It was an emotional day for Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) in Thursday’s (May 23) episode of Emmerdale as she woke up on the fifth anniversary of her mum Lisa’s death.
Belle had taken the day off work and hoped to spend time remembering her beloved mum – but her evil and abusive husband Tom King (James Chase) had other ideas.
Tom told Belle that she needed to spend the day inside waiting for his parcel while he headed off for his performance review at the vets.
When Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) popped by to see her, she was surprised when Belle prioritised waiting indoors over going for a picnic with her and Sam (James Hooton).
Lydia respected Belle’s comments and told her she’s more than welcome to come along if the parcel doesn’t turn up.
As soon as the clock hit 13 minutes past one, Belle concluded in her mind that was enough time to wait for Tom’s parcel and set off with Piper, ready to be with her family.
After Tom’s review, Belle met up with him in The Hide. She tried to address the fact it’s the anniversary of Lisa’s death but once again, Tom wasn’t interested, he only cared about the fact she had missed the delivery.
Outside, an emotional and overwhelmed Belle started to argue with Tom. She had spent the day under the impression Tom had no idea about Lisa, but he said ‘I couldn’t be more aware if you dug her up and plonked her outside the pub where she was probably at her happiest’.
Incredibly hurt, Belle shouted at Tom and pushed him to the floor.
The situation was spotted by Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), who rushed over to separate Belle from Tom.
Back at Dale Head, a concerned Lydia and Sam tried to help Belle, who cried and said she keeps getting things wrong and feels ‘guilty’ all of the time.
Meanwhile, in the pub, Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) approached Tom to talk about Belle.
At the start of this week, Tom told Liam that Belle has anger problems, and the interaction outside only added to his false narrative. It allowed him the perfect opportunity to make it seem as though he hasn’t done anything wrong.
Once Tom returned home, he told Belle – in front of Sam and Lydia – that he’s started the process of getting help with Liam, and now wants her to do the same.
And a very innocent Belle said yes.
