One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1) by Rebecca King Page B

knew when you had me that you were accepting responsibilities as a father. Reneging on those in the way you have has been the worst act of cowardly selfishness I have ever come across. I am sorry to call you my sire. Given you have practically handed the house in Cumbria over to the creditor; am I to understand that you have also taken steps to ensure the furniture is put into storage? Or have you sold that too?”
    “It is my furniture,” Clarence replied. “It is nothing to do with you.”
    “Fine. Then I shall endeavour to ensure the remainder of my belongings are removed from the house forthwith because they were given to me by mother, and are not yours to give away,” she said coldly.
    “So, what are you going to do? You have no skills with which to work and have no house in Cumbria to go back to. That house is no longer mine. I sold it,” Clarence declared maliciously. “It has paid all of my debts off in full. The money that I have left is there to provide for my future.”
    Poppy stared at him in disbelief. At first she was unsure if she had heard him correctly. When he opened his mouth to speak she lifted a hand and motioned for him to stay quiet.
    “What do you mean you have sold the house and have now paid all of your debts off in full?” She watched him and wondered whether he would try to bluff his way out of this particular lie, and lie he had because, if he had paid all of his debts off, who was she supposed to have handed the money over to this morning?
    “I sold the house to clear off my debts. There was enough left for the rent here, and food, as long as you eat sparingly, and that is all. The coffers are empty now.”
    Poppy knew he was lying and wanted to challenge him about it but then doubted she would get the truth.
    “You lied to me,” she whispered, horrified that she had put herself in danger all for nothing. She still had no idea what was really going on but the contents of the bag were now more precious to her than ever before.
    “Well? What are you going to do now?” Clarence demanded, desperate to change the subject.
    “See to my own future,” Poppy retorted.
    As far as she could see there was no relationship between her and her sire any more, and she had to wonder if there ever really had been. After all, over the past several years she had been the one to look after him, not the other way around. She had been at his beck and call. In return, all she had received had been scorn, derision and the occasional questioning of her skills. If she hadn’t bothered to try to appease him the discord between them would have been evident long ago.
    “Do that,” he snapped. “We will see how long you are out there all by yourself. You won’t stand a chance.” He snorted and shook his head. “I will give you a day before you come back.”
    Poppy shook her head. “Being dragged about while you evade your creditors has prepared me for whatever is ‘out there’ as you put it,” she growled. “Believe me when I tell you that I won’t be back.”
    For the first time in her entire life she desperately wanted to hit another human being. So much so that her fists clenched into tight balls of fury and she had to fight to keep them by her side. She was visibly trembling with rage but refused to unleash it. She knew she wouldn’t be able to live with her own conscience should she stoop so low as to harm another human being. Not even Clarence was going to drag her that far down. Before she could say anything else, loud hammering began on the front door again.
    Poppy sighed and turned to look over her shoulder. “They are persistent, I will grant you that. I suggest you go and answer it before they kick the door down,” she mused wryly.
    Inwardly she was filled with horror at the possibility and wished once again that she had remained beside the corpse in the park. Anywhere else was better than here. She watched Clarence stare worriedly at the door and wondered what other messes he had