There’s not much good news knocking around for Emmerdale’s Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) these days. Her estranged dad is back in her life to taunt her, her estranged daughter wants very little to do with her, and she somehow ended up sleeping with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) in the garage.
Ruby’s karmic debt must be catching up with her because it doesn’t stop there.
Her daughter Steph (Georgia Jay) showed up in town to collect her inheritance after the death of her grandmother. That was traumatic enough for Ruby, but not long after her arrival did Ruby’s dad Anthony arrive to truly set her on edge.
Ruby had a very strong reaction to seeing him, leading some viewers to believe there is more to the breakdown of their relationship than meets the eye.
But Caleb (William Ash) bizarrely ignored his wife’s screams and gave Anthony (Nicholas Day) a moment of his time, which led him to determine that the old man was being genuine.
Ruby is feeling more lost and alone than ever – especially after making the self-sabotaging decision to have sex with Caleb’s brother. And Anthony’s return in particular is getting under her skin.
But now there’s a new bombshell for Ruby to digest – Anthony has cancer.
This is a weird thing for Ruby to process – she loathes the man, but does she actually want him to ᴅɪᴇ? She is surprisingly rocked to discover that his diagnosis is real.
Steph knows she now has this knowledge of Anthony’s health to lord over her mum as emotional blackmail, and she manages to convince Caleb that he needs to facilitate Ruby and Anthony clearing the air.
It works, Ruby sees that she is the one person causing discord amongst the family and reaches out to her estranged dad. But this is a huge move for Ruby, too huge even, letting the man who abandoned her all those years ago back in her life.
It has a profound effect Ruby as she begins distancing herself from her family. Anthony knows what this means and confesses to Steph that he knows a reconciliation is not on the cards. He hints that Steph should give up and leave.
Caleb knows what’s going on too and is terrified of losing Steph. In a bid to keep her he throws Ruby under the bus, attempting to force her to make things up with her dad for the sake of their daughter. Can Ruby put her hurt aside to save her family?
But there’s a worrying picture being drawn for Ruby, and potentially Cain Dingle. It’s clear Caleb is putting their estranged daughter ahead of his wife and ignoring her wishes.
How long will it be before she snaps and confesses out of spite that she slept with Cain?
