Sinister Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) takes drastic action in EastEnders next week as she tries to silence Zack Hudson (James Farrar) over his paternity threat.

Earlier this week, Zack discovered that he is Barney Mitchell’s (Lewis Bridgeman) biological father, following a fling he had with Nicola years before either arrived on Albert Square.

Nicola thought she would be able to stop Zack from speaking out after finding out his sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) had cheated on Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian) with her ex-husband Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp).

But after Zack told Sharon about his previous affair with Nicola, she suddenly lost her trump card, as Sharon could choose to reveal how she’d cheated on then-husband Teddy back and cause him to start asking questions.

With all bets off, the end of Thursday’s episode saw Zack issue Nicola with an ultimatum – either she were to tell Barney about his real paternity, or he would.

When we return to Walford on Monday, Nicola is feeling backed into a corner as the pressure on her builds.

She offers Zack £10k in return for his silence before making a last-ditch attempt to run away from the situation.

However, her plans for a family trip to Spain are thwarted when Teddy refuses to come.

Nicola then misleads Zack and claims she will finally tell Barney.

After asking Zack to meet her at the club, he arrives only to walk right into a trap when he is attacked.

Nicola then warns him that she will stop at nothing to prevent Barney from finding out the truth.

The stage is also set for another showdown between Nicola and Sharon next week.

As both women try to cover their backs, they go head-to-head in front of a confused Barney and Teddy.

But just how long can their secrets stay safe? Given this is Walford after all, we’re guessing it won’t be for too much longer…