Walford is bracing for yet another wave of tension, confusion, and fear as Zoe finds herself at the heart of a disturbing mystery that threatens to tear her relationships apart and push her to the edge. What begins as harmless banter among the Slaters quickly spirals into a dark, unsettling situation—one that leaves the entire household questioning what’s real, who to trust, and how far someone is willing to go to break Zoe’s spirit.

It all starts with a flood of vicious online reviews aimed directly at Zoe—ugly, relentless comments that seem designed to humiliate and undermine her. Even the family jokes about the typos and sloppy insults at first, but beneath the laughter, Zoe is rattled. Kat and Alfie quickly realize the reviews aren’t random trolling; someone is deliberately targeting her. And while the others try to brush it off, Zoe can’t shake the unease tightening around her.

Tommy wanders off in a mood, Bert and Ernie bicker, and Alfie fumbles around trying to manage the chaos. But despite the everyday noise of the Slater household, there’s a dangerous undercurrent running beneath it all—Zoe’s growing anxiety, and the family’s growing uncertainty about what’s happening to her.

As Kat tries to restore order, Alfie quietly suggests bringing in someone who can trace the origin of the online harassment. A private investigator, perhaps—someone who can dig into IP addresses and uncover who’s behind the cruel messages. He’s got someone in mind, someone who owes him a favour, and he hopes that maybe—just maybe—figuring out the source will calm Zoe’s fears.

Freddie jumps in to help, promising Zoe he’ll look into the digital mess. But instead of relief, his involvement creates more tension. Zoe doesn’t know what to believe anymore—whether she’s genuinely being targeted or whether everyone around her simply thinks she’s lost control of her own mind. Alfie, eager to be supportive, promises they’ll face it as a family, trying to paint an optimistic picture as he compares them to superheroes like the Avengers. But the moment feels fragile, forced, and fear hangs thick in the air.

Then everything explodes.

Just as the family tries to settle back into their routine, Ernie suddenly screams in pain. A strong chemical smell fills the room as the kids panic. Alfie grabs a small spray bottle—something that clearly isn’t meant to be in a child’s hands. When Kat demands to know what happened, all eyes turn to Zoe.

The spray belongs to her.

The room turns to ice.

Kat’s fury hits instantly: how could Zoe bring something dangerous into a home full of children? Zoe stammers, tries to explain, tries to insist she had no intention of anyone getting hurt, but her words smash against a wall of fear and anger. Kat escorts Ernie out to wash his eyes while Alfie stands trembling between shock and frustration.

This is the breaking point.

Kat and Alfie retreat into heated debate behind closed doors, and Anthony’s name comes up—his professional opinion, his concerns, his belief that Zoe needs real, proper help. Alfie urges Kat to consider whether Zoe living with them is still safe. Kat, fiercely loyal as always, insists she believes Zoe’s side of the story. She knows Zoe is telling the truth, she says, and she refuses to let anyone convince her otherwise.

But even Kat can’t deny that something is terribly wrong.

When Zoe realizes what’s happening—that the family is considering asking her to leave—she feels utterly betrayed. She insists she’s not dangerous, that she never meant to cause harm, that someone else is behind all of this. But her pleas collide with the one undeniable fact: Ernie got hurt. And now, the family is terrified.

Alfie moves gently, trying to soften the blow. He tells her they care about her, they want to help her, but they can’t keep things as they are. She needs support they can’t provide inside the house—professional support. To Zoe, it sounds like exile.

Kat storms back in, refusing to accept that Zoe should be pushed out into the world alone when a stalker—or worse—is clearly targeting her. She’ll be damned if she lets her niece face danger without protection. But before the argument can explode into something irreversible, another sound tears through the house.

A thunderous banging rattles the door.

A burglar alarm erupts.

And Zoe snaps.

Screaming for whoever is tormenting her to face her, she races toward the door, ready to confront the threat head-on. Kat and Alfie chase after her, but the banging continues—violent, terrifying, and far too real to ignore. Zoe shouts that this is proof she wasn’t lying, that someone is out to get her. Her face is pale with fear but blazing with vindication.

When Alfie finally opens the door…

There is no one there.

No intruder.

No visible threat.

Just the echo of Zoe’s own panic filling the silence.

Zoe breaks, the weight of weeks of torment crushing her. She begs Kat to believe her, to see that she’s been telling the truth from the start. And though Kat tries to defend her, the doubt in the room grows thicker and heavier. The banging—was it real? Was it imagined? Or is someone truly stalking her and delighting in destroying her credibility?

As Zoe collapses under the pressure, Alfie’s face twists with guilt. He realizes that regardless of what he believes, he hasn’t protected her properly. And now everything is spiraling out of control. Kat, torn between defending Zoe and protecting her children, stands trembling as the house settles back into uneasy quiet.

But before anyone can catch their breath, Zoe delivers one final blow to Alfie—one that leaves him shaken to his core.

“You still think it was me?”

Her voice cracks, and Alfie freezes. The raw hurt in her eyes pierces through every assumption, every fear, every whispered conversation.

The episode ends with Alfie whispering the words Zoe has been desperate to hear:

“I’m… so sorry.”

But an apology won’t stop the nightmare.

The threatening note left earlier.

The online attacks.

The mysterious banging.

The dangerous item planted in Zoe’s belongings.

Someone is after her.

Someone wants her broken.

And someone is watching—closer than anyone realizes.

As Walford braces for the fallout, the question hangs heavy:

Is Zoe truly losing her grip on reality…
or has a hidden enemy just begun their game?

One thing is certain—this terrifying chapter in Walford is only beginning.

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