Sean has always known that Emily was trouble and that she hid things from him, but he gave up trying to understand. He knows that he should’ve ended the relationship after she stole his mother’s ring, but her danger attracted him. After they had Nicky, however, she became distant, transferring her love to their son. Believing that she only stays for Nicky, he expects her to leave him.

He went along with Emily’s insurance fraud idea because he never thought they would do it. They didn’t need the money, but she wanted the excitement and risk. He knows that if he didn’t go along with it, their marriage would end. Although she told him not to believe she was dead, when he got the autopsy and DNA report, he did. He believed it was an accident because she would never willingly leave Nicky. The only things that didn’t make sense on the autopsy were the liver damage and signs of long-term drug use, but he told himself “[t]hey must have gotten that wrong” (257).

Sean doesn’t love Stephanie, but he likes her predictability. She doesn’t know that he knows about her secrets. When he gets Emily’s text, Sean is shocked. When she texts him the name of the restaurant where he proposed, he knows that Emily is truly alive.