On a weeknight, Ryan returns from a diaper run with beer and starts drinking despite his lifelong abstinence. He insists he is not like his father and dismisses Lillian’s concerns, even as she recalls both their families’ histories with alcohol. His tone sharpens and he performs household tasks loudly, waking Jet and ending the conversation.

As weeks pass, Ryan’s drinking becomes routine. Lillian links Jet’s developmental milestones with Ryan’s escalating use: Jet sits up as six cans stack on the table; she crawls the night Ryan passes out in the recliner; on the night of Jet’s fever, Ryan calls to say he should not drive home. Lillian mostly avoids confrontation, though she asks him to stop after a second drink one evening; he resists, then later limits himself and they go to bed together, a rare moment of calm.

During a scattered dinner while discussing whether to renew their lease or buy a house, Ryan throws a beer bottle that shatters near Lillian’s head. Jet wakes crying. Terrified and defensive, Ryan pivots to ranting about finances and how hard he is working, deflecting blame. Lillian orders him to clean up and takes Jet to Elise’s house for space.

At Elise’s, they eat ice cream and set up a playpen. Lillian withholds the detail about the thrown bottle. When Ryan finally calls, he tells Lillian and Jet to go home because he has left the apartment and moved into Matteo’s, saying, “That’ll never happen again,” but offering no plan beyond sending money. Lillian urges reconciliation, but he declares his departure is indefinite.

Elise hopes they can work things out and urges Lillian not to let Ryan hurt her. Lillian struggles to label what happened as abuse, but the repeated memory of the shattering glass and Jet’s cries forces her to consider self-protection.

Two days later, Lillian meets Ryan at the apartment. He arrives drunk and empty-handed. When Lillian appeals to their vows, Ryan shouts that this is how he keeps them, insisting he is leaving to avoid hurting them. He shoves Lillian during the argument, then storms out, slamming the door so hard a wall hanging falls and shatters. Lillian is torn between anger and love, hoping the end is not final.

After Lillian and Jet return home, a shard of glass lodges in Jet’s knee; Lillian removes it and breaks down in private. Time passes with Ryan absent, and Lillian suffers nightmares of him as a bottle that explodes, waking alone with only his scent lingering on a pillow.