Chapter 27
Three weeks had passed since the night I told Cole the limited truth about my abilities.
The apartment had become familiar. I knew which floorboard near the bathroom creaked and how long the water took to run hot. I knew Cole left early on Tuesdays and came back late on Thursdays. The quiet routine should have felt safe. Instead, it left me restless. Depending on someone else for food and shelter sat wrong in my chest even when he never made me feel like a burden.
I needed something of my own.
That morning, I sat at the small kitchen table with a secondhand phone he had given me and scrolled through local job listings. Most required experience I did not have or identification I was not ready to provide under my real name. A few places wanted counter help or cleaning staff an
