'Grey's Anatomy' Season 14 Episode 9 Spoilers: Paul Blackmails Jo to Cut Ties with Alex

Paul (Mathew Morrison) is going to make sure that Jo (Camille Luddington) and Alex (Justin Chambers) will never get their happy-ever-after in the upcoming episode of "Grey's Anatomy."

During the midseason finale, many fans could not help but gasp in terror when Jo's abusive husband finally made an appearance. Paul was in the hospital when a hacker targeted the system, forcing the doctors to rely on their skills without machines to assist them. Jo saw him right when she was about to warn Alex to not give a particular medicine to his young patient. The promo released does not offer much on what is going to happen in episode 9, but viewers get the hint that Jo needs to escape before Paul can get his hands on her.

Jo has been running away from her husband for years. She even needed to change her name to remain incognito. Paul has hurt her, physically and emotionally, and he will not hesitate to do it again now that he knows where she is hiding. He may even blackmail her to ensure that she will never leave him again. Alex must know what is happening to Jo and shield her from Paul. The urgent case he is handling, however, may prevent him from being aware of Paul's arrival. Co-showrunner Krista Vernoff has said that Paul and Jo's storyline would dwell on domestic violence.

"Matthew is coming back as Dr. Paul Stadler and we are facing the issue of domestic violence head-on," Vernoff said. "I've talked a lot about how this season [we're refocusing the show on] fun and joy and laughter, and my commitment has been to make sure there's laughter in every episode — even the ones where the stories that we're telling are quite painful and quite dark. And my hope is that women will come out of this story feeling empowered. I'm really proud of this story. I'm really proud of the work that we're doing."

"Grey's Anatomy" season 14 will return on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.