Chap­ter 22 opens with Phoebe dri­ving alone in the Mer­cedes toward the Break­ers, lost in deep con­tem­pla­tion about hap­pi­ness and ful­fill­ment. As she dri­ves past the grand man­sions that line the way, she can’t help but reflect on the wed­ding prepa­ra­tions underway—preparations for an event that is des­tined not to hap­pen. She observes how every­thing around her seems metic­u­lous­ly curat­ed, with each house per­fect­ly posi­tioned to sug­gest wealth and com­fort. Yet, despite the out­ward appear­ance of per­fec­tion, Phoebe ques­tions what it real­ly means to have every­thing and still feel emp­ty. What is it that peo­ple are lack­ing when their lives appear so com­plete on the sur­face? The stark con­trast between the beau­ty of her sur­round­ings and her inner tur­moil cap­tures the com­plex­i­ty of her sit­u­a­tion. She is approach­ing a piv­otal moment, aware that she is car­ry­ing a dif­fi­cult truth with her—Lila will not be attend­ing her wed­ding to Gary, some­thing Phoebe must soon reveal to him.

When Phoebe arrives at the venue and speaks to Gary, she deliv­ers the dif­fi­cult news with care­ful con­sid­er­a­tion. She rec­og­nizes his sto­icism in the way he lis­tens, acknowl­edg­ing that he has already accept­ed the inevitable. Gary’s response, though calm, car­ries a deep sense of emo­tion­al res­ig­na­tion, embody­ing the qui­et defeat that so often accom­pa­nies unspo­ken pain. Phoebe, feel­ing the weight of the moment, prac­tices the words she will speak aloud to the crowd: “Lila and Gary will not be get­ting mar­ried today.” The announce­ment lands with a mix­ture of con­fu­sion and dis­ap­point­ment, as the guests, who had gath­ered in antic­i­pa­tion, now find them­selves ques­tion­ing the pur­pose of their pres­ence. The extrav­a­gant cost of the event seems absurd, a non-event that has caused much more expense than any­one antic­i­pat­ed. Mean­while, the mys­tery sur­round­ing Lila deepens—she is said to be at the hotel, prepar­ing to leave for Cana­da, leav­ing every­one to won­der why she would aban­don such a sig­nif­i­cant moment. Her absence casts a long shad­ow over the cer­e­mo­ny that nev­er tru­ly began.

Once the crowd begins to dis­perse, Phoebe and Matt cross paths, and their encounter sig­nals a turn­ing point. Phoebe opens up to Matt, explain­ing her deci­sion to stay in St. Louis no longer. She shares her inten­tion to leave him and pur­sue her own dreams, a future that will involve liv­ing in a nine­teenth-cen­tu­ry man­sion and ded­i­cat­ing her­self to writ­ing. These ambi­tions are not dri­ven by bit­ter­ness, but by the desire to carve out a life of her own, one that reflects her per­son­al goals and aspi­ra­tions. Matt lis­tens with con­cern, try­ing to grasp the mag­ni­tude of her deci­sion. There is a sense of bit­ter­sweet­ness in their con­ver­sa­tion, as they nav­i­gate the emo­tions tied to the end of their rela­tion­ship. Matt offers his thoughts with a mix of humor and wor­ry, reflect­ing on their aca­d­e­m­ic lives and what they had once planned togeth­er. The con­ver­sa­tion reveals how far they have drift­ed apart, and despite the ten­der­ness of the exchange, there is a deep sad­ness that under­scores their words. It’s a con­ver­sa­tion filled with love, but also the painful recog­ni­tion that their paths have diverged, lead­ing them in dif­fer­ent direc­tions.

Despite the heavy emo­tions in the air, Phoebe finds a moment of lev­i­ty. She opens a bot­tle of cham­pagne, the sound of the cork pop­ping offer­ing a brief respite from the ten­sion. They share a toast, and in that fleet­ing moment, the weight of their con­ver­sa­tion is momen­tar­i­ly lift­ed. It’s a bit­ter­sweet cel­e­bra­tion of the changes they both face, a qui­et acknowl­edg­ment that life will move for­ward, regard­less of the pain it brings. Phoebe, in that brief moment of shared joy, feels a mix­ture of sor­row and lib­er­a­tion. The cham­pagne, a small indul­gence, tastes of pos­si­bil­i­ty and new begin­nings, even as it sym­bol­izes the end of some­thing that once was. The toast is a trib­ute to their shared his­to­ry, and also to their indi­vid­ual futures, now sep­a­rat­ed by their choic­es. As Phoebe takes a sip, she feels a grow­ing sense of clar­i­ty about who she is and what she wants from life. In this qui­et cel­e­bra­tion, she also finds strength in her abil­i­ty to nav­i­gate the unknown, real­iz­ing that she is on the cusp of some­thing entire­ly new.

The chap­ter ends with Phoebe rec­og­niz­ing the sub­tle, yet pro­found, changes she’s under­gone. Her opti­mism remains intact, but it is now tem­pered by the wis­dom that comes with fac­ing dif­fi­cult deci­sions. There is no longer the same sense of hes­i­ta­tion that once marked her, replaced by a sense of readi­ness to step into the next chap­ter of her life. The jux­ta­po­si­tion of sad­ness and lib­er­a­tion adds com­plex­i­ty to her jour­ney, hint­ing at the growth she has expe­ri­enced through the chal­lenges she has faced. Phoebe’s will­ing­ness to embrace the changes in her life—both per­son­al and professional—marks a turn­ing point in her char­ac­ter arc. As she savors the moment, she under­stands that the small steps she takes toward her future will be what ulti­mate­ly defines her. The bit­ter­sweet taste of cham­pagne becomes sym­bol­ic of the new pos­si­bil­i­ties that await her, even as she grap­ples with the rem­nants of her past.