Emmerdale fans are convinced they have worked out what Ruby Milligan’s dark secret is and what she is hiding, amid her emotional outburst on Friday night’s episode

Emmerdale fans reckon they’ve sussed out the mystery of Ruby Milligan’s (played by Beth Cordingly) teenage years after Friday’s episode sparked fresh concern.

Her daughter Steph (Georgia Jay) was there to offer a shoulder as Ruby seemed troubled while rummaging through a memory box from her estranged dad, Anthony Fox (Nicholas Day). Anthony rocked up in the Dales on Tuesday, with Steph trying to patch things up between him and her mum, Ruby.

But a glance at an old snap of a teen Ruby set alarm bells ringing. She looked scared and stiff and soon broke down in tears, prompting Steph to tuck the box away.

This isn’t the first time Ruby’s been shaken up recently. Earlier in the week, she was a wreck after bumping into her dad for the first time in years. She walked home sobbing and had a go at her hubby Caleb, all shook up by her dad’s comeback.

Earlier on, as Anthony begged Ruby for a fresh start, she hit him with: “They don’t see you but I do, I see you,” reports the Mirror.

Anthony owned up to “making mistakes” and tried to say sorry for past events, even hinting that Helen was partly to blame.

Fast forward to later in the week, and Ruby’s asking her dad to do one. As he agrees to scarper, he says: “You win,” leaving Ruby horrified as she fires back: “I win?” clearly not seeing eye to eye.

It appears that there’s a secret between the characters that only they’re privy to, with Ruby evidently concealing something significant. Her recent distress over her past has tipped off viewers who now strongly suspect what’s haunting her.

Audiences are piecing together what might lie behind the character’s troubled behaviour. Many are worried that Ruby may have suffered abuse at the hands of her own father and that it’s possible he is also Steph’s biological dad.

One viewer speculated on social media: “I think Steph is Ruby’s Dad’s daughter. I reckon he abused Ruby.”

This was echoed by another fan responding with: “Me too,” while a third concurred: “Exactly right.”

Another chimed in suggesting: “I think Ruby was abused by her dad and that’s why she had an estranged relationship with her mum because she didn’t believe her.”

The storyline thickens following Ruby’s affair with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) Caleb’s (Will Ash) brother as watchers think they can predict the reveal. The plot took a turn when Caleb was horrified to find emergency contraception in the rubbish bin of his home.

Rather than confronting Ruby, he opted to discuss the discovery with Cain, which led to Cain believing that Caleb knew of his indiscretion.

But when Cain was ready to ask for forgiveness, he was taken aback by Caleb’s reaction, which made it obvious that Caleb was clueless about Cain and Ruby’s secret fling.

Instead, Caleb wrongly deduced that the morning-after pill was actually connected to his own daughter Steph, who was growing closer to Ross Barton (Michael Parr).

Caleb appears eager to have a chat with Steph, and if he does, he’ll quickly discover that the pill doesn’t belong to her. So, will Caleb confront his daughter, leading her to possibly admit that she didn’t dispose of it in the bin, implying that Ruby must be the culprit?

Could Steph’s denial result in either her or Caleb discovering Ruby’s infidelity, and is there a chance someone spotted her exiting the garage that day and pieced together the puzzle?

Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV.