The Valentine sisters gathered in Vivienne’s study after dinner, the air between them charged with unspoken accusations. Harlow lounged on the plush sofa, her legs tucked underneath her, playing with the end of her pink-streaked hair. Cassidy paced like a caged animal, stopping occasionally to glare at her sisters. Sabrina sat cross-legged in an armchair, a book open in her lap though her eyes hadn’t moved across the page in minutes. Vivienne stood by the window, her back straight, her finger tapping against the glass as she watched darkness settle over the estate grounds.

"Are we actually going to talk about this?" Cassidy finally snapped, stopping her pacing to face her sisters. "Or are we going to pretend nothing happened?"

"What exactly would you like to discuss?" Vivienne turned from the window, her voice cool and controlled. "The fact that you tried to kiss Isaiah in the library? Or perhaps Harlow giving him a hickey while dressed as a vampire?"

"Oh, like you’re innocent." Cassidy pointed accusingly. "You kissed him at that fancy museum party. In a bathroom stall. Real classy, Vivi."

Harlow’s eyes widened. "Wait, it was in a bathroom stall? You didn’t tell me that part!"

"It wasn’t relevant." Vivienne’s cheeks flushed pink. "And I don’t need to explain myself to any of you."

"Actually, you do." Cassidy stepped closer. "Because we agreed this morning that we would respect boundaries and keep things professional with him. Then you scheduled private time with him for ’business matters.’" She made air quotes. "And Harlow bit him like some kind of anime character!"

"It was for costume research!" Harlow protested, though a smile tugged at her lips. "I was really in character!"

"Please." Cassidy rolled her eyes. "You wanted to mark him so we’d all see it."

Harlow didn’t deny it. Instead, she hugged a decorative pillow to her chest, her smile widening. "Well, it worked, didn’t it?"

Sabrina finally looked up from her book. "I find it interesting that none of you have mentioned my participation in this situation."

All three sisters turned to look at her.

"What did you do?" Vivienne asked, her voice suddenly sharp.

Sabrina shrugged, turning a page in her book. "I visited his room last night."

"You what?" Cassidy nearly shouted.

"I tested his character." Sabrina’s lips curved slightly. "To see if he would choose desire over principle."

"And?" Harlow leaned forward eagerly.

"He chose principle." Sabrina didn’t elaborate further, but the tiny smile remained. "Eventually."

"What does that mean?" Vivienne demanded. "Eventually?"

Sabrina closed her book. "It means Isaiah Angelo is more complicated than he appears. And more principled than most people would be in his situation."

Cassidy made a frustrated noise and resumed pacing. "This is ridiculous. All of us circling him like vultures. He’s just a guy. A guy who works for us."

"Is that all he is to you?" Sabrina asked quietly. "Just a guy who works for us?"

Cassidy stopped pacing, her hands curling into fists. She didn’t answer.

"He’s not just a guy." Harlow hugged the pillow tighter. "He sees us. Like, really sees us. Not as Valentine girls or social media accounts or whatever. As people."

"That’s the bare minimum for human interaction," Vivienne pointed out, though her voice lacked conviction.

"No, it’s not." Harlow shook her head firmly. "Not for us. Most people see the money or the name or what we can do for them. Isaiah saw me playing that game about the bread factory and asked about my high score instead of asking why I wasn’t working on my brand deals."

Silence fell over the room as each sister considered this.

"He didn’t flinch when I yelled at him," Cassidy said finally, her voice softer than usual. "Everyone flinches. Everyone thinks I’m going to hit them or something. He just... took it. Then handed me a pencil and told me to try the problem again."

Vivienne’s expression softened slightly. "He suggested I lead the Asia-Pacific expansion with ready-to-wear before haute couture. No one’s ever contradicted my market entry strategy before. They just agree with whatever I say because I’m a Valentine."

Sabrina watched her sisters with that same small smile. "He knows which books I’ve been reading without me telling him. He noticed when I switched from Dostoevsky to Murakami and left Japanese tea on my desk."

Another silence descended, heavier this time.

"Mother will never allow it," Vivienne said finally. "Any of it. She’s already threatened his position and his sister’s future."

"She’s threatened him?" Cassidy’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Specifically?"

"Yes." Vivienne sighed. "She told him she would ensure Iris doesn’t receive a scholarship to Hartwell if he becomes romantically involved with any of us."

"That’s insane!" Harlow jumped to her feet, the pillow falling forgotten to the floor. "Iris is fourteen! She has nothing to do with this!"

"Mother doesn’t care." Vivienne’s voice turned bitter. "She sees Iris as leverage."

"I’m going to kill her," Cassidy stated flatly.

"You’re not going to kill Mother," Vivienne sighed.

"Watch me."

"Violence isn’t the solution here," Sabrina interjected calmly. "Besides, killing Mother would only create inheritance complications we’re not prepared to handle yet."

"Yet?" Harlow looked at Sabrina with wide eyes. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Figure of speech," Sabrina murmured, returning to her book.

