Belle King (Eden Taylor-Draper) has left Emmerdale village after another clash with abusive husband Tom (James Chase).
The decision comes just weeks after her holiday from hell, when Tom attacked her and locked her inside a Welsh cottage. Luckily she made an escape and returned to Wishing Well.
In a bid to demonise her actions, he told Charity (Emma Atkins) and Cain (Jeff Hordley) that she’d lied about having a miscarriage and actually had an abortion, before going on to say he had fears for her mental health after stopping her medication.
Sadly, the Dingle clan believed him.
Vinny (Bradley Johnson) urged her to come clean to him about Tom’s behaviour, and Belle admitted to verbal insults – but not the physical and psychological turmoil she’s been subjected to.
Later, a blistering row broke out in the pub between Vinny and Tom, with the abortion being blurted out in front the punters, meaning that Belle was wary of opening up to him again.
Tom twisted the knife further when he told uncle Jimmy (Nick Miles) and his wife Nicola (Nichola Wheeler) that their marriage was over as she’d moved on with Vinny.
The Kings, blissfully unaware of his true nature, allowed him to stay with them.
This left Belle free to move back into Dale Head, and Tom told her that he’d changed the locks – but what he didn’t tell her was that he’d nabbed a key for himself.
Yesterday, she settled back into the cottage and searched online for signs of an abusive relationship. Before long, she’d began taking down the CCTV cameras that Tom had put up after staging a break-in, and he watched her from afar.
In tonight’s episode, Belle left the house to let Piper the dog into the garden and was immediately confronted by him.
He reminded her that even though he’d moved out, he had no intentions of leaving the village and would always be around.
Later, Charity called by and found her dismantling the motion detector sensors in the corners of the living room. She asked Belle if she would consider a short break to visit dad Zak (the late Steve Halliwell) and niece Debbie (Charley Webb) in Scotland.
Belle was initially reluctant but agreed on the principle that it would give her a break from the rest of the overprotective Dingles.
As they began to pack the car and depart for the journey, Tom rushed over and demanded to know where she was going and told her he’d have driven her. Belle reminded him that she’d have driven herself if he hadn’t sold her car.
What will be his next move?
