[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-four-of-a-kind":3,"chapter-four-of-a-kind-four-of-a-kind-chapter-195":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Four Of A Kind",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1529889,1985,"Chapter 195: [4.13] Five Problems for One Truth","four-of-a-kind-chapter-195",195,"\u003Cp>I closed the library door behind me and leveled my gaze at Cassidy. \"Stop calling me that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What, Master?\" Her eyes widened with faux innocence. \"But that’s what you’ll be when I lose that test on Friday.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Which you’re not going to, because we’re studying properly.\" I dropped into the chair across from her and pulled my chemistry project back toward me. \"Now focus. I have three hours to finish this and you have a test to prepare for.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So bossy.\" She slid off the table and into the chair beside me, close enough that I could smell her coconut shampoo. \"I like it when you’re authoritative.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I ignored her and opened my laptop. Operation Focus Mode activated. I needed to lock in on this stupid chemistry project – periodic trends, atomic radius calculations, ionization energy. Boring as hell, but required to pass, and I wasn’t about to tank my GPA over something this basic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty minutes. That was my window. Twenty minutes of uninterrupted work, then I’d check on Cassidy, then back to chemistry. Simple plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words flowed onto the screen as I typed, my brain settling into that familiar productive zone. Data, analysis, conclusion. Easy. Just don’t think about the girl sitting next to—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your jawline gets all tight when you concentrate.\" Cassidy’s voice sliced through my focus. \"It’s hot.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t look up. \"Do your practice problems.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am.\" She flipped her notebook around. \"See? Quadratics. Very math-y.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I glanced at her work. She’d completed exactly two problems in twenty minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You need to go faster than that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe I need motivation.\" She leaned closer, her shoulder pressing against mine. \"What do I get if I finish all twenty?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The knowledge that you won’t fail your test.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boring.\" She pulled away with a dramatic sigh. \"How about something fun instead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Learning is fun.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"God, you sound like Vivienne.\" She rolled her eyes. \"Speaking of my perfect sister, how was your bathroom makeout session? Spare no details.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My fingers froze over the keyboard. \"We’re not discussing that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why not? You’ve already broken your own rules with two of my sisters.\" She counted on her fingers. \"Vivienne gets a bathroom kiss. Sabrina gets whatever happened in your room last night.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing happened with Sabrina.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Liar.\" She flipped her hair over her shoulder. \"So what, you like them better? They get kisses and I get quadratic formulas?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m trying to help you pass your class.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe I need a different kind of help.\" Her hand landed on my thigh under the table. \"More hands-on instruction.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I removed her hand. \"Cassidy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\" She grinned. \"Just testing your concentration skills. Very impressive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do your problems. Now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She muttered something that sounded like \"I’m trying to\" but picked up her pencil again. I returned to my project, trying to recapture my mental flow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Atomic radius increases down a group, decreases across a period. Ionization energy follows the opposite pattern. Basic chemistry, focus on that instead of the girl beside you whose hand keeps \"accidentally\" brushing yours whenever she reaches for her eraser.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten more minutes passed. I was making decent progress, maybe 30% done. At this rate, I’d finish by noon if I could stay locked in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isaiah.\" Cassidy’s voice again, softer now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I need help with number seven.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sighed and looked at her notebook. The problem was standard quadratic form, nothing tricky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just use the formula. Negative b plus or minus square root of—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But that’s the thing,\" she interrupted. \"I keep forgetting the formula.\" She tapped her pencil against her lips. \"Maybe there’s a way you could help me remember it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Write it down fifty times.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or...\" She leaned in, her lips almost touching my ear. \"You could give me a reason to care about it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her breath was warm against my skin. I pulled back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your GPA isn’t reason enough?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nope.\" She popped the ’p’ sound. \"But I bet you could think of something more persuasive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This girl was going to kill me. I had work to do, boundaries to maintain, and a sister waiting on me. Yet here I was, fighting to keep my eyes on the notebook instead of drifting to Cassidy’s lips or the way her Valentine sports top hugged her curves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For every five problems you complete correctly, I’ll answer one question truthfully. Any question.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes lit up. \"Deal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She attacked her notebook with sudden intensity, pencil flying across the page. I returned to my project, managing a solid fifteen minutes of focus before she slapped her pencil down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Done! Five problems. Check them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I reviewed her work. All correct, surprisingly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not bad, Valentine. What’s your question?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She grinned. \"Did you enjoy kissing Vivienne?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course she’d go straight for the jugular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes,\" I admitted. \"But it shouldn’t have happened.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because of your job or because it was Vivienne specifically?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s a second question. Five more problems.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She grumbled but returned to her work. I went back to chemistry, typing steadily for another fifteen minutes. When she finished the next set, I checked them quickly. Four out of five correct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s only four right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Close enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Rules are rules.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine.\" She fixed her mistake. \"There. Now answer: if you had to kiss one of us again, who would it be?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bluntness of Valentine women was staggering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Pass.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No passing! That’s not how this works!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I never agreed to no passing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She narrowed her eyes. \"Then I’ll stop doing these stupid problems.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then you’ll fail your test.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe I want to fail.\" She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. \"Maybe I want to be your pet for a day.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My laptop screen suddenly seemed incredibly interesting. \"You want to fail a test just for a stupid bet?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A bet is a bet, Angelo. And don’t act like you haven’t thought about it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had. Way more than I should have.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do five more problems.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Answer my question first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at her directly, abandoning all pretense of working on my project. \"What do you want me to say, Cassidy? That I’ve thought about kissing you? Fine. I have. I’ve thought about all of you, and it’s fucking with my head.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes widened slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m stuck in a mansion with four gorgeous identical sisters who keep finding ways to get me alone and then—\" I ran a hand through my hair. \"I have a job. I have Iris. I have responsibilities.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So responsible.\" She moved closer, her chair scraping against the floor. \"Always doing the right thing. Don’t you ever get tired of it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Every damn day.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then stop.\" Her hand found my thigh again. \"Just for a minute.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1109,"2026-06-06T06:03:59.990Z",1,"novelbin.me","a23c9aa5325130ca992ef3bad16b74bd5534a5a2d2034777ec9bf65868ee7c6e","four-of-a-kind-chapter-196","four-of-a-kind-chapter-194",251,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffour-of-a-kind-cover.jpg"]