Not sure what Emmerdale’s Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) was expecting by doing a deal with devil Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) but for some reason, being exposed by the shyster wasn’t it.

Anyone with half a brain could have worked out that Pollard would be Jai’s undoing, but the business owner is set to be blindsided when Pollard’s blatant actions are the catalyst for his downfall.

Jai has been harbouring the dark secret that upon learning of Amit Sharma’s (Anil Goutam) true involvement in Rishi Sharma’s (Bhasker Patel) death, he pushed him down the stairs and tortured him in revenge, before forcing him to sign over all of his shares in the HOP to Jai and leaving for India.

In turn this left Suni Sharma (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana) high and dry – his dad left him without so much as a goodbye while also cutting him out of the business.

Suni is now considering leaving the village with Nicky Miligan (Lewis Cope), given that there’s not much holding him there, and with Nicky desperate for a fresh start.

Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) gets wind of this and is gutted, determined to make him stay. Jai, on the other hand, would prefer he goes – he’s less likely to get found out that way.

Pollard has been blackmailing him by demanding free drinks and food whenever he feels like it as a partial payment for his silence.

But though Pollard might be an expert schemer, he’s yet to demonstrate any success in covering his tracks – as evidenced by him being outsmarted by KerryWyatt (Laura Norton) when she caught him out for ripping her off over the necklace.

This trait of Pollard’s will be the undoing of Jai.

Laurel witnesses a tense conversation between Pollard and Jai which sees her raise her eyebrows.

Laurel’s suspicions are piqued when Pollard belligerently refuses to pay for his drinks, suggesting she go and have a word with Jai instead. She takes his advice and heads home to confront Jai about whatever’s going on.