I Can't Read？I'm MIT's Youngest Professor, Honey.

I explain. "One more hour and it's our one-year anniversary." It's about my bet with Grandpa. If I lose, I get dragged back to run the family empire. If I win, I keep my freedom and my research. I have no choice but to give in. But Nathan takes it a different way. "See? I knew you couldn't stand losing me." His voice softens. "Babe, I can't lose you either." "Don't be mad I'm backing Lauren up. You're my girlfriend. She's just my friend." "Play her little game, and I won't bring up breaking up again." Of course he's confident. Last week, I went to drop off some files at his office. Walked in on Lauren sitting in his lap. She shoved off him in a panic. Lipstick smeared. A string of spit between their mouths. Lauren, cool as hell: "Wow, checking up on him again? You're so obsessed." Nathan, stone-faced: "It's not what it looks like. She lost her balance showing me something on her phone." I didn't bring up breaking up then. So now they both think I'm so desperate for Nathan that I'll swallow anything. I hate this goddamn bet. "Hey." Spencer kicks the sign-in table over with one foot. The crash makes half the room jump back. "Are we doing this or not? You know how valuable our time is?" Lauren goes pale. "Of course! Right away, Mr. Langley. Starting right now." Nobody wants to piss off the four heirs. Nathan shoots me a look. Pure warning. "Vivian. Go. Now. One more second of stalling and we're done." I can't blow the bet at the finish line. I hold his stare for a second. Then I paste on a smile. "Fine. I'll play." Lauren exhales and opens the livestream. "Hey everyone! I'm live from the gala!" "Guess who showed up tonight?" She pans the camera across Grayson, Spencer, Sebastian, and Hayden. A few seconds. The chat explodes. "NO WAY. How did this random woman get the four heirs to show up??" "I see the Xavier heir! He only goes to events if there's someone worth looking at. Is there some hot girl at this company?" Lauren straightens up, turns the camera to herself. "Aww, you guys are too sweet saying I'm the prettiest one here! Stop!" "Wait, some of you think they came for me? I'm literally blushing." She steals a glance at Grayson, then reads another comment. "This one says: why is that plain girl in glasses standing next to the CEO? She looks so basic." "Oh! That's Nathan's girlfriend. She doesn't work here." Her voice dips. Fake concern, real venom. "We have standards here. Looks. Degrees. With that face and no education? I wouldn't hire her to clean the toilets here, honestly." Employees laugh. Nathan's face goes red, then white. He cares about image more than anything. I'm worried he'll snap and dump me on the spot. So I step up to the screen first. "Let's start." Lauren grabs the mic. "Vivian, you and five employees each get a number. Your number matches a question on the screen. Slowest answer or wrong answer gets punished." I nod. The others nod. The screen lights up. I'm number six. The chat goes nuts. "LMAOOO one through five got questions like 25 times 4 times 3. Number six got DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS." "Duh, that's literally why it's funny." "even if they gave her 2+2 shed choke lmao. girl never went to school" Lauren grins. "Review time over! Three. Two. One. Go!" I slam my button. "Zero."

Dead silence. Then the room erupts laughing. "She hit that button so fast I thought she actually knew! And she said ZERO!" "Girl, if you don't know the answer, don't flex your reaction time!" Sebastian Langley pushes his gold-rimmed glasses up. A flicker of interest crosses his face. "She's correct." The chat loses it. "WAIT did he just say shes RIGHT??" "ten seconds bro. TEN SECONDS." "Sebastian is a Stanford PhD candidate. If he says she's right, she's RIGHT." One by one, the others answer their baby multiplication questions. Lauren announces the results. The loser is a girl from IT. When she hears the punishment, her face drains. "Lauren, come on. We're coworkers. Do we really gotta do this?" Lauren sighs, loud and dramatic. "Hey, don't look at me. Someone over there got dumb luck. That's why you're up." Nathan jumps in, loud enough for everyone. "Whoever loses tonight gets a fat Cash App from me. Nobody walks away empty-handed!" The programmer grits her teeth. Gets on her knees on a floor covered in Legos. Starts crawling. Lauren's rule: every piece, you stop and say "Thank you Lauren for this opportunity." A few minutes in, the girl's palms and knees are raw red. Lauren sighs again. "Ugh, poor thing. Taking the hit for someone else's dumb luck. Let's see if round two goes the same way." The next question pops up. "HAHAHA everyone else just has to name a common AI software. Number six has to explain the theoretical principles behind AI and nanorobotics integration." Everyone's relaxed. They all think they've got this in the bag. I slam the button first. Again. I give my answer. Precise. Every word right. Sebastian's eyes lock onto me. He doesn't blink. My stomach drops. Shit. I posted an opinion piece on this exact topic on my private X account last month. Grandpa and his stupid bet flash through my head. "One year. Live like a normal person. Don't break up with current boyfriend. Don't let anyone find out who you are." "Make it, and you win." Sebastian starts walking toward me. Then a comment pops up in the chat. "Wait. That answer she just gave. I've read it before. On Vivian Weston's X account. She's literally my idol." #{4|The Fan}# Sebastian stops half a meter from me. "You follow Viv's work too?" Before I can answer, he smiles. "You must. No casual follower remembers that much detail." Sebastian never smiles. Everyone in Manhattan knows that. So when the corner of