Don't Let Her Stay

Later that night in bed, Richard muses that perhaps Chloe is jealous that he’s remarried. He assures Joanne that he loves her and is happy with their life, despite what Chloe’s assertion that he still loves Diane. He makes Joanne promise to see her doctor. She makes an appointment for the following Thursday, and Richard plans to take the day off to support her and watch Evie. Joanne decides to visit Robyn after the appointment. In the three days before her appointment, Joanne tries to be patient with Chloe and Richard despite Chloe’s coldness.

At the appointment, Joanne describes the anxiety of having Chloe in the house, which the doctor says is normal. She writes Joanne a prescription for anxiety medication. Before meeting with Robyn, Joanne calls home to check on Evie, who is happy with Richard.

Joanne and Robyn catch up until Robyn asks about how Joanne is doing with Chloe in the house. Joanne breaks down and tells Robyn everything, including about the paracetamol bottle shards she sent to have tested. She explains that Chloe changes depending on whether Richard is around and that Richard always takes Chloe’s side. She says that Richard is using her mother’s illness against her. She tells Robyn about Chloe’s mother’s death and Chloe’s panic the first time she held Evie. Robyn validates Joanne’s fears and concerns and urges her to get Chloe out of the house. Joanne cries because Robyn is the first person to believe her. Robyn urges Joanne to trust her instincts.

At home, Joanne tells Richard about her new prescription. He suggests she take a pill and lie down, but she lies that she wants to look up some meditation videos first. Instead, she researches Diane. She reads an article about the accident, and the details line up with Richard’s story, except that the article lists Diane’s death as suspicious. A follow-up article describes how Chloe originally said she heard someone else in the house, but the police dismissed her allegations because there was no evidence to support them. The death was recorded as a suicide. Joanne wonders why Diane would kill herself while alone with Chloe. Richard enters, startling her as she reads in the article that he had another daughter. She asks him why he never mentioned this.

Richard says he hid his other daughter, Sophie, from Joanne because the memories are too painful. Sophie was only three months old when she died a sudden cot death a few months before Diane died. Chloe was 11 years older than Sophie because Sophie was unplanned. After Sophie’s birth, Diane became short-tempered with Chloe and claimed that Chloe made her life difficult all day while Richard was gone. Richard never witnessed this behavior and thought Diane was being hard on Chloe, though he admits that once Chloe threw out all Sophie’s things. Still, he defends her, suggesting Diane didn’t take to motherhood and Sophie’s death pushed her over the edge. Richard blames himself for not being there when she died. He says he is gentle with Chloe because she’s never recovered from the trauma, despite extensive therapy. It wasn’t until she went away to boarding school that she began to return to her old self. Chloe appears and asks what they’re discussing. Looking anxious, Richard says they’re just chatting, but there’s something uneasy in his voice. Joanne realizes that Richard knows what Chloe is like. He’s in denial, but deep down, he knows and doesn’t want to provoke her.

Joanne returns to her office to finish reading the article, which says that Sophie’s death was cited as a factor in Diane’s death by suicide. Joanne feels Richard made a mistake sending Chloe to boarding school. Chloe must have felt abandoned. Joanne decides to get closer to Chloe and show her only love. She wants Chloe to be happy and well-adjusted.

She invites Chloe to accompany her to town. Chloe begrudgingly agrees. In the car, Joanne tries to talk about Diane and Sophie, but Chloe is standoffish. Joanne asks if the baby picture she found actually of Sophie, and Chloe offers to answer Joanne’s questions if Joanne gives her the passcode for her phone to change the music. Joanne hesitates but gives her the code. Chloe grills Joanne about her history with Richard and announces that Richard is having an affair. She insists that it’s obvious Richard is cheating and doesn’t love Joanne. Joanne doesn’t believe her but angrily parks and tells Chloe to make her own way home. She goes to buy groceries without Chloe, and when she gets back to the car, Chloe is waiting. She tells Joanne that Richard will be upset if Chloe gets home after dark, having walked six miles home. Joanne relents and lets Chloe in the car.

