[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-four-of-a-kind":3,"chapter-four-of-a-kind-four-of-a-kind-chapter-56":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},1529750,1985,"Chapter 56: [2.29] An Employer-Employee Relationship","four-of-a-kind-chapter-56",56,"\u003Cp>I pulled out the Spy x Family volume and held it above my head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris jumped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was 5’2\". I was 6’1\".\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She missed by approximately a mile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isaiah. Isaiah. This is cruel. This is unusual punishment. I will report you to the authorities.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Which authorities?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The... manga authorities.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s not a thing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It should be.\" She jumped again. Still missed. \"You’re the worst brother in the entire world.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m your only brother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"THAT’S WHY YOU’RE THE WORST ONE.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lowered the book and handed it to her. She snatched it with the speed of a striking cobra and immediately retreated to the couch, curling up with her prize like a dragon guarding treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Volume eight,\" she breathed. \"Finally. FINALLY. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"About two months, I think.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"An ETERNITY.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I dropped onto the couch beside her. Pulled out my own purchase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris glanced over. Her eyes widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait. Is that for you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You bought yourself manga?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Harlow made me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Harlow made you buy yourself a present.\" Her voice dripped with skepticism. \"One of your employers physically forced you to spend money on something you wanted.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She’s very persuasive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uh huh.\" Iris poked my arm. \"You’re changing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not changing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She grinned. \"My brother is finally learning self-care and it only took three weeks with those girls to do it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s one manga.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s a start.\" She flipped open her volume. \"Now shush. I need to see what happens to my daughter.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We sat in comfortable silence for a while. Iris devoured her manga with the focus of someone defusing a bomb. I flipped through Cowboy Bebop, letting the art wash over me. The fight scenes were gorgeous. Clean lines. Dynamic angles. Spike’s laziness somehow came through even in still images.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>See you, Space Cowboy...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My phone buzzed. I glanced at it without thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassidy:this doesnt change anything\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassidy:youre still annoying\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassidy:and i’m going to win\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassidy:enjoy being my pet scholarship boy\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I typed back:Looking forward to picking out your collar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The read receipt appeared immediately. Then nothing. No response. Just silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three... two... one...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassidy:SHUT UP\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I put the phone away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who’s that?\" Iris asked without looking up from her book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Work.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At ten PM?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My employers have boundary issues.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris finally looked up. Her eyes had that dangerous glint. The one that meant she was about to ask questions I didn’t want to answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So. These Valentine sisters.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What about them?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She closed her manga and turned to face me fully. Cross-legged on the couch. Interrogation mode activated. \"Tell me about them. The real versions. Not the PR stuff online.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sighed. There was no escaping this conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Harlow is... enthusiastic. Very friendly. Gives hugs without warning. Talks at approximately ninety miles per hour about cosplay and fashion and anything that sparkles.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She sounds fun.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She’s exhausting in the best way.\" I paused. \"She also has no concept of personal space. Or professional boundaries. Or the fact that we’re technically in an employer-employee relationship.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris’s eyebrows rose. \"Oh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t ’oh’ me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m just saying ’oh.’ It’s a neutral sound.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s not neutral when you say it like that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She grinned. \"What about the others?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Vivienne is... intense. She runs the student council like a Fortune 500 company. I helped her with a dress zipper once and I’m pretty sure she almost had a stroke.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A dress zipper.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was stuck. I helped. Professionally.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Professionally.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stop repeating my words back at me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stop making your words sound suspicious.\" Iris leaned forward. \"The other two?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sabrina is...\" I searched for the right word. \"Mysterious. Quiet. Reads constantly. Wears lingerie like it’s casual wear and makes you feed her ramen like some kind of purple-eyed vampire princess.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris’s jaw dropped. \"She made you feed her?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was a test. Probably.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A test involving you hand-feeding a beautiful girl in her bedroom while she wore lingerie.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she put it like that, it did sound ridiculous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The job is complicated.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll say.\" Iris grabbed my arm. \"And the fourth one? The ’problem child’ one from the tabloids?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassidy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cassidy is...\" I hesitated. \"She’s struggling. With school. With her family. With herself. Everyone’s told her she’s broken for so long that she believes it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The teasing left Iris’s expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s sad.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can you help her?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m going to try.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris studied my face for a long moment. Whatever she saw there made her smile soften.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You will. You always figure stuff out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your faith in me is terrifying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone has to believe in you since you won’t do it yourself.\" She picked up her manga again. \"Now. I have like three Chapters left and then I need help with my algebra homework.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I groaned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What? You’re good at math!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. And I’ve already done math tutoring today.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For the broken billionaire?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We made progress.\" I didn’t mention the bet. That secret stayed between me and Cassidy. \"Competition works for her. Points for every right answer. Stakes to keep her engaged.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris perked up. \"Stakes?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing important.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What kind of stakes?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Iris.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tell me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes narrowed. \"I’ll find out eventually. I always do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn’t wrong. Iris had a way of extracting information that would make interrogation specialists jealous. But for now, I had the advantage of her manga serving as a distraction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Finish your book. Then homework. Then sleep.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, mom.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m your brother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You worry like a mom.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t argue with that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We settled back into our reading. The apartment was quiet except for the occasional page turn and the distant sound of Mrs. Delgado’s TV playing telenovelas through the thin walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After about an hour, Iris finished her volume and retrieved her homework from the kitchen table. Algebra II. Systems of equations. She’d already gotten through most of it, but a few problems had her stumped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pulled my chair next to hers and looked at her work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This one.\" She pointed at a problem. \"I keep getting x equals negative three but the answer key says positive three.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I traced her work with my finger. \"Here. You dropped a negative sign when you multiplied both sides.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No I... oh.\" Her face scrunched up. \"Damn it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Language.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You swear all the time!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m eighteen. You’re fourteen. Different rules.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s unfair.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Life’s unfair. Now fix the problem.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She erased her mistake and reworked the equation. This time she got positive three. A small victory dance followed, which mostly involved wiggling in her chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We worked through the remaining problems together. Iris wasn’t bad at math. She just got impatient and skipped steps, which led to careless errors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing like Cassidy’s situation, where the numbers themselves seemed to wage war against comprehension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of Cassidy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pulled out my phone and opened my notes app. Started drafting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lesson Plan: Cassidy Valentine\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Goal: Raise GPA from 2.4 to 2.9 minimum by end of semester\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Timeline: 14 weeks\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Week 1-3: Assessment and engagement\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Identify specific areas of struggle per subject\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Introduce competition format for all sessions\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Build confidence through small wins\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Week 4-12: Foundation building\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Address math anxiety through alternative approaches\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Connect history\u002Fenglish to narrative formats\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Increase difficulty gradually\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Week 13: Exam prep\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Practice tests under timed conditions\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Review weak points aggressively\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>- Maintain competition stakes\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re smiling at your phone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked up. Iris was watching me with that dangerous expression again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Am I?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Like a weirdo.\" She gathered her homework and headed to her room. \"Love you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Love you too, gremlin.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1257,"2026-06-06T06:03:59.990Z",1,"novelbin.me","10d7cf93cb448754c23ba7059675c6f70ffc1e5222bb7bbc0313a291910332c9","four-of-a-kind-chapter-57","four-of-a-kind-chapter-55",251,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffour-of-a-kind-cover.jpg"]