The Last Housewife

Lying in bed with Jamie, Shay feels a buildup of tension. Jamie can sense it as well, and Shay notes how her sexual relationship with Jamie has been easier and more natural than her previous relationships, including her marriage to Cal. Shay says she is on the verge of some kind of breakdown, and Jamie asks if it is like during their senior year of high school. Shay confirms that it is, and Jamie asks what happened in high school that led to Shay’s title as valedictorian being taken away. Shay decides to tell Jamie the story and reaches for his phone to do another interview.

This chapter is a transcript of Jamie’s podcast, Transgressions, episode 705, in which Jamie interviews Shay. Shay and Jamie talk about their senior year, during which Shay became popular, receiving the title of Prom Queen. The star football player of their class was Anderson Thomas, who asked Shay to be his date to prom. Shay notes that everyone loved Anderson, but Jamie has another perspective on him, describing him as a different person when only in the company of other men. Jamie also asked Shay to prom, but Shay dismissed him. Shay drank too much at the prom afterparty, and she and Jamie got into a fight when Anderson tried to take Shay to his bedroom. Shay does not remember much past that, but she and Jamie agree that Anderson sexually assaulted her, and that other people saw the assault happen. Afterward, Shay and Anderson didn’t talk, and Shay’s friendship with Jamie deteriorated. At the end of senior year, the day before graduation, Shay lit Mr. Trevors’s classroom on fire, taking revenge for Mr. Trevors’s violence against Nina. The principal and superintendent, knowing that Mr. Trevors assaulted Nina, did not press charges against Shay, agreeing to instead strip her of the valedictorian title and ban her from future events. Shay decided to go to Whitney instead of the University of Texas, which Jamie saw as an indication of their failed friendship, but which Shay saw as a way to restart her life.

In the present, Jamie worries that Shay has confessed to a crime, noting that he should not publish this interview. Shay isn’t worried, as the matter was settled in high school, but she worries that Jamie might not want to get back into bed with her.

Jamie confesses to Shay that he asked her to prom because he was in love with her. He explains how he changed his schedule in high school, dropping clubs and activities to spend more time with her, and how he chose to go to Columbia University to be closer to Whitney. Shay is shocked, but she sees that Jamie is telling the truth. Shay says she is glad she told Jamie about the fire, and she suggests that they go to a club to drink and dance, as a way of rewriting the prom afterparty years prior. The two fall asleep together.

Jamie reveals that Don and Rachel are likely using fake identities, and that the names “Don” and “Rachel” are likely also fake. The next Pater meeting is at Campbell Island, and Jamie notes that Dominus Holdings, which paid Laurel’s rent, owns the island. Shay realizes that Greggy, the Pater she met at the meeting in the city, is likely Greg E., or Gregory Ellworth, the name Jamie tied to Dominus Holdings. Jamie’s team has connected with the governor, and they are planning to release evidence to the state. Jamie spots a man taking pictures of him and Shay, and they tackle him. Shay realizes that the man works for Cal, and she calls Cal, telling him that their marriage is over. Jamie is stunned, but Shay pushes forward with planning the next Pater meeting.

On the island, Shay waits outside the lodge with other daughters, and Dorsey, the Lieutenant, the Disciple, and the Marquis come out, followed by other Paters. Dorsey explains that the day’s event is a “nymph hunt,” where the daughters run into the forest and the Paters chase them to assault them. The hunt begins, and Shay sprints into the forest, where she runs into Nicole. Nicole says Dorsey told her he would never let her go to Hilltop, and Nicole is ashamed that she didn’t listen to Shay. Shay tells Nicole to meet her at the motel where she is staying with Jamie, but the two are interrupted by Dorsey, the Lieutenant, and the Disciple. Dorsey heard their conversation, and he recognizes Shay, revealing to the others that she may be a reporter. Shay insults the Paters, and Nicole tells Dorsey that he bores her, prompting the Paters to chase Nicole and Shay. The two women run, but Nicole trips, pulling Shay down with her. Dorsey slams Nicole’s head into a tree, and Shay screams.

