Chap­ter 48 is a piv­otal moment in the protagonist’s jour­ney, as she des­per­ate­ly search­es for a way to help Har­ry reclaim his life. Harry’s rela­tion­ship with his daugh­ter, Con­nor, is the foun­da­tion of his poten­tial recov­ery. Connor’s love for her father is uncon­di­tion­al, and her depen­dence on him serves as a con­stant reminder of the respon­si­bil­i­ty Har­ry has to stay sober and present. The deep bond they share is unmistakable—Connor’s like­ness to Har­ry grows every day, from her broad frame to her strik­ing ice-blue eyes, a phys­i­cal man­i­fes­ta­tion of their shared his­to­ry. But despite the joy they bring each oth­er, Harry’s strug­gles with alco­hol are far from over. When Con­nor is not with him, Har­ry retreats back into his old habits, drink­ing him­self to sleep and spi­ral­ing into emo­tion­al iso­la­tion.

The pro­tag­o­nist under­stands that Har­ry needs more than just Connor’s love to stay on track; he needs pur­pose, and for her, the key to unlock­ing that pur­pose lies in work. She knows the only thing that will tru­ly get Har­ry out of his self-destruc­tive cycle is find­ing a project he can feel pas­sion­ate about, one that will give him a rea­son to get out of bed every morn­ing. This is where the protagonist’s role comes in—not just as a sup­port­ive part­ner but as some­one who can find the right project that speaks to both Har­ry and her­self. She sets out on a tire­less search for the per­fect script, know­ing that if Har­ry believes the role is impor­tant enough for her, he might just find the strength to engage with it ful­ly.

After weeks of read­ing hun­dreds of scripts, she comes across one from Max Girard. The script is called All for Us, and it speaks to her on a per­son­al level—it’s a sto­ry about a sin­gle moth­er strug­gling to sur­vive in New York City, try­ing to bal­ance her dreams with the harsh real­i­ties of rais­ing three chil­dren. The sto­ry was deeply mov­ing, one that would res­onate with Harry’s struggles—both as a father and as some­one who has fought to find mean­ing in his life. The pro­tag­o­nist knows that this script, with its por­tray­al of resilience and hope, could pro­vide Har­ry with the incen­tive to rise above his addic­tion. But it’s not just the role that excites her—it’s the oppor­tu­ni­ty to play a pow­er­ful, com­plex char­ac­ter that would show­case her skills and final­ly give her the recog­ni­tion she’s been striv­ing for. Her need for this role is not only per­son­al; it is the cat­a­lyst she believes will pull Har­ry out of his funk.

She doesn’t waste any time in pre­sent­ing the script to Har­ry, hop­ing it will spark some­thing with­in him. At first, he resists, as he has resist­ed so much of life in recent months. But when she men­tions how this role might final­ly win her that elu­sive Oscar, some­thing clicks. Har­ry picks up the script, and for the first time in a long while, he seems gen­uine­ly engaged. The project pro­vides not only the pos­si­bil­i­ty of pro­fes­sion­al suc­cess for her but also a tan­gi­ble way to help Har­ry. The film might not be the mag­ic cure for all his prob­lems, but it gives him a rea­son to leave his bed and re-engage with the world. The film­ing process itself becomes a source of solace for both of them, a dis­trac­tion from the dark­ness Har­ry faces every day. While the film doesn’t fix every­thing, it does give him a sense of purpose—a reminder that there is some­thing in his life worth fight­ing for.

Months pass, and the pro­tag­o­nist and Har­ry attend the Oscars togeth­er. Max Girard, who has become an increas­ing­ly impor­tant fig­ure in her life, attends with a mod­el named Brid­get Man­ners, but he jok­ing­ly laments that all he tru­ly want­ed was to attend with her. The jokes about her past mar­riages, includ­ing her many failed rela­tion­ships, add a touch of lev­i­ty to the oth­er­wise tense atmos­phere. Despite being tech­ni­cal­ly “on a date” with some­one else, it feels as though Max, the man who helped her find her voice in the indus­try, is right there beside her, pro­vid­ing qui­et sup­port. As they sit in the front row togeth­er, it’s clear that, for the pro­tag­o­nist, these are the two men who have been con­stants in her life—Max, her pro­fes­sion­al part­ner, and Har­ry, the man who shares her past, with whom she has fought so many bat­tles.

Mean­while, Con­nor is back at the hotel with Luisa, watch­ing the cer­e­mo­ny on tele­vi­sion. Ear­li­er in the day, she had giv­en each of them draw­ings for good luck—a gold star for the pro­tag­o­nist and a light­ning bolt for Har­ry. The sim­plic­i­ty of the ges­ture is a touch­ing reminder of the inno­cence and love that Con­nor still holds for both her par­ents, despite the com­pli­ca­tions that lie between them. The pro­tag­o­nist tucks her gold star into her clutch, and Har­ry, ever sen­ti­men­tal, care­ful­ly places his light­ning bolt draw­ing in the pock­et of his tuxe­do.

When the nom­i­nees for Best Actress are announced, the pro­tag­o­nist is over­whelmed by an unex­pect­ed realization—she hadn’t tru­ly believed she could win. Despite years of hard work, despite the strug­gles and tri­umphs, there’s a nag­ging doubt that her accom­plish­ments would ever tru­ly be rec­og­nized. The Oscar rep­re­sents more than just a tro­phy; it rep­re­sents cred­i­bil­i­ty, val­i­da­tion, and the kind of respect she’s always sought. But when her name is final­ly called, the real­i­ty of it is almost too much to process. She stares ahead, her heart rac­ing as her breath catch­es in her throat, unsure if she’s hear­ing things cor­rect­ly. Then, Har­ry squeezes her hand, and she hears his voice whis­per, “You did it.” In that moment, every­thing she’s worked for, every­thing she’s sac­ri­ficed, sud­den­ly feels worth it. She stands, her legs unsteady, and makes her way to the podi­um, her heart still pound­ing in her chest.

When she reach­es the podi­um, she takes the Oscar from Brick Thomas, her hands shak­ing slight­ly as she places it over her heart, try­ing to steady her breath­ing. The applause fills the room, a tidal wave of sound that seems to go on for­ev­er. And then, as the noise sub­sides, she leans into the micro­phone, her speech flow­ing between what she had pre­pared and what she was feel­ing in that moment. The words come from the heart, acknowl­edg­ing the peo­ple who have helped her along the way—Max, Har­ry, and, most impor­tant­ly, Con­nor. She real­izes now, as she stands there with her Oscar in hand, that the jour­ney to this point has been about more than just fame. It’s about the peo­ple who have shaped her life, who have loved her through the highs and lows, and who have remind­ed her time and again that she is enough, just as she is.