| Director | James Foley |
|---|---|
| Budget | $60 million |
| Box office | $73.5 million |
Under the pen name David Shane, reporter Rowena Price investigates a sex scandal involving Senator Sachs alongside her researcher Miles Haley. However, the story is shut down when their source becomes silent and her editor Arvis Narron, a supporter of Sachs, puts a stop to the story.
While walking home, Rowena meets her childhood friend Grace Clayton, who seeks her help in taking down wealthy advertising executive Harrison Hill. Grace gives Rowena her e-mails as proof of their extramarital affair, which Harrison recently ended.
A few days later, Grace is found dead, drowned and poisoned with belladonna, leading Rowena to suspect Harrison. With Miles' help, she goes undercover as a temporary worker at Harrison's advertising company, H2A. While setting up gift bags for a Victoria's Secret collection launch, she meets fellow advertiser Gina, who reveals that Harrison is rich because of his wife, Mia, and if she left him, he would be penniless, causing him to be more secretive with his affairs.
Rowena flirts with Harrison both online and in real life, but she does not realize that the online Harrison is actually Miles, who is secretly obsessed with her. One evening, Harrison catches Rowena snooping, thinks she is a corporate spy, but believes her story of wanting to leave him a note without others finding out she likes him. He pretends to fires her, but only to take her to dinner where they make out. When she goes to the bathroom, he finds a text from Miles on her phone and discovers she has been lying. He finally accuses her of spying for his boss Jon Kirschenbaum and fires her.
At Miles's apartment, Rowena discovers a shrine to her and explicit pictures of Miles and Grace, before she confronts him. He defends himself by providing evidence that Harrison had access to belladonna for poisoning. Rowena goes to the police, and Harrison is arrested for the murder of Grace.
After Harrison's conviction, Miles visits Rowena and reveals that he knows she is the real killer and used the investigation to frame Harrison. Rowena then flashes back to a memory of her father attempting to molest her, and her mother subsequently bludgeoning him to death with a fireplace poker. A younger Grace watches from her window as they bury the body; Grace has been blackmailing Rowena with this information ever since.
Miles goes on to describe how Rowena had plotted the murder to end Grace's blackmail and pinned the crime on Harrison. When he asks how she intends to keep him quiet, she stabs him to death and ransacks the kitchen. Rowena then calls the police, claiming to have been attacked by Miles and that he might have been the real murderer. As she waits for the police, a man looks out of a neighboring window, having witnessed the events.