Stoddard wins the lawsuit, and Roark refuses to appeal. Dominique writes an article that quotes most of her testimony from the trial. Her boss refuses to publish it, and Dominique threatens to quit if he does not. Unsure of what to do, her boss wires Gail Wynand in the Caribbean for directions. Wynand wires back, “Fire the bitch.” Toohey obtains a copy of the telegram and gives it to Dominique. She confronts her boss with it, packs up her things, and leaves.

Katie talks with her Uncle Ellsworth; she tells him how unhappy she is in her job as a social worker. She is becoming mean, hating the very people she is trying to help. Toohey tells her that she must give up her ego; only when she has shed herself of that will she be truly happy. Keating comes to see her, which he has not done for several months. Katie can see that he has been drinking. He proposes that they get married the next day. Meekly, Katie agrees. When Toohey comes to her room, she tells him that she is no longer afraid of him.

Dominique arrives at Keating’s home and announces to him that she will marry him. They drive to Connecticut to the home of a judge and are married in his front room. When they drive back to New York, Dominique drops off Keating at his home; she tells him that she will move her things to his apartment the next day. However, at this moment she has things to do. She drives to Roark’s home, where she makes love to him and tells him for the first time that she loves him. She also tells him that she married Peter Keating. Roark says nothing; he restrains himself. Dominique explains that she married Keating the way she had originally told him, as a punishment to herself. She is punishing herself for living in a world where Roark is not appreciated. Thus, her marriage to Keating is her gift to Roark. Roark asks her if she would obey if he ordered her to get her marriage annulled. Dominique says she would, and Roark replies that for that reason he will not. They will continue as they are until her punishment is complete.

Dominique shows up at Keating’s home the next morning. Mrs. Keating is elated at first, but Dominique treats her with quite politeness. Mrs. Keating knows that, after she recovers, she will hate her new daughter-in-law. That evening people show up to wish them well. When they are alone, Keating makes love to Dominique for the first time. She is merely present but does not participate. He discovers that she is not a virgin and asks who the man was. She tells him it was Howard Roark, but he does not believe her. Ellsworth Toohey comes to congratulate them and tells them that they are now a threesome. Toohey hires Keating, along with three others, to redesign the Stoddard Temple into the Hopton Stoddard Home for Subnormal Children. When it is completed, Katie is hired as a permanent caretaker. Toohey meets Roark at the Stoddard Home. He asks Roark what he thinks of him. Roark replies that he does not think of him at all.