Belinda

Belinda and Joe used to have a great relationship. They always made each other laugh and nothing could break them. That is, until one innocent decision led to their daughter being abused by her gymnastics coach. Belinda was devastated when she found out and like Joe, she too is struggling to come to terms with what happened to Zoe.

Even though she could never tell him, she did blame Joe for what happened to Zoe. He should have left work to pick her up, it was his turn and she thought he’d let his selfishness get in the way of her daughter’s happiness. She hated looking at him, trying to pretend their family was still in a good place, feign normality for the good of her kids. And then came the drinking… she accused him of trying to run away from his problems and not facing up to his responsibilities but she’d also found a way to run away from it all.

Belinda found solace in a doctor that she worked with. He didn’t know about the ordeal that Zoe had gone through and she liked that. The fact that she could be normal around him without the cloud of abuse hanging over her. Even though she had plenty of opportunities to take things further she knew that she could never do that to Joe. Despite everything she still loves Joe deeply and she made a vow to hold onto their marriage no matter what. That’s why she gave Joe the ultimatum – either he quits drinking and is there for his family or she was walking out on him with the kids in tow. To her surprise it worked and Joe got help.

Things got better between them but then Joe found the texts. Belinda denied that she was having an affair and although Joe said that he believed her, she could tell that he didn’t really mean it. So they soldiered on, pretending that everything was okay.