Jeremy Horton is back in Salem, and the town is divided. Some welcome him with open arms; others see the shadow of a violent history lurking behind the easy smile. Now living at Horton House and working as a long-term substitute teacher at Salem Elementary, Jeremy claims he’s a new man — but every kindly gesture is weighed against a terrifying ledger of past misdeeds that won’t let the town breathe easy.

On the surface, Jeremy looks ordinary enough. He’s polite, measured, and eager to prove himself: he’s taken a steady job teaching elementary school, he’s cordial with relatives, and he’s cultivating friendships. Julie and Jennifer and many in his extended family greet him warmly, apparently unaware of the darker side of his history. To them, this is a son or cousin come home — a chance for reconciliation. To others, it’s a dangerous return.

That darker side is what haunts Stephanie Johnson. Her very bones tingle when Jeremy appears. He showed up at her door bearing pink roses and an apology that, by Jeremy’s account, was meant to make amends for the abusive, manipulative relationship they once shared. Stephanie accepted the gesture outwardly, but her reaction afterward — tossing the roses into the trash — made her feelings plain: a casual apology cannot erase years of terror. Memories of being dominated, lied to, and even physically threatened are not the sort of things a bouquet can fix.

Her boyfriend, Alex Kiriakis, has been equally alarmed. He’s made his stance clear: stay away from Stephanie. Alex’s protectiveness is fierce and understandable, and he’s not one to let perceived threats slide. When Jeremy shows up unexpectedly around Stephanie — even if the meetings are framed as happenstance — Alex interprets them as calculated moves, and tensions quickly rise.

But this is Salem, a place where facts and gossip exist in uneasy tension, and accusations fly before proof can land. Much of the town’s suspicion toward Jeremy rests on assumptions rather than evidence. Stephanie and Alex leap to conclusions when odd things surface — and instead of following a trail of hard proof, they stitch together a narrative that places Jeremy at the center of every strange occurrence. They believe he leaked Stephanie’s secret identity as bestselling romance author Anastasia Sands and even suspect him of manipulating dating apps to engineer matches to people close to her. Those ideas are explosive—if true—but so far they’re mostly conjecture.

Complicating matters is the tangle of Salem’s past players and their motives. The revelation that someone knew Stephanie was Anastasia Sands likely has multiple possible sources. EJ DiMera, for instance, had reasons to know details around the author’s identity during a past blackout; he is hardly the most trustworthy townsperson, and suspicion could just as easily fall on him. Yet Stephanie and Alex fixate on Jeremy, convinced that his return and his proximity to her are no coincidence — even though the timeline and methods don’t line up neatly.

Jeremy’s attempts to reassure others about his reformation are, for some, believable. He’s been open about having done “a lot of self-work” and insists he’s undergone a true transformation. He has even struck up a tentative rapport with Jada Hunter, meeting her for coffee and presenting as sincere. Their date begins on a promising note: they click, trade stories, and Jeremy talks honestly about his past, acknowledging mistakes and expressing remorse. But when Jada learns that she and Stephanie once shared a complicated romantic overlap — both having been involved with the same man years ago — the situation suddenly feels too fraught. She decides it’s best to step back, leaving Jeremy stunned and frustrated.

That frustration surfaced in a small but telling moment: Jeremy angrily smashed a pumpkin. The scene was brief and oddly diminished by prop physics, but the intent was clear — something in him still simmers. Whether that flare-up was directed outward, inward, or at the ghosts of his past is left ambiguous, and that ambiguity fuels Salem’s unease. Is this a man struggling to contain old impulses, or a reformed soul pushed to the brink by unfair suspicion?

Voices in the town fall on both sides. Thomas and Rachel, students and neighbors, find him likable and capable in the classroom; Chad’s interactions with him have been positive; Julie and Jennifer are glad to have him home. But the Hortons’ awareness of his history is mixed. Patch and Kayla know some of what Jeremy did in the past; Stephanie’s recollection of being held under water during a hot tub incident and other abusive episodes are chilling reminders of the harm he once caused. Those memories don’t erode easily, and they inform why so many are unwilling to accept his return at face value.