This seems to be a technical glitch, for which HBO Max is becoming infamous. There is a way to turn it off: Click the "English" with the asterisk *. But it's difficult to find. Whose stupid idea was it to impose what is basically an audio book onto a TV drama? HBO Max is very buggy. Also, as to the story, which like much of its ilk goes on too long, the stepfather is clearly hinky by a couple of episodes in, but there is no way that particular character would have overtly tried to sexually assault that girl in the barn in the 5th episode. It would have been much more subtle for a character like that. As such, this was a cheap narrative device to throw the viewer off at the last minute.
Review of Laetitia
