Blake questioned whether Whitney Cross had moved in specifically to ruin his life, even wondering if she could be connected to Wayne Vincent and his firing. He recognized his own paranoia but could not shake the feeling that Whitney had targeted him prior to moving in.

To check her background, Blake conducted a deeper online search for Whitney. He found nothing linking to the Whitney he knew and no visible social media, which he found unsettling given her age and constant phone use. He considered benign explanations but remained uneasy at the lack of a digital footprint.

With Krista out at dinner with Becky, Blake prepared a simple turkey sandwich. When he set the food on the counter, a cloud of fruit flies erupted, revealing the infestation was worsening despite two traps already holding hundreds of flies and a meticulously cleaned kitchen.

Blake traced the cluster of flies to an upper cabinet that should have contained only clean dishes. Opening it released more flies, and he noticed a stronger odor near the top shelf. Unable to see clearly, he retrieved a short, unstable stool to get a better look despite its past instability.

Atop the stool, Blake saw the flies concentrated around a small paper bag on the top shelf. The smell was overpowering. He pulled the bag toward the edge, opened it enough to see inside, and was immediately nauseated by what he saw, concluding it was the source feeding the infestation.

As Blake reacted in horror, the stool legs cracked and collapsed. In the split second before falling, he fixated on his hatred for Whitney, implicitly connecting her to the hidden, rotting bag in their cabinet.