Don't Let Her Stay

Joanne fetches the remaining three cameras and installs one in the nursery while Chloe is on a walk. Joanne also asks Simon to install a lock on the nursery door and sends Chloe out for diapers to keep her away. As Simon installs the lock, Joanne hears creaking upstairs and suspects Chloe never left. Simon assures Joanne that the house is just creaky. When Chloe returns with diapers, Joanne wonders if it’s a pack from her stash in the cupboard.

While Chloe is in her room, Joanne hides the other two cameras around the house—one in a wall sconce and another on a table overlooking common areas. Joanne finds her phone is missing and wonders where she put it down. Heading back upstairs, she smells something chemical. She glances at the baby monitor and is startled to see Chloe holding Evie in front of the window. Joanne rushes to the nursery to confront Chloe. Chloe tells Joanne to be careful, to leave. She says she wants to hide Evie in the basement. Joanne pleads with Chloe to hand Evie over, but Chloe refuses, insisting she must hide Evie before the bad man returns. Joanne screams for Simon.

Chloe tells Joanne that Richard is coming back to kill Joanne and Evie and pin it on Chloe. This is exactly what happened with Diane, Chloe claims: Richard pretended to go on a business trip, snuck back home, and killed her. Richard’s business partner, Alfred Butterworth, covered for Richard. Later, Richard sent Chloe to the hospital because she told the police she heard someone in the house, and Richard was afraid. She says that Richard killed Diane to cash in on her life insurance and inherit her wealth because his business was going bankrupt. Alfred later died under mysterious circumstances. Chloe says Richard plans to kill Joanne and Evie because his business is in trouble again. Joanne reminds Chloe that Roxanne is coming, but Chloe says that Richard only pretended to call Roxanne. She isn’t coming. Chloe vows to kill Richard, and Joanne recognizes the chemical smell as gasoline. Chloe exclaims that Richard is back. Joanne runs out of the room and into him.

Richard says he rushed home because of a message from Solomon. He cannot get Chloe to hand over Evie. Terrified, Joanne explains that her phone is missing and the landlines are dead. With Richard distracted calming Joanne, Chloe locks herself and Evie in the nursery’s ensuite bathroom. Richard tells Joanne to find the source of the gasoline smell. Richard assures Chloe that things will be okay. He pleads with her to open the door.

While Richard tries to break down the bathroom door, Joanne finds gasoline all over the house. She hears Chloe’s phone ringing in her room and answers a call from Roxanne, who confirms that Richard called her but later canceled the arrangement. Joanne realizes Chloe could be telling the truth. Richard returns Joanne’s phone to her, which he found in her office. He apologizes for not believing her and sends her to the nursery to wait while he retrieves an axe. Joanne asks why Roxanne didn’t come, but Richard says he doesn’t know.

Back in the nursery, Joanne tells Chloe she believes her after talking to Roxanne. Chloe explains that Richard is isolating them. He cut the phone lines, and Joanne realizes her phone is missing its SIM card. Chloe comes out of the bathroom, and Joanne hides Chloe and Evie in a bedroom. She lures Richard back into the nursery, and while he’s distracted breaking down the door, she locks him inside. Joanne returns to Chloe, who still won’t hand over Evie. She says she intends to save both Evie and Joanne.

Joanne and Chloe try to sneak down the stairs, but Richard hears them and calls out to Joanne. He says Chloe lied to her and swears he’d never hurt her or Evie. He says that Chloe is evil and he feels guilty for not listening. He admits that Chloe likely killed Diane and Sophie. Joanne isn’t sure who to believe, but because Chloe has Evie, she follows Chloe downstairs.

Chloe leads Joanne to the basement, telling Joanne she isn’t forgetful; that’s just what Richard has made her believe. Joanne and Chloe read a text from Jim Preston, sent before her SIM card was removed, explaining that Richard’s business is in trouble and warns Joanne to be careful. Joanne’s remaining doubts about Chloe’s story dissolve. They watch the live camera footage as Richard tries to break out of the nursery. Joanne still wonders why Chloe was so awful to her.

Joanne asks Chloe about the photoshopped picture. Chloe confesses she wanted Joanne to leave Richard so he couldn’t be entitled to her life insurance, which Chloe discovered while snooping in Joanne’s office. Joanne says the large policy was Richard’s idea. He has the same policy. Chloe reveals she came to stay because she saw Richard in town with an older, wealthier woman and realized he was having an affair. She says Richard was always after Joanne’s money, but Joanne clarifies that she doesn’t have much. Chloe reasons Richard is in more trouble than she thought. She says she doesn’t hate Joanne but came to protect Evie, knowing Richard would try to harm them both.

