Donny, a comedian whose jokes rarely landed and a bartender by necessity, encountered a woman adrift in solitude. She introduced herself as a lawyer, though something in her demeanor hinted at a deeper loneliness. He offered her a cup of te…

Over dinner with Teri, Donny tentatively shared the unsettling truth about his stalker. In an attempt at compassion, he offered Martha a carefully constructed reassurance, a kindness that inadvertently fanned the flames of her obsession.

Donny excused himself from the tavern, seeking a chance to mend things with Teri. Yet, no matter how diligently he avoided her, Martha seemed determined to intrude upon his solitude.

Donny’s report to the police unlocked a buried memory: a painful episode from his time at the Edinburgh Fringe, involving a man he’d encountered years ago.

The truth about Martha surfaced for Liz, prompting her request that Donny leave. It offered a clean slate for him and Teri, yet the echoes of the past seemed determined to keep them from fully connecting.

Martha discovered a disturbing talent for reaching Donny, weaving her influence through the lives of those he cherished. As law enforcement remained unresponsive to her subtle manipulations, Donny was left with the grim necessity of acting …

A sense of purpose, novel to him, began to bloom within Donny. He felt, for the first time, that he was truly on a path. That feeling fractured with a single lapse in judgment, a misstep that propelled Martha back into the orbit of his life…