After the horrific events at the holiday cottage in Wales, Emmerdale’s Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) managed to escape to the safety and protection of her family – and announced she wanted a divorce. In upcoming episodes, however, we see that her ordeal at the hands of abusive husband Tom King (James Chase) is far from over.
Charity (Emma Atkins) and Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) were horrified when they followed Belle and Tom to the cottage in Wales where they’d gone on holiday – although the truth was that Tom planned for them to stay permanently, having obtained a job locally. That way he hoped he would be able to keep Belle away from her prying and protective relatives.
Cain and Charity found the cottage wrecked and blood-smeared, with no sign of Belle or Tom. Viewers saw in flashback that Tom’s behaviour at the cottage had become violent after Belle said she didn’t want to move there permanently. She eventually managed to flee the cottage, fearing for her life, and headed home to the Dingles.’
She said she wanted a divorce, but Tom said her mental health was deteriorating and she wasn’t thinking clearly.
Soon we’ll see Tom still keeping a close eye on what Belle is doing, but from a distance. When she meets up with Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) for a chat, Tom is looking on and is enraged to see them hug as it fills him with the jealousy he’s always had about their relationship. So he comes up with a plan.
Pretending to be nice and reasonable, Tom suggests that Belle could move back into their house as he’s staying with Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) and Jimmy King (Nick Miles). He points out that he’s already paid the rent so it makes no sense to leave the house empty.
It sounds like a generous offer, but Belle is wary and decides to change the locks before she moves back in. Unfortunately for her, Tom has anticipated this and makes sure he gets a set of keys when the locksmith visits.
A visit from one of Belle’s mental health team gives her food for thought, as she starts to realise that what Tom has put her through is abuse.
As Belle starts to finally process what she’s been through and tries to relax, she has no idea that Tom has access to the house whenever he wants and she isn’t safe at all.
What will his next step be?
