Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Doctors
He gives Rhona the shock of her life when he shows up unannounced in her home…
She thinks, “He’s my husband, who’s going
to believe me?”
Rhona’s worst nightmare comes true when she walks into the living room and finds her rapist husband Pierce there with that creepy look of feigned innocence all over his face.
She’s been dreading his return ever since he scarpered from the village following his brutal attack. Best mate Vanessa has, too, and, at the start of the week, she urges her pal to go to the police and name him as her rapist. Rhona knows it’s the right thing to do, but she’s dreading it. ‘She feels stupid, as if somehow it was her fault,’ says star Zoë Henry. ‘She thinks, “He’s my husband, who’s going to believe me?” Her worst fear is people finding out because of the shame she feels.’
While Vanessa is a pillar of support for Rhona, others inadvertently make things worse. Marlon, who knows nothing of Rhona’s ordeal, is reluctant to let her spend time on her own with their son Leo, on account of the fact that she’s only just out of rehab for her addiction to painkillers.
Paddy, meanwhile, is so worried about his ex wife that he calls Pierce and arranges to meet him. The well-intentioned vet tells him all about Rhona’s rehab spell and begs him to come home, saying that he’s the one person who can really help her. Like Marlon, Paddy’s also unaware of the rape. Neither does Paddy realise what a manipulative liar Pierce is, and that by revealing information about Rhona’s drug problem, he has potentially handed him ‘ammunition’ to use against her.
As a tragic result of Paddy’s intervention, Pierce is soon back in the village, and Rhona is frozen with fear as soon as she claps eyes on him. ‘From that one incident, everything else that he has done has come into focus,’ adds Zoë.
Pierce’s return does, however, give her the motivation she needs to finally name him as her attacker. Will Pierce now end up doing time for his crime? Or will he manage to twist the truth yet again?