Despite Mia’s threats, Matthew presents himself to his daughter for the first time this week on Home and Away in Australia. What will her reaction be?
Mia (Anna Samson), a young company owner, has had one of the most stressful weeks of her life. She’d just gotten her life in order, having purchased the gym and begun an exciting adoption adventure with Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams), but everything came crumbling down when she received an unexpected phone call from a guy she’d abandoned in the past.
Matthew (James Sweeny) is Chloe’s father!
They hadn’t talked in 20 years, after spending one night at a party together. Mia had been too inebriated to agree, awoke dizzy and confused, and realised she was pregnant soon after. She went to Matthew’s house to inform him, but she was met by his mother, who handed him a bundle of cash and insisted that she get an abortion.
Mia, on the other hand, departed and continued her pregnancy. She instructed Matthew to keep away from her, and the two haven’t spoken or exchanged more than a text message since. Now, two decades later, Matthew has discovered that he is the father of a kid and has travelled to Summer Bay to see her.
Mia ran into her non-consensual one-night fling at the gym last week when he came seeking for her. She urged him to stay away and finally persuaded him that revealing the truth about their time together would jeopardise his profession as a lawyer.
“Perhaps you should consider what your life would be like if that truth got out,” she said.
Unfortunately, during their argument, she managed to get Chloe’s name out.
As Matthew walked away, he overheard Irene (Lynne McGranger) scream out Chloe’s name, and he realised he had just met his daughter.
He addressed her for the first time when he inquired if she needed assistance with her food delivery.
Despite Mia’s warnings, he was more desperate than ever to connect with his daughter when she turned him down — her car was barely metres away.
This week, he runs into her at the Diner and immediately puts on the charm as he has his first meaningful talk with the daughter he never knew he had.
After a brief exchange of small conversation, he gets to the point and informs her that he is in Summer Bay to visit his daughter.
“Nice,” she responds, utterly oblivious to what is about to unfold.
“The daughter I’m visiting… it’s you,” he says, dropping the bombshell of a lifetime.
The world Chloe thought she knew begins to crumble around her. She exits the Diner and immediately returns home, demanding that Mia explain what is going on.
Mia is forced to reveal to her that, yes, it was her father, but there’s a reason she’s kept him hidden from her for so long.
She begs Chloe to forget about their meeting and go on with her life. He’s terrible news, and she doesn’t need him.
Chloe, on the other hand, can’t help but feel irritated with her mother for hiding such a significant secret from her. As Mia tries to explain that “you do not know him like I do!” she yells, “You are the one who withheld him from me!”
Mia is unable to respond to Chloe’s question, “Why don’t you want me to see my father?”
As a result, Chloe’s curiosity gets the best of her, and she decides to see Matthew and get to know him.
He tells her the majority of the narrative, claiming she is the consequence of a single night he spent with her mother. He also tells her about the money his mother offered Mia in return for an abortion, and how she ended up leaving town and raising Chloe on her own.
Mia is heartbroken as she is compelled to ask her daughter to stay away from her father since she believes he is being honest with her.
Chloe, on the other hand, isn’t sure who to trust and isn’t ready to let her father leave her life as soon as he entered it.
Ari, of course, is well aware of Mia and Matthew’s night together. He’s always thought of Chloe as a daughter, and he’s not happy that Matthew has sprung out of nowhere in her life.
He approaches Matthew and orders him to leave town immediately. However, it appears that the newcomer isn’t easily won over — when Ari says, “You keep away from my family,” Matthew merely replies, “your family?”
Will Mia and Ari be able to prevent Chloe from reuniting with her father after 20 years away, or is he on the verge of becoming a permanent presence in her life?
These sequences will be seen by UK viewers in early 2022.
