[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-four-of-a-kind":3,"chapter-four-of-a-kind-four-of-a-kind-chapter-68":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},1529762,1985,"Chapter 68: [2.41] A Hive of Billionaire Hornets","four-of-a-kind-chapter-68",68,"\u003Cp>I turned my phone face-down on the passenger seat and pulled out of the parking garage, muttering under my breath about fourteen-year-olds and their terrible ideas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as I navigated through morning traffic, a treacherous thought wormed its way into my mind: which Valentine sister would Iris get along with best?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stop it. This is a job. Just a job. A very weird, very lucrative, increasingly complicated job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I reached school without further incident, parking the Lexus in my usual spot near the east entrance. As I killed the engine, my phone buzzed yet again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Okay but seriously, be careful. Rich people are weird. Don’t let them eat you alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smiled at that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:I’ll be fine. They’re just people with too much money and not enough common sense. I can handle it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Says every protagonist before disaster strikes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:I’ll text you tonight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Love you, idiot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:Love you too, gremlin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I put my phone away and grabbed my bag from the passenger seat. Time to face another day at Hartwell, followed by a weekend at Valentine Manor. Surely nothing too disastrous could happen in forty-eight hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day passed in a blur of classes, worksheets, and increasingly frequent texts from the Valentine sisters. By the time the final bell rang at 3:00 PM, my phone had become a hotbed of demands, questions, and weird emoji combinations that I couldn’t begin to decipher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stood in the parking lot, watching as a sleek black town car pulled up to the curb precisely at 3:15. The driver, a stone-faced man in a dark suit, nodded at me and opened the rear door without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can drive myself,\" I said, gesturing to the Lexus parked nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ms. Valentine’s instructions were clear, sir. The car is to be brought separately by another driver.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course. Heaven forbid I be trusted to drive myself to the manor like a normal person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slid into the back seat, my overnight bag beside me, and watched as another suited man appeared, took my keys, and headed toward the Lexus. The whole thing felt like a scene from a movie about the obscenely wealthy—the kind where the protagonist is whisked away to a new life of luxury and forgets where he came from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not that there was any danger of that happening to me. My apartment in Kensington with its leaky faucet and temperamental heating wasn’t exactly easy to forget.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pulled out my dog-eared copy ofThe Count of Monte Cristoand flipped to where I’d left off. If I was going to survive this weekend, I needed to channel Edmond Dantès—patient, calculating, always three steps ahead of his enemies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though in my case, I wasn’t sure who the enemies were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Valentine sisters?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their mother?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My own increasingly complicated feelings about the whole situation?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As we crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge, leaving the familiar chaos of the city behind, I made a silent promise to myself: this weekend, I would maintain professional boundaries. I would do my job, collect my paycheck, and return to my normal life on Sunday night with minimal psychological damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I almost believed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The car turned onto a tree-lined private road, and Valentine Manor appeared in the distance, its white stone walls gleaming in the afternoon sun. As we drew closer, I could see four distinct figures standing on the front steps, their wine-red hair unmistakable even from a distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All four of them. Waiting for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much for minimal psychological damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The car stopped at the foot of the grand staircase, and the driver opened my door with a formal nod. I stepped out, overnight bag in hand, and looked up at the Valentine sisters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vivienne stood at the top, tablet in hand, her expression a mix of impatience and relief. Cassidy leaned against a column with studied nonchalance, though her eyes tracked my every movement. Harlow bounced on her toes, waving enthusiastically despite the fact that I was twenty feet away. And Sabrina sat on the steps with a book, glancing up briefly before returning to her reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re late,\" Vivienne called down. \"The schedule specifically stated 3:45 PM arrival.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I checked my watch. \"It’s 3:46.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Exactly. Late.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harlow squealed and rushed down the stairs, launching herself at me in what could only be described as a full-body tackle disguised as a hug. \"Assistant-kun! You’re here! We’ve been waiting forever!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Literally sixty seconds,\" Cassidy muttered from her column.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I carefully extricated myself from Harlow’s embrace. \"Sorry for the delay. Traffic on the bridge.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Unacceptable,\" Vivienne said, but her tone lacked its usual edge. \"Come inside. We have a full agenda to review before dinner.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I climbed the stairs, Cassidy pushed off from her column and fell into step beside me. \"Ready to lose tonight, Scholarship Boy? I’ve been practicing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Practicing what? Looking devastated when I take all your chips?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her purple eyes narrowed. \"You wish. I’m going to wipe that smug smile off your face.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not smiling.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re always smiling on the inside. It’s annoying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t argue with that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabrina closed her book as I passed, her gaze lingering on my face. \"You look tired,\" she observed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thanks for noticing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It wasn’t a criticism. Just an observation.\" She stood in one fluid motion. \"The ramen supply has been restocked. Midnight. Don’t be late.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with that cryptic statement, she drifted inside, leaving me to wonder when exactly \"midnight ramen\" had become a standing appointment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harlow grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the door. \"I have so much to show you! I got new manga and I need help with my costume and there’s a movie marathon tonight if you want to join and—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Harlow,\" Vivienne cut in. \"Isaiah has a schedule. You can’t monopolize him all weekend.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not monopolizing! I’m being friendly!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let their bickering wash over me as we entered the grand foyer. Mrs. Tanaka appeared silently at my side, reaching for my overnight bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can carry it,\" I said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She shook her head with a small smile. \"The east wing guest suite has been prepared for you, Mr. Angelo. I will deliver your bag.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before I could protest further, she whisked the bag away, disappearing down one of the many identical hallways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stood in the center of the foyer, surrounded by the Valentine sisters, each with their own agenda, their own expectations, their own strange hold over different parts of my psyche.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was going to be a long weekend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s begin,\" Vivienne said, turning on her heel and marching toward what I assumed was a meeting room. \"We have exactly twenty-seven minutes before the first item on the agenda.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I followed her, my phone buzzed one last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Don’t forget the rules! ALL OF THEM! Especially #4! 🙅♀️☕👕\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I quickly tucked my phone away, hoping none of the sisters had noticed the heat creeping up my neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forty-eight hours. I could do this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Probably.\u003C\u002Fp>",1159,"2026-06-06T06:03:59.990Z",1,"novelbin.me","71d0c3f356269c025f5e122551596648702bee12ccc2dd2b8bfd0f4b5289ae7f","four-of-a-kind-chapter-69","four-of-a-kind-chapter-67",251,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffour-of-a-kind-cover.jpg"]