I went home, and Mom and Dad were gone again. They were always the same. They just wanted someone to run the company. I didn’t care either.

I stayed home for two days, and my wrist started to heal. I grabbed a car and headed to Cole’s. Before I saw Cole, I ran into the tattooed guy.

“Hey, Ashley.”

“Where’s Cole?”

He laughed. “Cole’s out. Do you need anything?” He hit himself. “Of course you can see him. Sorry.” He smiled. “He’ll be here soon.”

I sat on the couch. The coffee table had a tea set. I made tea. The guy stayed.

I asked him, “What’s your name?”

“Rex.”

“Is he nice to you?”

I just had a feeling. He shook his head. “He’s nice to everyone.”

“Oh?”

“The guys here are from the slums. They all got something wrong with them.”

“Like the guy who works on engines. He doesn’t talk, but knows where the problem is.”

“Or Chen, who has a bad leg. Or the guy who does paint, who doesn’t know how to read…”

“They couldn’t find any work.”

“Cole hired them, gave them time to learn, paid for everything, and gave them a salary.”

“So they’re happy to be with Cole.”

It made sense.

“What about you?”

He looked serious. “I met Cole five years ago. Someone was going to kill me, but Cole saved me.”

“I promised to follow him forever.”

I was shocked. I was always lonely. Cole gathered people around him, and they were happy. I wanted to be with him.

“Do you know where he is?”

“He said someone wanted to see him at the square.”

I was about to go.

“Oh yeah, Cole’s rich. He’s just humble.”

“He didn’t want us to call you ‘Ashley,’ because you were too important.”

I frowned.