Episode 70

**"My Deepest Secret (part 1)"** is the seventieth released episode of My Deepest Secret by Hanza Art.

## Synopsis

Emma recalls how her biggest fear is; being *alone*. A flashback to the past shows a ten-year-old Emma walking through the neighbourhood hand-in-hand with her father. Emma eagerly asks her father (George Brenton) where they're going, but he only tells her to take a guess. Glancing at her surroundings, Emma recognises a cafe and some streets. She then exclaims that they must be going to her mother's place. Her father smiles and tells her she guessed correctly. As they arrive at her mother's house, he reveals to Emma that they're going to surprise her mother. Emma won an award at school and he wants her to show the award to her mother whom he believes will be proud of her. Using the spare key, George unlocks the front door and enters the house, Emma tagging behind him. He calls out for his wife, Linda, asking her if she is home. Going upstairs he enters a room where he and Emma find Linda in bed with another man. Linda groans as she angrily tells her husband and daughter that she had specifically told them *not* to visit her unannounced. Emma also recalls how her only memory of her mother was; she looked *exactly* like her.

Several days later, Emma watches her father arguing with her mother about her decision to divorce him. George tries to persuade Linda to reconsider, because he's willing to overlook her unfaithfulness if she agrees to stay by his side. Not just for him, but for Emma's sake since she needs her as her mother. Linda refuses, calling him hopeless for still wanting to be with her despite the fact that she had cheated on him. George tells her it's because he loves her, but his wife responds saying she doesn't. She only married him for his money and he knew it. Linda also tells him that she finds his obsession towards her very creepy. She then glances at Emma, and after a brief silence, she tells her husband that he can keep their daughter. As she turns to leave, she tells him that she does not need Emma. Her parting words anger George as he yelled at his wife, asking her how could she say that to her own daughter. Some time after the confrontation, Emma asks her father if he would like to go home. He responds saying that it is just the two of them from today onwards, but Emma insists that she doesn't mind. She cheers her father up, claiming that she likes him better than her mother by reminding him of how he took the liberty to raise her on his own while her mother never lifted a finger. It is also because she never really liked her mother who was always making him sad. Touched by Emma's words, George hugs his daughter and thanks her for agreeing to stay by his side.

One evening, Emma is in her room when she hears her father returning home. It is not long until she hears a loud crash which prompts her to go downstairs to investigate. Upon entering the living room, she finds George surrounded by empty bottles of wine and clearly drunk. When he sees Emma he rushes up to hug her, while calling her Linda. Emma resists by kicking his jaw when he hugs her too tight. This causes her father to become enraged which terrifies her. She retreats back to her bedroom and shuts herself inside as her father drunkenly orders her to open the door. The next morning, George apologises to Emma for scaring her the previous night, and he promises to never to do it again. However, he does it again. He strikes Emma (who didn't dare to resist) while drunk as he yells at her as if she was his wife. Soon, he began calling her by her name instead of her mother's. When he became sober again, he started buying Emma gifts to make up for hurting her. It was then when Emma realised that drinking had become his habit to relieve him from the stress at work, social life, and even his heartbreak over his wife.

## Characters

*Characters are listed in order of appearance. Character first appearances are **bolded**.*