7 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 21st to 24th October

Next week on Emmerdale, Ruby is shocked by a secret in her mother’s will, Belle’s mental health spirals after being arrested, and Nicola begins to suspect Tom isn’t as innocent as he claims.

Please note: There is no episode airing on Friday 25th October due to football coverage on ITV1

1) Helen’s will reveals a secret

As Ruby (Beth Cordingly) continues coming to terms with the death of her estranged mother Helen (Sharon Maughan), husband Caleb (Will Ash) is concerned that his secret windfall will be exposed.

Ruby hadn’t seen her mother since she was forced to choose between her wealthy family and then boyfriend Caleb in her teens. Whilst Helen had attempted to get in touch with Ruby shortly before her death, Caleb had intercepted her calls hoping to save Ruby from more hurt.

Caleb visited Helen himself in hospital where he learned that she was terminally ill. He told Helen that he would try and persuade Ruby to visit, but wanted £100,000 in return, paid upfront. Helen made arrangements to transfer the cash.

The next day, a nurse at the hospital was finally able to get hold of Ruby, and told her that her dying mother wanted to talk to her. However by the time Ruby arrived at the hospital, Helen had passed away.

As Caleb comforted his wife, who was desperate to know what her mother had wanted after all these years, Caleb remained quiet as he received notification of £100k hitting his account.

With Helen’s solicitor due to visit next week in order to read her will, Caleb is concerned that the secret transaction will be exposed to Ruby. His relationship with Ruby has already been threatened this week after she discovered he had visited the hospital, but she still remains blissfully unaware about the cash.

Caleb is sure that he’s been discovered when Ruby reacts with shock to one of the documents that solicitor Fiona has brought with her, but it turns out Helen was keeping a big secret of her own.

Helen’s will reveals how she was actually in touch with Caleb and Ruby’s own estranged daughter, Stephanie, a fact that horrifies Ruby.

As Ruby struggles to process the revelation whilst she later talks with Chas (Lucy Pargeter), she explains that she’s grateful of being able to turn to Caleb’s family for support when her own has been estranged from her for so long.

Meanwhile, Caleb is relieved that he’s managed to make it through the will reading unscathed, but surely it can only be a matter of time before the details of the transaction are uncovered…

2) Belle is arrested!

Over at Wishing Well, Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) reaches a crisis point next week as she struggles to cope in the wake of dad Zak’s (Steve Halliwell) death. Belle was already on the brink as she continued to battle against ex-husband Tom (James Chase), reporting him to the police for domestic abuse after a dramatic showdown saw her plunge an axe into his back.

Belle has been regretting not going to see her dad in Scotland in the time before his death, but has taken comfort in knowing that he was unaware of the troubles his youngest daughter has been facing… or so she thought.

Next week, Mandy (Lisa Riley) accidentally lets slip that Cain (Jeff Hordley) had already told Zak about Tom’s abuse, leaving Belle furious that they had discussed it behind her back.

When an elaborate bunch of condolence flowers later arrive at the cottage without a note, Belle is convinced that they are from Tom, and that he is continuing to taunt her. Sam (James Hooton) and Lydia (Karen Blick) are concerned about Belle’s state of mind as she heads out to confront Tom, breaking her bail conditions in the process.

The situation playing right into Tom’s hands, Belle is staggered when DS Foy (Robert Cavanah) later shows up and places her under arrest.

At the police station, Foy warns Belle that if she makes any further contact with Tom, she will be heading straight to prison.

3) Belle’s mental health spirals

Belle puts on a brave face with her family as she returns home, but its clear that things are now beginning to tip her over the edge. It soon becomes apparent that, in Belle’s mind, she is surrounded by a cacophony of voices, indicating that she may be suffering from another schizophrenic episode.

Amongst all the voices, Belle is longing to hear her dad’s words of wisdom, but she’s devastated that she cannot hear him.

Later, Sam and Lydia are distraught to discover the reality of Belle’s breakdown, when they find her outside at her lowest point yet…

With Tom’s case against Belle already underpinned by his lies about her mental health, will this latest development only weaken Belle’s defence even further?

4) Moira turns to Vanessa

Over at Butlers, after turning down a last minute slot on hearing the news of Zak’s passing, Moira (Natalie J Robb) is surprised to receive a new date for her operation to remove her brain tumour.

Moira had not wanted to burden Cain with the operation so soon after losing Zak, fearful that something could also happen to her, but Moira is now forced to face the prospect head on.

Cain does his best to support Moira and reassure her that she’s making the right decision, but Moira knows that it will be a tough journey whatever the outcome.

Moira confides in Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick), who knows all too well about the dilemmas she’s facing following her own battle with bowel cancer, and goes on to ask her a big favour…

Will Vanessa be able to help her?

5) Billy is determined to continue fighting

Up at Holdgate, Billy (Jay Kontzle) is determined to take part in another unlicensed boxing match, despite still nursing injuries from the last one.

Billy had confided in Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb) about his illicit side hustle, having arrived on his back door bleeding from a wound in his abdomen after falling on something sharp during a fight. He explained that he had only started taking part as he was desperately trying to keep the family afloat.

But the fights have also provided an outlet for Billy’s stress, so it didn’t take much persuading from boxing promoter Jade (Twinnie-Lee Moore) to carry on.

Mack promised to assist Billy, but even he is shocked to learn that he’s planning to take part in another fight so soon.

Medic John (Oliver Farnworth), who patched Billy up following the last fight, also has big concerns, but reluctantly gives Billy an impromptu training session in the hope that he can at least improve Billy’s defence and prevent further injury.

His preferred option is of course for Billy to not participate at all, so John leans on Aaron (Danny Miller) to see if he will be able to persuade Billy that it’s not a good idea.

Will Aaron be able to talk Billy around?

6) Will Jimmy sign over the haulage firm?

With Helen’s $100k burning a hole in his back pocket, the day finally comes for Caleb to complete his takeover of Home James Haulage as Jimmy (Nick Miles) prepares to sign on the dotted line.

Caleb had been sabotaging the business in the hope of taking it over as he launches his business empire, but ended up being handed half of it on a platter after Will (Dean Andrews) offered his share in the business in exchange for a loan.

Next week, Will’s conscience is pushed to the limit following his pressuring of Jimmy to sign over his half of the business to Caleb. When Caleb later shows up at the yard with the papers to confirm the deal, will Jimmy go through with the plan?

7) Nicola begins to suspect Tom

Meanwhile, Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) is concerned when she realises that Carl (Charlie Joyce) seems to be acting strangely around Tom.

Tom had managed to scare his young cousin with his anger a couple of weeks ago, when Carl revealed that he had given Tom’s tablet—which contained evidence of his surveillance against Belle—to friend Isaac (Bobby Dunsmuir) after they were playing a game on it.

After petrifying Carl with talk of telling his mum and dad about the theft, or even the police, Tom was eventually able to retrieve the tablet, and destroyed it as Carl secretly watched on from an upstairs window.

Despite Tom buying Carl a fancy remote control car in an attempt to win back his trust, and silence, Carl has been particularly unsettled since.

Nicola can sense something isn’t right as she observes Carl’s apparent fear of Tom, but with she and Jimmy having blindly defended their nephew in the face of Belle’s accusations, will she begin to doubt his supposed innocence?

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