There’s a lot of weight on Cain Dingle’s (Jeff Hordley) shoulders in Emmerdale at the moment.

His family farm business is crumbling, half of it has been sold to Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), wife Moira (Natalie J Robb) has been imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit and he’s been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Cain is keeping his diagnosis a secret from pretty much everyone, bar Dr Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson), unlikely ally Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) and granddaughter Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill).

She urged him to steal some flashy cars in a bid to make a quick quid, hoping that he’d be able to turn around the fortunes of the farm in the process. It would also help him to take his mind off the other issues burdening him at the moment.

The two stole several motors, though he urged her to stop when considering the impact it could have on her future.

In yesterday’s instalment, the secret began to unravel as she failed to resist the temptation to steal Dr Caitlin Todd’s (Caroline Harker) new sports car from outside of the village hall. She was spotted by husband Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant), who ordered her out of the vehicle and wanted to know the truth.

Sarah admitted that she was working with her ‘Grumpy’, though failed to divulge the fact he was living with cancer.

A furious Jacob raced around to Cain’s garage in today’s episode, shouting off about how irresponsible their behaviour was. Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), Sarah’s grandmother, overheard and was similarly livid.

Cain tried to avoid questioning and walked away, later coming face-to-face with another disapproving local. Liam wondered whether his decision to steal cars with Sarah was just an indication that his strategy to keep the diagnosis under wraps was failing.

Liam resolved that the reckless decision-making meant he was missing out on receiving proper care and support from his family.

Later, after making amends with Jacob, Sarah headed to Butler’s Farm to confront Cain. She told him that she was sick of having to defend him, and given nobody else knew about his health, she was running out of ways to explain his behaviour.

In a particularly brutal sentence, she branded him a “coward” and said that she was saddened to see such a strong man not facing up to the truth with his family.

Will Liam and Sarah’s words resonate with Cain?