Cassidy flopped onto the sofa next to Harlow, her energy suddenly deflating. "So what do we do? He’s obviously not going to risk his sister’s future for any of us. And honestly, I respect that. Family first and all that."

"We could help Iris get in on her own merits," Vivienne suggested. "She’s clearly intelligent. With proper preparation—"

"That doesn’t solve the immediate problem," Cassidy interrupted. "Which is that all four of us want the same guy, and he’s scared to touch any of us because our mother is a psychopath."

"I wouldn’t diagnose Mother as psychopathic," Sabrina commented without looking up. "She displays more narcissistic tendencies with occasional—"

"Not the point, Brina!" Cassidy threw a small decorative pillow at her sister.

Sabrina caught it without looking and placed it beside her chair.

"The point is," Vivienne said, moving to sit in her desk chair, "we need to decide how to proceed. Because this current situation is untenable."

"We could draw straws," Harlow suggested. "Whoever gets the shortest one gets to date Isaiah."

"I’m not leaving this up to random chance," Cassidy scoffed.

"We could compete for him," Vivienne said thoughtfully. "Set specific parameters and—"

"He’s not a prize to be won," Sabrina interrupted, finally looking up from her book. "And you’re all missing the obvious solution."

All three sisters looked at her expectantly.

Sabrina closed her book and set it aside. "Why not share him?"

The silence that followed was absolute. Harlow’s mouth fell open. Cassidy froze mid-fidget. Vivienne’s pen clattered to the desk.

"Share him?" Vivienne repeated, her voice strangled. "Like... a timeshare property?"

"No," Sabrina said patiently. "Like a relationship. A relationship with all of us."

"That’s insane," Cassidy declared, though her voice lacked conviction.

"Is it?" Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "We already share everything else. Our birthday. Our appearance. Our name. Our inheritance. Why not share him too?"

Harlow’s face scrunched in confusion. "But people don’t do that. Do they? Date multiple people at once?"

"Some do," Sabrina replied. "It’s called polyamory. Ethically non-monogamous relationships are increasingly common, particularly among our generation."

"How do you know this stuff?" Cassidy demanded.

"I read." Sabrina shrugged. "Unlike some people."

"I read!" Cassidy protested.

"Tennis magazines don’t count."

"Wait," Harlow interrupted, her expression thoughtful. "So you’re saying all four of us could date Isaiah? At the same time? And it would be okay?"

"If everyone consents, yes." Sabrina nodded. "It would require open communication, boundary setting, and scheduling. But it’s not unprecedented."

Vivienne stood up and began pacing the path Cassidy had worn into the carpet. "This is completely unprofessional. He works for us. Mother would never allow it. The board would have a fit if they found out. The press would have a field day. Valentine Heiresses in Polyamorous Relationship with Employee." She shook her head. "It’s a PR nightmare."

"Since when do you care about PR?" Cassidy challenged. "You kissed him in a public bathroom at a gala!"

"That was a momentary lapse in judgment!"

"Was it?" Sabrina asked quietly. "Or was it the first honest thing you’ve done in years?"

Vivienne stopped pacing, her shoulders tensing.

"Look," Sabrina continued, "we can pretend this isn’t happening. We can compete against each other and make everyone miserable. Or we can approach this logically and find a solution that potentially makes everyone happy."

"Including Isaiah," Harlow added. "He’d need to agree to this too."

"Obviously," Sabrina nodded.

"He’d never go for it," Cassidy said, but her voice held a question. "Would he?"

"There’s only one way to find out," Sabrina replied. "We ask him."

"Just like that?" Vivienne’s voice rose slightly. "Hey, Isaiah, would you like to date all four of us simultaneously while our mother threatens your sister’s future? Sound good?"

"I’d phrase it differently," Sabrina said dryly.

Harlow giggled, then covered her mouth. "Sorry. It’s just... can you imagine his face?"

A reluctant smile tugged at Cassidy’s lips. "He’d probably short-circuit. Like when he saw you in that succubus costume."

"Or when you sat on his lap in the library," Harlow countered.

"How do you know about that?" Cassidy demanded.

"Mrs. Tanaka saw you through the door crack."

"That woman sees everything," Cassidy muttered.

"So do we really want to do this?" Vivienne asked, her corporate mask slipping to reveal genuine uncertainty. "Are we seriously considering a polyamorous relationship with our employee?"

"Former employee," Sabrina suggested. "If we pursue this, his employment would need to end to avoid power imbalances."

"But he needs the money," Harlow pointed out. "For Iris and everything."

"We’d figure something out," Cassidy said dismissively. "It’s not like we can’t afford to support him."

"He’d hate that." Vivienne shook her head. "His pride would never allow it."

"Then we find him another job," Sabrina said simply. "There are solutions if we’re willing to be creative."

The four sisters looked at each other, a silent communication passing between them. They’d shared a womb, a birthday, a name, and a life.

Could they share this too?