[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-four-of-a-kind":3,"chapter-four-of-a-kind-four-of-a-kind-chapter-70":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},1529764,1985,"Chapter 70: [2.43] The Abduction of Assistant-kun","four-of-a-kind-chapter-70",70,"\u003Cp>My phone buzzed. Then buzzed again. Then started vibrating continuously like it was having a seizure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris had discovered that I hadn’t responded in over thirty minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:HELLO????\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:ARE YOU DEAD\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:DID THE RICH PEOPLE EAT YOU\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:ZAY I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DONT ANSWER\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:I’m calling the police\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Actually I’m calling Mrs. Delgado first because she’s scarier than the police\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:ISAIAH MARCUS ANGELO\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:That’s it I’m filing a missing persons report\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Wait you’re typing\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:FINALLY\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:I need photos\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Of the rich people habitat\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:I need to show Sarah\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:She doesn’t believe me that you work for the Valentine family\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:She said I’m lying\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Prove her wrong\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:ZAY\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:THE PHOTOS\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:NOW\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stood up from the bed and walked to the bathroom, snapping a photo that captured the massive tub, the rain shower, and the heated towel racks in one frame. I sent it to Iris with a simple caption.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:This is bigger than your bedroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The response was immediate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:WHAT\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:NO\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:THATS A BATHROOM???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:I COULD FIT MY ENTIRE ROOM IN THAT TUB\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Actually I could fit my entire LIFE in that tub\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Is that a WATERFALL????\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:Apparently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:I hate you\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Send more\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took a few more photos. The bedroom with its ridiculous bed. The sitting area with the fireplace. The mini-fridge contents. Each image prompted a new explosion of messages from my sister, ranging from jealous outrage to demands that I adopt her so she could live there too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaiah:You realize I don’t actually live here, right? This is just for the weekend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:DON’T RUIN THIS FOR ME\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris:Let me have my fantasies\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A knock at the door saved me from having to navigate that particular minefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come in,\" I called, assuming it was Mrs. Tanaka with some additional instructions or schedule updates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door burst open like a SWAT team making entry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harlow Valentine stood in the doorway, her twin tails replaced by a messy bun held together with what looked like a chopstick. She wore an oversized t-shirt featuring a magical girl anime character I vaguely recognized, the hem falling to mid-thigh over a pair of tiny shorts that were barely visible beneath the fabric. Pink fuzzy socks covered her feet, each one with a different cartoon cat face on the toe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not the Valentine heiress the public saw in magazines and Instagram posts. This was Harlow in her natural habitat. Full gremlin mode.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Assistant-kun!\" She bounced into the room without waiting for an invitation, her eyes scanning every surface like a detective arriving at a crime scene. \"Wow, Vivi gave you the good guest room! This is where we put people we actually like!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As opposed to?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The west wing guest rooms. Those are for business people and distant relatives we’re obligated to host. Much smaller. No fireplace.\" She made a face. \"Also haunted.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haunted.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Probably. I heard weird noises coming from there once.\" She dismissed this apparently serious concern with a wave of her hand. \"Anyway! I’m here to collect you for dinner but we have like fifteen minutes so I wanted to see your room first!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She spun in a circle, taking in the full suite with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever encountering a new park. Her gaze lingered on the bathroom doorway, and she gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is that the tub with the waterfall? I keep asking Mom if we can get one but she says it’s unnecessary because we have the onsen.\" She pouted. \"The onsen is OUTDOORS though. Sometimes I just want to soak without getting rained on, you know?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I did not know. I had never considered outdoor versus indoor soaking tub preferences to be a meaningful life concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harlow continued her investigation, opening closet doors and peering inside drawers. I didn’t stop her because, honestly, what was I going to do? Tell the billionaire heiress to stop touching things in her own family’s house?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her exploration brought her to the luggage stand where my overnight bag sat, now deflated and sad after I’d unpacked its meager contents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harlow’s hand reached toward it, then froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She picked up the empty canvas duffel and turned to face me, her purple eyes wide with confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is ALL you brought? For the whole weekend?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shrugged. \"Yeah. Three shirts, two pants. Everything I need.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her expression shifted. The bubbly enthusiasm drained away, replaced by something I could only describe as horrified determination. It was the face of someone who had just witnessed a grievous wrong and had decided, in that very moment, to dedicate their life to correcting it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No. Absolutely not. This is unacceptable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s fine, Harlow. I don’t need much.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She set the bag down with more force than necessary. \"You’re staying in OUR house. As OUR guest. OUR employee. And you packed like you’re going to a funeral you don’t want to attend.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s oddly specific.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isaiah.\" She planted herself directly in front of me, hands on her hips, chin tilted up so she could meet my eyes. This close, I could smell strawberries and something sweeter. \"You have one duffel bag. ONE. I brought more luggage than that to summer camp when I was twelve. For a WEEK. And half of it was stuffed animals.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not twelve. And I don’t have stuffed animals.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes widened further. \"You don’t have ANY stuffed animals?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why would I have stuffed animals?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For COMFORT! For HUGGING when you’re sad! For sitting on your bed looking cute!\" She threw her hands up. \"What kind of life are you living over there in Philadelphia?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tired one. A poor one. One where stuffed animals ranked approximately seven hundred positions below food and rent on the priority list.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I didn’t say any of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harlow grabbed my wrist before I could form a response. Her hand was warm, her grip surprisingly strong for someone who spent her days designing costumes and taking Instagram photos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’re fixing this. Right now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fixing what? It’s almost dinner time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dinner can wait! Your tragic lack of weekend supplies cannot!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She yanked me toward the door with the force of a small hurricane. I stumbled after her, my brain still processing the fact that I was being abducted by a girl wearing cat socks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Harlow, I really don’t need—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You need MANY things, Assistant-kun. And I’m going to make sure you get ALL of them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1065,"2026-06-06T06:03:59.990Z",1,"novelbin.me","320236fc8c36609ab4d52ac8f46f46c37a4f78e6c1635b3a39b5914cb56d3598","four-of-a-kind-chapter-71","four-of-a-kind-chapter-69",251,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffour-of-a-kind-cover.jpg"]