Serena has ended her engagement, but Trevor still talks as though their missed marriage-license appointment only needs a new date. She agrees to attend his grandfather's birthday banquet for a fee. He takes her presence as a sign that she has come back. In Uncle's New Wife, Nephew's Regret, the awkward part is how many people continue to call her Mrs. Levine after she has said she is leaving.
Trevor has already chosen who gets his attention
He skips the city hall appointment to stay with Amber, the Levine family's adopted daughter. Serena hears him tell Amber that nobody matters more. When Serena ends the engagement, Trevor asks her to apologize to Amber. He barely seems to hear what Serena is saying.
His tablet makes the imbalance difficult to dismiss. It holds thousands of photographs of him with Amber, though he has resisted being photographed with Serena. She removes her belongings and their wedding portrait from the proposed marital home. Trevor doesn't notice because he never looks closely at the unused main bedroom. He is so certain she will return that he doesn't see her leaving.
One paid appearance becomes a public misunderstanding
Serena cares about Bryce, Trevor's grandfather, and doesn't want to ruin his celebration. She asks Trevor to pay her for appearing at the banquet. That gives the evening a limit: she is there for Bryce's birthday, not to restart the engagement.
Trevor immediately tests the limit. He tells her to change her dress, expects her to sit beside him in the car and puts his arm around her when they arrive. Serena slips a scarf between his hand and her arm. It is a small, funny-looking barrier, but it says more than she can safely say in front of the family. Meanwhile, Trevor announces when they will register their marriage. Her decision to avoid a scene for Bryce lets everyone else pretend nothing has changed.
Sebastian pays attention, then gets her name wrong
Sebastian, Trevor's uncle, arrives during the banquet. Serena is embarrassed around him because of an old mistake: at sixteen, she knocked on the wrong door and confessed her feelings for Trevor to Sebastian instead. The memory explains her discomfort. It doesn't establish a past romance between them.
When Trevor leaves with Amber after she cuts her hand, Sebastian turns a dish toward Serena and remembers that she liked it as a child. Later, a chauffeur drives her while Sebastian works through an international meeting. She wakes beneath a blanket. His care is quiet and specific, though she has no reason yet to know what it means.
At the end of chapter 5, Sebastian calls her his nephew's wife. Serena corrects him before heading back to her own apartment and court work. Even the person who noticed her preferred food has not caught up with her decision. She has to make the correction out loud because nobody else will.