Johan came home unexpectedly and told Marianne that he'd been in a love affair with someone named Paula. After his declaration of breaking away from the past, and Marianne's failing to detain him, Johan drove away.

Marianne and Johan meet at his office to sign divorce papers, but Johan refuses. The two fight savagely. Johan declares that they are emotional illiterates. They sign the papers.

The story begins around Marianne's and Johan's 10th anniversary, when a reporter for a women's magazine interviews them. Peter and Katarina visit later for dinner, and cruelly humiliate one another.

Johan is disillusioned with Paula and revisits Marianne. They discuss their current lives and Johan attempts to initiate sex, but Marianne is unwilling. He attempts to spend the night but cannot sleep and leaves.

Marianne and Johan have married other people, but are unhappy. Having met coincidentally in a theatre some time earlier, they have begun secretly seeing each other again. On the 20th anniversary of their wedding, they decide to spend time together at their country house. Finding that too strange, they go to a friend's country house instead. There they discuss how much they have changed, with Marianne more self-conscious and Johan accepting his real abilities. When Marianne awakes panicking from a nightmare, Johan comforts her.

Marianne tries to withdraw from a Sunday dinner with her parents but fails and realizes how difficult it is for her to let down other people's expectations. Johan flirts with another woman at work.