12. Bought!

All the way home, I thought of what my options could be. I did not want to look at the only solid option on the horizon. By the time I arrived home, I had made up my mind. I was going to meet Liam O’Grady and Finn St Just and agree to their…barbaric proposal. But I would have to make up a tale to tell dear Heather.

*

The news that we were to be evicted had already reached Heather who was hysterical with grief. The twins, who had come home to their weeping mother, were shaken and white-faced.

I sank to the ground where Heather, ever the drama queen, was sitting, a bottle of vodka beside her.

She reeked of drink.

Putting my arms around her, I said quietly,

‘I have a way out of this problem. Trust me.”

The twins looked upset. They glanced at each other.

“We heard you…speak about that dirty old lecher, Nelson.”

And Rose, ever the softer one, began to sob,

“Bee, you don’t need to sacrifice yourself for us!”

I smiled thinly.

If they only knew!

But I stood up and said, “Make me a cuppa, the