Corrie's Stephen accidentally proposes to Elaine after drug-induced haunting

As the day began, Stephen was seen rehearsing for the upcoming presentation for Underworld, having manipulated Carla into promoting him. The smitten Elaine Jones (Paula Wilcox) urged him to slow down with work, as she complained that Carla was relying on him too much.

Little did she know that this is exactly how Stephen likes it; and at the factory, he added more LSD to Carla's mug of tea. But this backfired in a massive way, as Carla spat the liquid out and insisted it contained the wrong milk.

Stephen immediately stared down at his own empty mug, before clocking that niece Sarah Barlow (Tina O'Brien) had also finished her caffeine fix. Realising that either he or Sarah had swallowed the drugs, Stephen was horrified.

At the hotel ahead of the presentation, Sarah began to feel unwell, leading Stephen to assume she was the unintended victim - but it wasn't long before he began to sweat and endure blurred vision.

When Sarah introduced him on stage, Stephen attempted to start his speech; but he completely slurred his words and had to leave her to it as he rushed away. He locked himself in a hotel room after throwing out a cleaner, and was plagued with visions of the two men he murdered - Leo (Joe Frost) and Teddy Thompkins (Grant Burgin).

In a move that was perfect for the tone of this story, Corrie brought back the late characters to haunt Stephen. Having first seen them cloned in the audience of the presentation, Stephen saw himself throwing Leo to his death, before finding himself back at the scene of Teddy's murder.

The 'ghost' of Teddy branded Stephen a liar, leaving the latter a quivering wreck until Elaine arrived just as he was coming down from his trip down memory lane.

After Elaine expressed her concern, she suggested he should retire and join her for a future together. When Stephen reacted keenly to her desire to be with someone "for keeps", Elaine assumed he was proposing!

What will he do next?

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