Rock Paper Scissors Ending Explained: The Final Twist and What It Really Means

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

The Literal Ending: What Actually Happens

The climax of Rock Paper Scissors takes place at Blackwater Chapel, a remote Scottish location where Robin—Adam's first wife—has lured Adam and his second wife, Amelia, for a supposedly free weekend away. Over the course of the weekend, Robin orchestrates a series of unsettling events: she lets the couple into the locked chapel, leaves clues about Henry Winter's death, and eventually reveals a devastating secret about Amelia's past.

In the final confrontation, Robin slides a letter under the chapel door addressed to Adam. The letter claims that Amelia was the girl involved in the hit-and-run that killed Adam's mother when he was thirteen. Robin provides evidence from a private investigator she hired, showing that Amelia had a criminal record, lived on the same council estate as Adam, and was questioned about the death but never charged. Adam confronts Amelia, who panics when her inhaler is empty and admits she was in the car that night. She then grabs a knife and lunges at Adam, but another figure—Robin—appears behind her holding a pair of scissors.

The novel does not show the actual act of violence. Instead, it jumps forward six months. In a letter dated 16 September 2020, Robin writes to Adam that they are reunited as a family with their dog Bob and a house rabbit named Oscar. They have returned to London, erased all traces of Amelia from their home, and Robin has become a full-time writer. Her novel, also titled Rock Paper Scissors, is set to be published under Henry Winter's name, with screen rights sold to a company Adam has always dreamed of working with—and a contract clause making Adam the sole screenwriter. Robin reveals that Henry Winter was her father and that he is dead. She also mentions trying to remove Adam's mother's sapphire ring from Amelia's