It’s been a quiet few months for Coronation Street’s legal power couple, Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) and Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson).

I mean, they were present at the epic disaster that was the Driscoll family Christmas dinner that involved exposed abortions and a vicious beating that left a man unconscious.

Alya also had to say goodbye to her bestie, Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) when she decided to trade in drizzly Weatherfield for a new opportunity in Dubai, while Adam has found himself embroiled in a feud with the insidious Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances-Brown), who’s certainly proven that she’s not one to cross, over Jodie’s refusal to pick up after David the dog.

But since the solidifying their fledgling relationship, things have been relatively un-dramatic for Alya and Adam, which is incredibly rare for anybody that lives in the vicinity of Coronation Street.

…until Rich Pemberton (Jamie Cho) re-emerged.

‘Rich is back on the cobbles and wants something from Alya. The last time he was here it led to her leaving her life behind and moving abroad for work so whatever he’s got planned might not be good news for Alya and boyfriend Adam,’ a Corrie source previously disclosed and, it seems, his reappearance certainly isn’t good news for the duo.

Alya found herself summoned to see Rich while Adam dealt with Adam continued to beef with Jodie and, in no uncertain terms, told him to stay away from her. Although Alya makes it clear she has no interest in speaking to him, he remains undeterred, and calls her the next day.

Relenting, Alya meets Rich later in the week and is hit with a brutal ultimatum.

Next week sees Adam revel in the joy of poaching a client from Rich’s firm, Fabian Croft. Though she paints on a smile, the weight of Rich’s words is clearly laying heavily on her.

Later in the week, Rich visits Barlow Legal Services and while the meeting goes well, Adam is horrified to find that their internal email service has been breached: they’ve been hacked.

When Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) arrives, utterly furious at the leak of an email regarding Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) and Rich informs them that their business reputation is effectively destroyed, Alya and Adam reel at what has befallen their business.