Candidate Five: Isaiah Angelo
Age: 18. Senior at Hartwell Academy. Full academic scholarship. Current employment: bartender at the Velvet Lounge. Previous experience: waiter, tutor, various part-time positions. References: Dr. Patricia Reyes, Hartwell Academy Guidance Counselor.
Photo: A young man with faded two-tone hair. Dark roots, blonde-orange ends. Tired eyes that somehow still looked sharp. The hint of a smirk that suggested he found something amusing about the whole situation.
The room went silent.
Three sisters stared at the profile.
The fourth was having a very different reaction.
Cassidy's brain short-circuited.
Him.
HIM.
Scholarship boy.
Coffee-spilling, back-talking, infuriatingly calm SCHOLARSHIP BOY.
The universe was playing a joke on her. That was the only explanation. Some cosmic entity had looked down at Cassidy Valentine's life and thought, "You know what would be hilarious?"
"Oh my gosh!" Harlow snatched the profile. "I know him! He's in our homeroom! Isaiah, right? He's really nice!"
"You think everyone is nice."
"Because most people ARE nice, Cass. You just scare them before they can show it."
"I don't SCARE people."
All three sisters looked at her.
"...I intimidate them. There's a difference."
"Is there?" Vivienne took the profile from Harlow, studying it with renewed interest. "This is the one you got into an argument with on the first day, isn't it?"
"It wasn't an ARGUMENT. He spilled coffee on me and I politely informed him of the consequences."
"You threatened to ruin his life." Sabrina's voice was quiet. "I heard about it."
"How do you know everything?"
"I listen."
"That's creepy."
"Mm."
Cassidy grabbed the profile back. Stared at Isaiah Angelo's photo. Those tired eyes. That subtle smirk.
He didn't back down.
I threatened him and he didn't even FLINCH.
Who DOES that?
Most people crumbled when Cassidy turned her full attention on them. It was a survival mechanism she'd developed over years of being overlooked, underestimated, dismissed as the "problem child." If she couldn't be the smartest or the most elegant or the most beloved, she would be the most terrifying.
It worked on everyone.
Except, apparently, Isaiah Angelo.
"Feel better now?"
His voice echoed in her memory. Calm. Unbothered. Like her threats were a mild inconvenience rather than a declaration of war.
It made her want to scream.
It made her want to prove she could break him.
It made her want to...
Wait.
A thought occurred to her. A terrible, wonderful, absolutely deranged thought.
If he becomes our assistant...
He'd have to do what I say.
He'd have to follow orders.
Maybe I could make him...
"Miss Valentine." Isaiah stood at attention in a butler's uniform, head bowed. "How may I serve you today?"
Cassidy lounged on her bed, examining her nails. "I'm bored."
"Shall I arrange entertainment?"
"No." She let the word hang in the air. Watched him shift slightly. Uncomfortable. Waiting. "Come here."
He approached. Stopped at an appropriate distance.
"Closer."
He stepped forward.
"Kneel."
A flicker of something in his eyes. Resistance? But he obeyed. Dropped to his knees in front of her.
"Good boy." She reached out. Lifted his chin with one finger. Those tired eyes, looking up at her now. "You're learning."
"Is this... part of the job description?"
"Everything is part of the job description." She smiled. The smile that made grown men nervous. "I own you now, scholarship boy. Every hour. Every minute. Every—"
"CASSIDY."
She blinked.
Harlow was staring at her with concern. Vivienne with suspicion. Sabrina with something that might have been amusement, if Sabrina were capable of such emotions.
"What?"
"You were making a face."
"I was not."
"You were." Vivienne's eyes narrowed. "A very concerning face. What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing!"
Everything. I was thinking about everything. And now I need a cold shower and possibly therapy.
"You're blushing."
"I am NOT."
"You are." Sabrina's voice was quiet. Observant. "Interesting."
"Shut UP, Sabrina."
"I didn't say anything."
"You THOUGHT something. I could hear it."
Harlow looked between her sisters, confusion evident. "Am I missing something?"
"No." Cassidy threw the profile back on the table. "Nothing. This is stupid. They're all terrible candidates. Let's just tell Mother to pick and be done with it."
"But we haven't even discussed them properly!" Harlow grabbed the profiles. "We should make a list! Pros and cons for each one!"
"Since when do you make lists?"
"Since now! Organization is important!" She paused. "Vivienne says that all the time. I'm trying it out."
Vivienne looked genuinely touched. "You remember my lectures?"
"I remember SOME of them. The short ones. Mostly."
The four sisters settled into a discussion.
Or rather, three sisters discussed while Cassidy pointedly did not look at Isaiah Angelo's profile.
"Marcus Webb." Vivienne started with the first candidate. "Pros: experienced, professional, references check out. Cons: probably boring, definitely the type to report everything to Mother."
"Reject." Sabrina's verdict was immediate.
"We haven't even interviewed him!"
"Don't need to. He's a plant."
"You can't possibly know that."
"The references are too clean. The experience is too perfect. Mother chose him specifically hoping we'd pick him." Sabrina returned to her book. "Pass."
"Jennifer Park." Vivienne moved to the second. "Pros: social media experience, could help with V-Girl content. Cons: potentially here for exposure, might leak information."
"She seems nice!" Harlow offered.
"Nice doesn't mean trustworthy."
"But it HELPS."
"Does it?"
Harlow deflated slightly.
"I agree with Sabrina." Vivienne set the profile aside. "Too risky. Pass."
"David." Third candidate. "Pros: restaurant management experience, seems genuine. Cons: no experience with high-profile families, might not handle the pressure."
"He'd break in a week." Cassidy finally contributed. "Restaurant work is nothing like dealing with us."
"How would you know?"
"I know people. He's got soft eyes. Soft eyes don't survive here."
For once, Vivienne didn't argue.
"Rosé Santos." Fourth candidate. "Pros: our age, multilingual, experience with high-society events. Cons: possibly too similar to our existing dynamic, might create conflict."
"She's basically a Vivienne clone." Cassidy leaned back. "Two of you would be insufferable."
"One of me is clearly sufficient."
"Debatable."
"We're MOVING ON."
"Isaiah Angelo." Harlow grabbed the last profile before anyone else could. "Pros: he's nice, he's in our classes, he's really good at staying calm, and he has pretty eyes!"
"Those aren't professional qualifications." Vivienne reached for the profile.
Harlow held it out of reach. "I'm not done! Cons: Cassidy hates him."
"I don't HATE him. Hate implies I think about him. I don't think about him. Ever. At all. He's completely irrelevant to my life."
Three sisters stared at her.
"...Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"You've mentioned him seventeen times in the past week." Sabrina's voice was quiet. "I counted."
"I have NOT."
"You have. Usually accompanied by commentary about his 'stupid calm face' or 'annoying voice' or 'irritating way of not caring about your threats.'"
"That's... that's just venting. Everyone vents."
"Seventeen times."
"SABRINA."