Richard escapes the nursery and wanders through the house, insisting he loves Joanne and that Chloe is a liar. He was in denial, he says. He fetches the shotgun. Chloe admits to hiding in Evie’s room to make sure Richard didn’t try anything. She worried he poisoned the paracetamol, and that’s why she had it the night Joanne caught her. Chloe laments that no one believed her when she told the truth about Diane’s death as a child. Richard goes outside, and Chloe and Joanne decide it’s time to move.

They see Richard waiting by Joanne’s car with the shotgun when they look out the front door and hide in a coat closet instead. Chloe says she will go upstairs and distract Richard so Joanne and Evie can get away. Joanne doesn’t want Chloe to put herself in danger, but Chloe insists it’s the only way to protect Evie. As Chloe leaves, a box of matches falls out of her pocket. She catches them and shoves them back in. Joanne is suspicious, but Chloe says she grabbed them when they passed through the kitchen, just in case. She goes upstairs before Joanne can stop her. When Chloe breaks a window, Richard runs back through the house.

The events of the Prologue take place. Joanne drives away with Chloe trapped in the burning nursery but doesn’t get far before turning back. She leaves Evie in the car and runs inside to save Chloe. Richard screams at Chloe to come out so she doesn’t burn alive. Joanne hits him over the head with a heavy umbrella, and he collapses. Joanne tries to grab the shotgun, but it’s trapped under his weight. Joanne finds Chloe hiding in Joanne’s office and leads Chloe out. Chloe tries to grab the shotgun, but can’t get it out from under Richard. As they leave, Richard grabs Joanne’s ankle.

Richard tries to tell Joanne something, but he’s too weak. Chloe stomps on his shoulder, and he releases Joanne. They leave the house as Richard struggles to his feet. Outside, Joanne punches in the gate code but can’t get it open. Richard appears in the doorway, calling for Joanne to wait. Joanne tells Chloe to go to the car. Richard tries to talk to Joanne, but Oscar attacks him, dragging him to the ground. He drops the gun, and Joanne grabs it. She demands Richard open the gate. Richard repeats that he loves Joanne and wants to stop Chloe.

Chloe takes the gun from Joanne, keeping it trained on Richard. Richard says that he never told Chloe something, but Chloe interrupts him, shoving the baby photo into his hands. She asks if he remembers her and declares that she’s doing this for the baby in the photo. As Richard pleads, Chloe says he never loved her. Richard says he always loved her, and she shoots him in the head. Chloe points the gun at Joanne in a trance but snaps out of it and apologizes. They leave together.

Two months later, Chloe lives with Joanne and Evie in a small rental house. Joanne and Chloe told the police that Richard was shot by accident during a struggle. Chloe and Joanne are now close. Chloe is back in school. They learned that Richard’s business was falling apart and his investors were backing out. Joanne hired a private investigator to track down the woman Richard was seeing but has heard no results yet.

After visiting Diane and Sophie’s graves, Joanne takes Chloe to visit her maternal grandmother, Helen. Joanne and Helen look through Diane’s old photo albums, and Helen sends Chloe to buy jam. She tells Joanne that Chloe has a mental health condition that drives her to commit criminal acts. She urged Richard to keep Chloe in the hospital, but he was always in denial. She also reveals that Alfred is still alive and can verify her story. She says that Chloe only visits Helen hoping to be part of her will. Helen tolerates her out of fear. Chloe is upset in every photo with Richard and Sophie. She was jealous of everyone who got close to Richard. He sent Chloe to the psychiatric hospital because she confessed to killing Diane and Sophie.

Helen tells Joanne that Chloe told Richard she killed Diane and Sophie so he and Chloe could be together. When she was released from the hospital, however, she said she made it up. Helen admits that Richard was terrible at business, but she says he loved his family and wouldn’t kill them. Sophie’s autopsy found traces of medicine—not enough to kill her, but enough to keep her asleep while being smothered. The baby photo Chloe had was, in fact, of Chloe. Joanne realizes what Chloe meant when she shoved the photo into Richard’s hands: She was paying him back for what she believed he’d done to her.

Joanne recalls one occasion shopping with Richard while she was visibly pregnant. Richard saw something or someone that put him on edge, and Joanne realizes it was Chloe. Several weeks later, Chloe called Solomon. Now, Joanne calls Solomon and learns that Chloe called to ask whether she and Evie were in Richard’s will. This was the call that brought Richard home. Shaking, Joanne realizes the truth about Chloe. She calls Roxanne to ask about the day Richard canceled her stay at the house. Roxanne clarifies that Richard canceled Roxanne’s visit by text, not a phone call. Joanne recalls that Chloe had Richard’s phone before he left. Joanne realizes Chloe intended to kill her and Evie that night, but changed her plans when it didn’t work out. When Chloe returns with the jam, Helen advises Joanne not to let Chloe stay.