Beloved EastEnders character confirms exit but the goodbye is shrouded in tragedy

Oh, Squiggle! You’ve only just come back to EastEnders!

It was only right that Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu) came back when the gravity of what her mum, Denise (Diane Parish), was facing became clear and she finally told her family that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Denise had originally kept it to herself, breaking down and revealing the truth only to Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter), who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Despite the doctors making it crystal clear to Denise that time was very much not on her side and that they needed to begin treatment immediately, her grandson, Jordan (Jahsaiah Williams) being knocked down by Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) left her utterly reticent to head to the hospital when her daughter Chelsea (Zaraah Abrahams) needed her.

After much pushing from Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), though, she realised that she couldn’t run or hide from this disease, and prepared to enter the hospital where she’d be isolated for a month while undergoing the treatment needed to battle her cancer.

On the Square, Libby sought to help Chelsea herself; after learning of her financial woes and the fact that Jordan’s dad, unhinged serial killer Gray Atkins’ (Toby-Alexander Smith) own grandma, Sheila Atkins (Sheila Ruskin) had been attempting to financially support Jordan with cheques, none of which Chelsea had cashed.

Libby got in touch with Sheila, initially causing friction between her and Chelsea, and allowing Sheila the way into Jordan’s life she so desperately craved. Despite her declaration that she had no lasting connection to Gray, it turned out that that is, in fact, an enormous lie.

Kim Fox and Howie Danes (Tameka Empson and Delroy Hugh Atkinson) interrogated Sheila, but also buy into her act, though Kim remained terrified at the prospect of Denise returning home to discover her presence.

Next week sees Denise do just that, when she finally finishes her treatment and is allowed to return home and despite the Fox-Trueman family’s joy, she’s hiding yet another secret.

The treatment hasn’t worked as well as the doctors had hoped and she’ll need another round.

She’s wounded even further when she returns to the hospital and learns that her friend has passed away.

Later, Libby is forced to admit who Sheila is when Denise spies her in the Square with Jordan, leading to her own attempt to interrogate her after banishing Chelsea and Libby.

Later in the week, Denise finally admits to Jack that her treatment hasn’t worked, but flat out forbids him to tell the rest of the family: she’s putting her all into throwing Libby a leaving party and that will remain her priority.

Will Libby learn of the long way Denise still has to go in her battle with cancer before she departs?