Emmerdale Spoilers – Kim supports Lydia in her hour of need

Next week on Emmerdale, Lydia reveals her devastating secret to Kim, whilst Charity is Chloe’s unlikely saviour as Reuben is taken ill…

Lydia’s (Karen Blick) facade finally crumbles next week, as she admits the truth to friend Kim (Claire King) about Craig (Ben Addis) raping her.

Lydia has been going through mental anguish as she’s faced continued torment from Craig, whilst not letting on to anyone about the assault.

Her attempts to put a brave face on have only served to fracture her relationship with husband Sam (James Hooton) and stepson Samson (Sam Hall) however, who have both befriended Craig. Sam couldn’t understand Lydia’s distance from him as he recently left for Ireland, whilst Samson has been fuming at Lydia putting a stop to his work experience at Craig’s business.

Next week, defying Lydia’s wishes, Samson reconnects with Craig and asks why his work experience came to a premature end. Seeing an opportunity to make things even more awkward in the Dingle household, Craig fabricates a version of events to the point where Samson begins to believe that something romantic has happened between Craig and Lydia. Smug at his manipulation, Craig welcomes Samson back to the team.

Later, as Samson debriefs to Cathy (Gabrielle Dowling) over the phone as to his conclusions about Lydia, Mandy overhears, and demands he tell her what he knows.

Now in the belief that Lydia and Craig have been having an affair behind Sam’s back, Mandy is determined to find out the truth, and confronts Lydia the next day.

Lydia is horrified by the accusation that she’s having a fling with her rapist, and flees Wishing Well Cottage in a panic after shutting down Mandy’s claims.

Kim is alarmed when she later sees Lydia sobbing her heart out on the humpback bridge just outside the village. Lydia has already alluded to Kim that something has gone down between her and Craig, but wasn’t able to open up to her completely. Now at the end of her tether with Craig’s lies, Lydia finally admits to her friend what happened that day in the office.

Kim is devastated for her friend, who knows her life has now changed forever, but Lydia’s heart breaks when Kim eventually urges her to tell Sam about the attack.

It looks like the only option if Lydia wants to save her marriage, but will Kim’s pleas get through to her?

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Elsewhere in the village, Charity (Emma Atkins) is a bit staggered after hearing the news about soon-to-be-ex-husband Mackenzie’s (Lawrence Robb) engagement to Chloe (Jessie Elland). Mack had proposed to Chloe during a recent pregnancy scare, despite having cheated on her by hooking up with Charity again only a few weeks ago.

Charity’s immediate reaction is to turn attention back to dishy doc Liam (Jonny McPherson), insisting he take her out on a second date that evening.

Choosing the B&B as their venue, Liam is unsurprisingly met with a frosty reception from Bob (Tony Audenshaw), and the evening gets even more awkward when Chloe and Mack arrive for a date night of their own… and are seated at the table next to them!

Charity attempts a brave face on things by putting on quite the display for Mack and Chloe, but the little green-eyed monster eventually wins out as Charity lashes out at Liam, causing embarrassment all round.

Charity is doing her best to avoid Chloe the next day, but still manages to end up dragged into a conversation with her at the playground. When baby Reuben starts crying, Chloe is alarmed to discover that he has a fever. With Reuben having battled bacterial meningitis in May, alarm bells are immediately ringing for the young mum.

With no-one else to turn to at that moment, a panicking Chloe begs Charity to take her and Reuben to Hotten General.

Of course, though reluctant, Charity has no option but to help, and it’s an awkward wait for the pair of them as a guilty Charity does her best to comfort Chloe. There’s relief all round when Reuben is given the all clear, and the silver lining for Chloe is that she feels she’s finally beginning to clear the air with Charity.

However, will Charity take the opportunity to ease her guilty conscience by telling Chloe the truth about her hook-up with Mack…?