At home, Chloe and Roxanne go to Chloe’s room and close the door. Joanne calls Shelley to quit her job, saying the nanny isn’t working out. Later, Joanne tells Richard that Chloe said he was having an affair. Richard dismisses it as a joke, though Joanne insists it wasn’t. He tells Joanne that he doesn’t believe her and thinks she has something against Chloe’s close relationship with him.

Chloe announces that she is bored with them and considering leaving. Chloe announces that Joanne quit her job, which Joanne hadn’t told Richard yet, and no longer needs a nanny. Richard asks her to stay until after his business trip next week, and Chloe agrees to stay despite Joanne’s insistence that she’ll be fine. This insistence sets Chloe in tears again, and she claims she can’t do anything right for Joanne. Joanne concedes that Chloe can stay as long as she likes. That night, Joanne redownloads her security camera app and watches old footage of a shadow in the corner of the nursery. When Evie starts to cry, the shadow slips out.

The next morning, Richard teaches Chloe how to shoot his shotgun. When Joanne approaches them, upset, Chloe jokingly points the gun at her. Later, Joanne confronts Richard, but he dismisses her as jealous of his father-daughter moment with Chloe. Joanne wonders whether Chloe caused her own tragic childhood. Joanne continues reading articles on Diane’s death. She contacts the reporter who wrote them, Jim Preston. Jim remembers the case because of Chloe. He explains that she changed her story about the intruder when faced with evidence that no one else had entered the home. He says he thinks Chloe made the story up to take suspicion off herself. Joanne and Jim arrange to meet in person for lunch on Monday.

On Monday, Chloe asks where Joanne is going. Joanne says she’s seeing a medical specialist. As Joanne leaves, Chloe tells Joanne that not everything is what it seems. Joanne and Jim talk about Richard, his old firm, and his current business. Jim recalls details about Diane’s death. Chloe said she heard people arguing before her mother fell, but later contradicted herself. Richard hired a lawyer to get the police off Chloe. Jim recalls that the phone lines were unplugged, but Chloe was 11 and capable of plugging them back in if she needed to make a call. Jim doesn’t understand why she didn’t do that and call the police after Diane’s death. He thinks Chloe could’ve saved Diane. Jim also reveals that Chloe was hospitalized in a mental health facility shortly after Diane’s death. Jim suspects Richard made a deal to send Chloe there in exchange for the police leaving her alone. Jim thinks it’s possible Chloe was involved with both Diane and Sophie’s deaths. He observed a strange dynamic between Chloe, who was possessive, and Richard, who was afraid.

At home, Joanne grapples with the possibility that Chloe killed her own family members and wonders if Richard takes Chloe’s side because he’s afraid of her. When Richard gets home, he packs for his business trip. Joanne asks him about Chloe’s time in a mental health facility. Richard says that Chloe had a few sessions with a professional but was never hospitalized. He didn’t tell Joanne because he didn’t think it was her business. Joanne presses him to acknowledge the suspicious circumstances of Diane and Sophie’s deaths, making Richard angry. He says that Chloe wasn’t home the night Sophie died and asks if Joanne is taking her medication. Joanne insists she’s not imagining things. She tries to show him the nursery footage but finds Chloe used her passcode to erase it. Richard screams at Joanne that it’s all in her head. He suggests she’s acting like her mother and says he’s considering taking Chloe and Evie away for a while so she can get better. Knowing she can’t win, Joanne apologizes.

Richard suggests Joanne stay in the hospital for a few days. Joanne realizes she’s close to being hospitalized against her will and assures Richard she will be fine alone with Chloe and Evie. The next morning, Joanne sees Richard showing Chloe how to care for his beloved fishpond. Before he leaves, Richard calls Roxanne to stay at the house, not wanting Joanne to be alone. Joanne assumes Roxanne will keep Chloe busy. Before Richard leaves, Joanne spots Chloe with his phone. After Richard leaves, Solomon, his solicitor, calls. Solomon asks Joanne to tell Richard that Chloe called about the will on November 24. Joanne mentions the call to Chloe, who reveals she inherited part of Diane’s estate when she turned 21 last week and wanted to know about collecting it. Later, Joanne sees Chloe at the fishpond. The phone rings.