It’s any wonder that Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor Draper) hasn’t had a relapse before now with the pressure and fear she’s been under in Emmerdale from Tom King (James Chase). And Tom is certainly aiming to make sure she relapses now.
Since the axe incident and the lack of evidence of Tom’s abuse, he’s been taunting Belle with the threat of prison. He’s even broken bail to psychologically torture her.
But she is a fighter and has so far fended off his abuse, surviving his gun to her head, and has even thrown back his smug assertions of her guilt.
There’s only so much she can take, and between Tom’s evil and the loss of her beloved dad, the mental load becomes too much.
The icing on the cake is when she learns that Cain (Jeff Hordley) told Zak (Steve Halliwell) about Tom’s abuse against her wishes before he died, leaving Belle with the worry that the weight of what she went through could have hastened his end.
She’s fretting over this thought, just as a bunch of flowers arrives in condolence. The flowers have no note, and Belle is immediately triggered – there’s only one person sick enough to do this, Tom.
Belle makes a drastic and dangerous move – she breaks her bail conditions to confront her ex.
It’s a brave move, but a stupid one, as DS Foy immediately comes knocking for her and she finds herself being arrested.
At the police station she is slapped with a frightening truth – if she visits Tom again, she’ll not be passing go, it’ll be straight to Jail.
This news breaks Belle further, but she tries to hide what’s happening. Lydia (Karen Blick) worries she might not be coping, but the fact is she truly isn’t. There are voices in her head, and she’s desperate for one of them to be her dad’s calming tones.
Suddenly it becomes clear to Lydia and Sam (James Hooton) just what’s happening to Belle. It’s a bit late, but can they save her before she’s sectioned, or worse?
