had hidden inside Stonehaven for several days after opening up about her father to “Ashley.” She finds her mother’s secret diary hidden inside Stonehaven. She learns that her father was having an affair with Lily Ross, the mother of Benny’s high school girlfriend, Nina Ross. Vanessa’s mother last entry, written just days before her suicide, detailed how Lily Ross had written to her and threatened to expose the secrets of her...