While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her.
Christian and Ana decide to rekindle their relationship, except this time there are no more rules or punishments. As they begin to get used to their newfound relationship, Christian's past begins to haunt Ana as Christian struggles with his innermost thoughts.
Unable to overcome the fundamental differences between them after discovering Christians' obscure side, Anastasia finally finds the courage to move on with her life; however, she is totally unaware that Christian still wants her desperately back. Soon, the two lovers will find themselves renegotiating the terms of a brand-new, no rules, no punishments--and above all--no secrets proposition, in a proper "vanilla" relationship with no strings attached. But, inevitably, Christian's well-hidden past is bound to catch up with them to finally expose the skeletons in his closet. Is the already fragile relationship, that both Anastasia and Christian so ferociously fought to establish, in danger?—Nick Riganas
Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), after his breakup with his girlfriend, has nightmares about the abuse he suffered during his childhood. Anastasia "Ana" Steele (Dakota Johnson) has begun her new job as an assistant to Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), an editor at Seattle Independent Publishing, who appears to show more than a casual interest in Ana. That evening, she attends Jose Rodriguez's (Victor Rasuk) art gallery show and is shocked to find Christian there. With some reluctance she agrees to have dinner with him. Christian tells her that he wants her back, but Ana is reluctant as he enjoys inflicting pain. He insists that he has changed and would agree to Ana's terms of no rules and no punishments if they would resume their relationship. She agrees.
A few days later, Ana is interrupted by a woman who bears a striking resemblance to her. She later goes out with Jack at a local bar. Christian sees Ana's boss flirting with her in the bar. He quickly departs with Ana, and he warns Ana of Jack's undisguised intentions. Christian also tells Ana that his own company has been looking to take-over control and ownership of SIP, where Ana works.
While out for breakfast with Christian, Ana notices the same woman watching them from a distance. When she asks him who it is, he does not immediately answer. At home, he reveals to her that the woman she saw was Leila Williams (Bella Heathcote), one of his former Submissives. He tells her that after their contract had ended, she wanted more to their relationship, but he didn't want to. She later found herself a husband, who then died. This caused her to suffer a mental breakdown and she has been stalking Ana and Christian for some time.
Later, Christian invites Ana to a masquerade ball at Christian's adoptive parents' house. Christian takes Ana to Esclava, a beauty salon, to get her prepared for the ball. There, she sees Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger), Christian's former dominant who introduced him to the BDSM lifestyle. Ana is furious that he would take her there and is shocked to find out that he co-owns the salon with Elena. At the ball, Ana learns that Christian had been expelled from four different schools for brawling. She also learns that Christian's mother was a prostitute addicted to crack. He reveals that his birth mother had committed suicide, and he was taken to a hospital, where Grace Trevelyan Grey (Marcia Gay Harden) took care of him and later adopted him. Later, Ana is accosted by Elena, who demands she break up with Christian. Ana refuses Elena's warnings and tells her to stop meddling in their relationship. When they arrive home, they discover Ana's car had been vandalized by Leila.
A few days later, when the offices close at SIP, Jack tries to seduce Ana while she is in the office. Ana manages to escape from the office leaving Jack behind. When Christian finds out about this, he arranges to have Jack dismissed from SIP by talking to the CEO. He also asks Ana to move in with him and she agrees after giving a thought. The next day, Ana gets Jack's now vacant position on a temporary basis as an acting editor for SIP.
Ana and Christian go to her apartment to retrieve her belongings. There, Leila appears and threatens her with a gun, revealing she vandalized Ana's car out of jealousy. When she shoots a wall behind Ana, Christian and Jason Taylor (Max Martini) appear, and Christian subdues Leila. Ana, seeing that Christian needs to be satisfied by his controlling and dominant personality, walks out and does not return home until later at night. Christian is furious at her, and she tries to calm him, saying that she needs time. Christian, who does not want to lose Ana, drops down to his knees and turns to a submissive. When she manages to bring him back, they kiss and have sex. During that night, Ana hears Christian having a nightmare and wakes him. He asks her to marry him, and she says she needs time to consider this.
In the ensuing days, Christian has an out-of-town business trip. While piloting in his own helicopter, the helicopter suffers an engine breakdown, which causes Christian to ditch in a forest. Ana and Christian's family wait for more news regarding Christian. When Christian unexpectedly arrives, Ana is overwhelmed to see him safe. Ana then realizes the extent of her affections for Christian and she accepts his marriage proposal.
At Christian's birthday party, Ana is surprised to see Elena there. When they announce their engagement, Elena becomes furious and calls Ana a gold digger. Ana angrily throws her drink at Elena and tells her to stop interfering in their relationship. Christian overhears the conversation and dismissively tells Elena that she taught him how to have sex and not how to love. Grace overhears that conversation, slaps Elena and orders her to leave her house. Christian then cuts all ties with Elena. Later, he proposes to Ana with a ring at the boathouse and she accepts. As the fireworks erupt in the sky, Jack watches the festivities from afar.
