Next week on Home and Away, Summer Bay is rocked by one of its most disturbing and emotionally charged storylines in recent memory, as Roo Stewart

is forced to confront a devastating truth about her foster child, Eliza. For months, Roo—played by Georgie Parker—has poured her heart into offering 14-year-old Eliza

a fresh start. Determined to make a difference after signing up with a fostering agency, Roo welcomed the troubled teen as her first official placement.

Eliza arrived carrying little more than a mysterious music box—the sole possession salvaged from her previous foster home, which had been destroyed in a suspicious fire.

From the outset, something felt off.

Eliza’s tragic backstory was enough to stir sympathy. Removed from her biological parents at a young age, she was raised by her grandmother until a fatal fall down the stairs left her orphaned and thrust into the care system. But while Roo saw a wounded child in need of stability, others saw warning signs.

Marilyn, fiercely protective and intuitive, quickly grew uneasy. Eliza’s unsettling fixation on certain people, her veiled hostility, and her cold stares set off alarm bells. When Marilyn discovered that Eliza’s former foster parents suspected her of starting the fire that destroyed their home, fear replaced doubt. Matters escalated further when Eliza threatened a fellow teen with a broken bottle. Marilyn made the painful decision to move out, telling Roo she no longer felt safe.

The fallout fractured a decades-long friendship. Roo accused Marilyn of judging Eliza too harshly, insisting the girl deserved compassion—not suspicion. But events soon began to erode Roo’s confidence.

Inside the ornate music box Eliza guarded so fiercely were deeply troubling items: a lock of hair, a family photograph with her parents’ faces scratched out, a lighter—and later, Alf Stewart’s missing fishing knife. Roo tried to believe Eliza’s explanations. The objects were keepsakes, she claimed. Symbols of memory. Tokens of connection.

Yet the unease lingered.

Eliza’s behavior toward Harper intensified concerns. Her inappropriate fascination with Harper’s pregnancy—touching her stomach without consent, staring too long—took a darker turn during a bushwalk that ended in medical crisis. Despite being scheduled for a cesarean due to complications, Harper unexpectedly went into labor in the remote scrubland.

Eliza promised to call an ambulance.

She never did.

Instead, she watched. Fascinated. Detached. Filming the ordeal as Harper writhed in agony. By sheer luck, Tane and Levi tracked them down in time. Harper delivered safely—but the revelation that Eliza had secretly recorded the birth, showing no urgency to seek help, left Roo shaken to her core.

The footage was chilling. Even more disturbing was Eliza’s casual demeanor as she showed it to Roo—an eerie calm where empathy should have been. Tane’s fury was immediate. He questioned whether Eliza had anticipated filming a miracle—or a tragedy.

If that wasn’t enough, a terrifying incident involving Alf Stewart, portrayed by Ray Meagher, pushed matters beyond doubt.

While alone with Eliza at the bait shop, Alf suffered severe chest pains. He begged her to retrieve his heart medication and call for help. Eliza claimed she couldn’t find the pills. Said the phone was dead. Insisted no one was nearby.

But when John happened upon the scene, he managed to get Alf home—where another supply of medication was readily available.

The truth slowly surfaced. Eliza had taken the pills.

When Roo later confronted her, placing the medication bottle and a printed screenshot of Harper’s agony—new additions to the music box—before her, the facade crumbled. Roo demanded answers. Did Eliza intend to let Alf die?

“What if I did?” Eliza replied coldly.

The words shattered Roo.

In that instant, the foster mother realized the depth of the crisis. This was no longer about difficult behavior or emotional trauma. It was about genuine danger.

Harper confirmed the final piece of the puzzle. Phone records proved Eliza never contacted emergency services during the bushwalk. The realization that she had deliberately left Harper alone in life-threatening labor forced even Roo to accept the unthinkable.

Eliza needed more help than she could provide.

Though torn by guilt and heartbreak, Roo finally contacted the department. The decision was swift: Eliza would be removed and placed into professional institutional care. It was the only safe option—for her and for Summer Bay.

The farewell scenes are nothing short of devastating.

Upstairs, unaware she’s being overheard, Roo tells Alf and Marilyn that Eliza is leaving. But Eliza is listening.

When Roo gently breaks the news face-to-face, the teenager’s icy composure cracks. Tears well as she pleads not to be sent away.

“I know I’m different,” Eliza says. “Please don’t make me go. I’ll try harder.”

For a fleeting moment, Roo wavers. Her instinct is to protect, to nurture, to believe. But this time, love isn’t enough.

“This isn’t my decision anymore,” she explains softly. “You need help I can’t give you.”

The following morning, Harper arrives to collect Eliza. A last-minute apology to Alf—delivered without emotion—does nothing to alter the outcome. As Roo reassures her that life can improve with the right support, Eliza delivers one final, cutting blow.

“You’re not as bad as the other carers,” she tells Roo. “You’re worse.”

The words slice deep.

As the car drives away, Roo stands helpless, watching Eliza disappear from her life—perhaps forever. The weight of failure, guilt, and grief presses heavily on her shoulders. She had promised not to give up. Yet she was forced to.

For Roo, this isn’t just the loss of a foster placement. It’s the loss of hope that love alone could mend a broken soul.

In typical Home and Away fashion, the storyline doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, it confronts viewers with the harsh realities of trauma, mental health, and the limits of even the most compassionate intentions.

Summer Bay may regain its calm shoreline—but Roo’s heartbreak will linger long after Eliza’s departure.