Coronation Street sets up a Christmas Day showdown tonight, as Eva Price and Adam Barlow chat privately over a secret they’re keeping from Ben Driscoll. But the furtive nature of their conversations may be playing into the hands of master manipulator Maggie.

Eva’s festive week gets off to a difficult start, as her young daughter Susie mentions that she’d like Father Christmas to bring her a baby brother or sister. While Ben laughs off the comment, Eva is visibly affected and heads outside into the pub’s backyard for some time alone.

Adam’s concerned when he finds Eva looking tearful and he encourages her to open up over what’s triggered her. However, it soon becomes clear that Adam already knows all about what’s bothering Eva…

“I’m a liar,” Eva declares. “I just can’t believe that I managed to keep it from him for so long.”

Seeing things differently, Adam replies: “Eva, you had to. What choice did you have?”

As they chat further, Eva recalls how she fell pregnant but opted to have a termination without telling Ben anything about it.

Adam was her confidant at the time, in scenes which took place off screen.

“I told you at the time, you’ve got no reason to feel guilty,” Adam says. “We spoke about this for a long time. It would have put a bomb in an already precarious situation.”

And when Eva suggests that it might be time to tell Ben the truth, Adam protests: “What good would it do telling him the truth? You two seem really strong right now, why blow that up? Plus, I hate the idea of what he might do to me if he found out…”

The scenes pave the way for huge drama involving the Driscolls on Christmas Day, as Maggie becomes determined to publicly expose Eva’s secrets after realising that she’s hiding things.

Viewers will discover the full story behind Eva’s baby, and Adam’s involvement, in scenes coming later this week. And with Maggie’s ruthless behaviour to contend with, it’s sure to be explosive…