Emmerdale spoilers: Most infuriating twist yet as Tom tells a spectacular lie to destroy Belle
It’s the moment we’ve been afraid of as Emmerdale abuser Tom King (James Chase) turns the tables on wife Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) to watch her take the blame for cruel and violent actions.
Tom’s gaslighting of Belle has hit extortionate levels, even convincing her that she burned her own hand during their row.
Despite Belle having been ready to walk away from their marriage, Tom used his best manipulation tactics to date and convinced her that everything was her fault and that he was willing to forgive her.
He went on to give her back her wedding rings, claiming the police had found them when in fact he’d had them hidden following the burglary he faked.
Belle is still somewhat unsettled by his vicious behaviour and the pair finally sit down to talk about it, with Tom promising to get help. Yet another game he’s playing – they agree he’ll go and see Liam, but when he does, he tells the doctor that Belle is the one with anger issues.
Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) and Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) have started noticing Belle’s change in behaviour and are growing concerned – she’s practically ignoring them.
Later at dinner, Tom makes a huge show of how well his doctor’s appointment went, keeping it to himself that he threw an innocent Belle under the bus.
But Tom is far from done. The anniversary of Lisa’s death rolls around and Tom cunningly orchestrates a need for Belle to wait in for a parcel to stop her marking the day with her family at a picnic.
Belle defies him to celebrate her mum’s life, but this will come at a huge cost, especially as Tom comes home angry from his performance review where Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) rip into him.
He’s on a knife edge when he arrives home and finds that Belle missed the parcel. He explodes at her, but this is the moment she’s had enough. She is ready for him when he blames her for ruining the day and makes some cruel comments about her mum.
Pushed to her limit, she unleashes her own fury on Tom, but unfortunately for her, other villages witness her shove Tom to the ground in rage.
She’s played right into his hands, and Tom gives the witnesses the performance of his life.
There was a clever little touch of foreshadowing the day he kicked over Lisa’s ashes – Charles witnessed Belle yelling aggressively at her husband and the vicar looked concerned for the vet.
The fact that Belle has kept all of his violent and abusive acts a secret further builds Tom’s picture of innocence.
Will Tom go one further to use it to build a false picture of him being the victim of domestic violence too?
