Chapter 16 | Now We’re Even, and The System Agrees

I left the coffee shop and continued walking, letting my feet carry me wherever while my mind worked through possibilities. By eight-thirty, I’d walked several miles and finished my coffee. The mall would be opening soon, so I headed in that direction.

The Verano Heights Mall was a sprawling complex of glass and steel. Not many people this early, just employees getting shops ready and a few elderly mall-walkers doing their morning circuits.

I wandered through the quiet corridors, looking at store displays and trying to figure out what I was actually doing here. Was I hiding from Sloane? Planning to buy an apology gift? Just killing time?

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