his mouth lifts, everyone's staring. I nod. "Yeah. Big fan." Spencer scoffs. "At least you've got taste." Grayson's expression stays cold but his voice drops a fraction. "Viv's on another level." Hayden leans back, arms crossed. "Viv's the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid eyes on." My ears go warm. Before those boys turned eighteen, every time they got into trouble, I was the one who knocked sense into them. I had no idea they talked about me like this behind my back. The room's attention is shifting. The chat, the employees, everyone's suddenly interested in this "Vivian Weston" person instead of Lauren. Lauren's face twitches. She cuts in. "So, Nathan's girlfriend here asked for a $500,000 diamond watch as their anniversary gift." "And guess what she's giving him? A USB drive." The employees catch on fast. "No wonder she insisted on waiting an hour to break up. She wants to collect the gift first!" "The USB is probably some cheesy video montage of their relationship. Didn't spend a dime. Classic gold-digger move." Disgusted looks hit me from every direction. I laugh. "Actually, I changed my mind. He's not getting the USB." That USB contains my team's latest patent. The one every tech company in the country is fighting over. Nathan's biggest dream is taking his company public. This one patent could turn his startup into a billion-dollar unicorn overnight. I turn to Nathan. "Also, that diamond watch. You wanna explain that to everyone? Or should I?" Nathan looks away. Guilt flickers across his face. "It's just a gift. Why do I need to explain anything?" "People can talk. It's not gonna kill you." I don't push it. The clock hasn't run out yet. If I expose everything now and Nathan snaps, he'll break up with me. Not worth it. Spencer's sprawled across the couch, long legs crossed, blowing smoke rings. "I'm running out of patience. Are we playing or not?" Lauren scrambles. "Yes! Mr. Langley, starting right now!" "Since some people might have stolen the answers beforehand, I'm switching it up." "This round is guessing the brand and price of what a celebrity is wearing. Whoever's guess is furthest off gets punished!" The chat lights up with laughter. "LOL we all know who's losing this one. Nathan's girlfriend looks broke as hell." "nathan bro what do you even see in her. no looks no degree no family. i dont get it" "lauren is RIGHT THERE nathan. shes better in every way bro wake up" Lauren angles her face toward the camera with a perfect little smile, then glances at Grayson. "Aww you guys, stop saying I should date Nathan. I'm focused on my career right now. No time for love!" The chat floods with praise. "Career women are QUEEN. Nathan's blind. Lauren is right there!" I glance at Nathan. His face has that look again. That wavering look. I speak up. "Put the question up." The celebrity photo pops up on screen. The chat goes insane. People in the room are literally jumping. "Jordan Langley! The biggest actor in Hollywood!" "Who else's jaw drops every single time they see his face? I heard he's Spencer's brother. Those genes are insane." Spencer lifts one eyelid. Cold scoff. "Always trying to get Viv's attention from me. Who says he's my brother?" Grayson and the others nod in agreement. I hold back a laugh. I catch a mumble from somewhere. "Jordan said he saw this shitty little gala invite on Viv's private account. Said he was flying in from LA. But neither he nor Viv showed up." I'm about to listen closer when Lauren announces: "Brand and price guessing starts now!" The outfit is easy to identify. "Louis Vuitton. Latest collection. $22,500." I'm the closest. Lauren freezes for a second, then covers her mouth with a giggle. "Wow, you really know your stuff. Must spend a lot of time window shopping things you can't afford, huh?" "Anyway." She scans the room. "The intern from HR loses this round." The punishment is dipping your hand into a bucket of slime filled with fake bugs. Roaches, spiders, worms, all mixed in. The intern's hands are shaking as she reaches in. The second the ten-second countdown ends, she collapses on the floor. Second photo. She loses again. This time she has to army crawl across the floor while everyone watches. People are laughing. Filming. The intern's face is burning red, tears in her eyes. Last photo. Jordan Langley in a red sweater, grinning at the camera. My hand freezes. I bought that sweater. At a random street stall. Handmade. $200. If I say the real price, everyone will know. The intern has figured out the pattern by now. She knows the price range. She shouts: "$12,000!" Everyone else guesses a few thousand. If I answer honestly, she's guaranteed to lose again. I look at the ice bucket in the corner. Then I look at the intern, her jaw clenched tight. "I forfeit this round." "Ice bucket, right? I'll take the punishment." But Lauren steps in front of me. Her smile is barely contained. "Who said it's the ice bucket this time?" "It's removing your makeup, Vivian." I pause for a second. The chat is celebrating. "HAHAHA lauren is evil for this. why is she wearing that much makeup tho" "Maybe Nathan will dump her on the spot once he sees her real face!" Makeup wipes and cleanser are shoved in front of me. Lauren folds her arms, smirking. "I heard Nathan's never even seen you without makeup. How ugly do you have to be to never show your real face?" "Come on, show us. It'll be fun." I check my phone. I smile. "Sure." I start wiping. Halfway through, the room goes quiet. "Is it just me or does her bone structure look completely different on that side?" "Wait. She's... she's stunning." I finish. I look up at Grayson, Spencer, Sebastian, and Hayden. I drop the fake voice. My real one comes out. "Hey, brats. Miss me?"