The Riva House Goes Up in Flames: Chapter 34 at 3:00 a.m.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

At 3:00 a.m., the party at Nina Riva's Malibu house is still raging, but Ted Travis—the highest-paid star on network television—is not enjoying himself. Since his wife Willa died the previous year, Ted has been spiraling. He sobs alone in his enormous house, hires sex workers, shoplifts, and has escalated from occasional cocaine use to a full-blown speed addiction. Yet none of this chaos shows on the outside; in fact, he looks even more handsome with gray hair, and he sometimes hears Willa's ghost laughing that he has no right to age so well without her. Drinking is the only thing that quiets that voice.

At the party, Ted has already consumed half a bottle of whiskey, lost four thousand dollars on a bet to a woman from Flashdance, and fallen asleep fully clothed in the shallow end of the pool. A cannonball from another guest wakes him, and he climbs out, dripping wet.

In the living room, he spots a woman he doesn't recognize: a tall, lean forty-three-year-old script supervisor named Victoria Brooks, who goes by Vickie. She has bleached blond hair, dark eyebrows, and a striking profile. Ted approaches her with his TV smile, but Vickie rolls her eyes and tells him she knows who he is. She already has a drink and rebuffs his offer to get her another. When he asks what he has to do to get a smile from her, she bluntly suggests he sober up, noting he's embarrassed himself about ten times that night.

Ted laughs and admits she's right—he keeps trying to enjoy himself but is too sad all the time. That honesty catches Vickie's attention. She is also deeply sad: her husband died in a boating accident seven years ago, and she has resigned herself to loneliness, unwilling to love again because of the pain it brings. Surprising herself, she agrees to have one drink with him.

Ted fetches her a fresh vodka soda, straightens his damp clothes, and returns. He tells her he wants to take her out and asks if she's a fan of grand gestures. Vickie sighs and says she guesses so, but she's not going on a date with him. Ted, playing the role he's paid for, decides to make a scene. He climbs onto the mantel, asks a surfer to pass him the chandelier, grabs a handful of crystals, and swings across the room, shouting that he wants to take Vickie to dinner. He hits the opposite wall, lets go, and crashes onto a sofa with a howl.

Vickie rushes to help him, wrapping her arms around him to get him up. The warmth of her hands makes Ted feel, for half a second, no longer alone. Instead of standing, he pulls her down to him and asks if he can kiss her. When she smiles, he does. She feels his soft lips and doesn't pull away; a thrill runs through her. She pulls back speechless, then, drunk and confused and desperate for something she thought she'd never want again, she kisses him a second time. To the two of them, it feels magical—the surprise of sincere desire—even if it looks absurd to the cheering crowd.

But Ted is already planning his next escapade. He asks Vickie if she has ever stolen something, a smile creeping over his face.

Key Events

Ted Travis, a famous TV star, is in a state of self-destruction following his wife Willa's death a year earlier.
At Nina's party, he drinks heavily, loses money on a bet, and falls asleep in the pool.
He meets Vickie Brooks, a script supervisor who has been lonely since her husband's death seven years ago.
Vickie initially rejects Ted's advances but agrees to a drink after he admits his sadness.
Ted performs a chandelier-swinging stunt to impress her, crashes onto a sofa, and Vickie rushes to help him.
He pulls her down, asks to kiss her, and they share two kisses.
Ted ends the scene by asking Vickie if she has ever stolen something, hinting at his next reckless act.

Character Development

Ted Travis is a study in contrast. Outwardly, he is the epitome of success—handsome, wealthy, and beloved on television. Inwardly, he is falling apart. His grief over Willa manifests in increasingly dangerous behaviors: drug use, shoplifting, and reckless stunts. The chapter shows that his public persona is a performance; he admits to Vickie that he's just going through the motions. His decision to swing from a chandelier is both a desperate attempt to impress her and a symptom of his self-destructive spiral. The kiss with Vickie offers a fleeting moment of connection, but even then, Ted's mind immediately jumps to the next thrill—stealing something—suggesting he cannot sit with genuine emotion for long.

Vickie Brooks is introduced as a woman who has armored herself against love. Her husband's death seven years ago left her resigned to loneliness, and she initially dismisses Ted's charm. Yet his raw admission of sadness resonates with her own pain. Her willingness to accept a drink, and later to kiss him, represents a crack in her defenses. The chapter shows her as someone who is not looking for a relationship but is unexpectedly moved by a shared sense of loss. Her second kiss—driven by