Shay tackles Dorsey, taking a knife out of her dress. The Lieutenant and the Disciple circle her as she threatens Dorsey with the knife. None of the men think she will hurt Dorsey, and they charge at her. Shay realizes she does not have the will to kill the men, so she tries to dodge them, falling into the Disciple. The Disciple hits Shay in the head, and she faints. Shay wakes up in the back of a van with her hands tied and a hood over her head. Wiggling out of the rope binding her hands, she removes the hood and finds Nicole next to her. Nicole is unconscious, and Shay can hear the Lieutenant and the Disciple talking in the front seat. They are approaching Hilltop, and Shay looks forward to getting revenge on Don and Rachel.

The Paters bring Shay into Hilltop, and Shay notices the antique weapons and gardens, which confirm that Don is the Philosopher. She is excited at the prospect of getting revenge, and one of the Paters notices her loose bindings, tightening them while tying her to a chair. Rachel arrives, but Shay immediately recognizes her as Laurel. Shay is confused, because she saw pictures of Laurel’s body, and Laurel responds when the Paters call her “Rachel.” The Paters tell Laurel that Shay and Nicole tried to escape, and they add that Dorsey and Greg E. are liabilities. Laurel dismisses them, noting that this is an important time for the Pater Society. The men resent being dismissed, but they leave when Laurel tells them that the Philosopher is busy. When they are alone, Shay asks Laurel how she is alive and if she is safe. Laurel is surprised that Shay came back to New York, and Shay explains that she came back to avenge Laurel’s death. Laurel reminisces that Shay used to keep her safe in college, and she agrees to tell Shay her story.

Laurel explains that, after Clem’s death, she did not want to leave Don. Before the group moved into Don’s house, Laurel felt that Shay was controlling her life, and she resented it. When she and Shay checked out Don’s house and found it empty, it was a crushing blow for Laurel, and she resolved to find Don again and return to the life she led in his house. After graduation, Laurel searched for Don, then she took the catering job in the hope of seeing Don at a party or event. She found Mr. X at the Hudson Mansion, and Mr. X told her how to find the Tongue-Cut Sparrow. After a period of selling herself at the Sparrow, Laurel created Dominus Holdings to mask her wealth from sex work. One night, Laurel found Rachel at the Sparrow, and Rachel reluctantly brought her back to Don. Continuing to use Dominus Holdings, Don and Laurel built the Pater Society, and Laurel says they are on the verge of some large change. Laurel is proud of the Pater Society, and she says that she and Don are in love, effectively married.

Shay is shocked, struggling to accept that Laurel had entirely different motives than Shay had suspected. She asks Laurel where Rachel is, and Laurel explains how Rachel killed the women that tried to run from the Pater Society. Rachel was killing the women without permission, burying them in the garden at Hilltop and leaving the task of covering up the murders to Laurel and Don. However, Don loved Rachel, even though, as Laurel reveals, she was not his biological daughter. Laurel found out that Rachel killed Clem, framing her death to look like a suicide, and she confronted Rachel about Clem’s death and the missing women. When Rachel refused to change her course of action, Laurel killed her, trying to make her death look like Clem’s suicide. However, Laurel was not good at killing, and Dorsey had to cover up her mistakes, which explains the missing elements of the police file on Laurel’s death. After Rachel was out of the way, Laurel relished having Don to herself, and now she sees Shay as a threat to her happy life with Don. Shay explains that she has no intention of competing for Don’s attention, and she asks Laurel to help her escape. At that moment, Don arrives, but, before he can come to the room where Shay is restrained, Laurel hugs Shay and cuts away the ropes tying her to the chair. Laurel tells Shay to leave, and Shay tells Laurel to come with her, but Laurel says she needs to distract Don. Laurel says that Shay has to leave or else she will be trapped at Hilltop forever.