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Genius Kids‘ Scheme: Claiming Daddy’s Billionaire Empire
Chapter 91
The words dropped like a bombs in the room. Rose looked like she’d been slapped, while John’s face hardened, his jaw working overtime to keep from exploding. Anna froze in place, face carefully wiped clean of emotion, though her grip on the thermos turned her knuckles bone–white.
Nathan, who’d been watching the whole mess unfold from his corner finally jumped in. “Hold up, Brandon. You just blew back into town. You have no clue what Irene’s actually like.”
All those high–speed crashes finally fried his brain, Nathan thought, wisely keeping that gem to himself.
Brandon shifted to face his big brother Mr. Perfect Sterling, with his pressed suits and company–man routine. “Seriously, bro? I always pegged you as the one with a functioning brain. What happened – you drinking the same Kool–Aid as them?”
He leaned forward, a jolt of pain shooting through his stitches. “No freaking wonder she’s an ice queen around you all. You treat her like yesterday’s trash and then act shocked when she doesn’t show up with homemade cookies? Give me a break.”
Everything clicked into place in Brandon’s mind. Even his supposedly smart, level–headed brother had drunk the family Kool–Aid. Add in his mother’s never–ending stream of Irene–bashing, and the picture was crystal clear.
No wonder Grandfather stuck to Irene like glue. With his parents and Mr. Perfect Brother falling all over themselves for Anna, Joseph was probably the only Sterling who gave a damn about his own granddaughter.
From his spot in the corner, Henry was mentally high–fiving Brandon
These past few days had been an eye–opener. The night–and–day difference in how the Sterlings treated Irene versus Anna was borderline comical – like watching someone feed their pedigree cat gourmet meals while tossing scraps to their own kid. They smothered Anna with praise and attention while giving Irene their literal flesh and blood – nothing but the cold shoulder.
What kind of parents turned their backs on their own kid? In all his years of dealing with rich people’s drama, Henry had never seen family dysfunction quite this special. The Sterling family’s messed–up priorities were next–level bizarre.
Nathan clamped his mouth shut, knowing when to fold ‘em. No point wasting breath on his hardheaded brother. Better to let Brandon figure out the hard way what Irene was really like.
Anna watched the brothers go at it, her stomach knotting tighter with each word. Not being a real Sterling was her life’s biggest wound, and here was Brandon, pouring salt on it and grinding it in with his heel.
Was Irene seriously better than her? Please! The woman was just some nobody from the suburbs who’d gotten lucky with a DNA
test!
Anna swallowed the toxic cocktail of emotions burning her throat and pulled on her best sad–puppy face. “Don’t worry about it, Brandon,” she said softly. “I get it if you don’t like me. Irene is your blood sister, after all…”
She dropped her gaze to her perfectly manicured hands, the poster child for wounded grace. “Dad, Mom, Nathan – please don’t be mad at him. He just flew in from overseas. Let’s not fight, okay? All I’ve ever wanted is for our family to be happy together. That’s
honestly enough for me.”
Rose melted like butter at Anna’s Oscar–worthy performance. She pulled her in tight and wheeled on Brandon, “Just look at her – THIS is what a real sister looks like. Even now, she’s thinking about what’s best for the family. Meanwhile, Irene couldn’t be bothered to stick around for five minutes!”
Brandon was definitely making comparisons, alright.
The past couple days had been like watching a twisted reality show. He and Henry had front–row seats to the Sterling family’s Irene- freezing routine. He saw straight through Anna’s little act those carefully crafted, poor–me lines weren’t fooling anyone with half a
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Chapter 91
brain.
“She’s already got your fan club,” he shot back, barely glancing at Ana. Pretty sure she’ll survive without me joining it.”
He was starting to get what Irene dealt with on the daily. His own mother couldn’t even recognize her actual daughter – bad enough – but then she had the nerve to champion some random over her own flesh and blood? Talk about a gut punch.
Anna was floored. Even with Rose practically wrapping her in bubble wrap and declaring her a saint, Brandon wasn’t budging an
inch.
All that playing nice, fixing pillows, and bringing homemade whatever completely wasted. If he wasn’t a Sterling, would she have given a disabled racer the time of day?
As if!
Inside, Anna was ready to explode, but outside, she kept her sad–girl routine going strong, complete with trembling lip and eyes swimming with perfectly timed tears. “You’re right. It’s all on me. Now that Irene’s back, I should probably back off from Mom, Dad, and the whole Sterling clan.”
Brandon, who’d been staring at the ceiling, snapped his attention to her. He nodded, not missing a beat.
“Yeah, you absolutely should back off. You’ve been walking all over my sister’s feelings since day one.”
His eyes sliced through her act like a hot knife. “Look, it wasn’t your fault you got switched at birth, but let’s be real – you’ve hogged her parents‘ love for twenty–plus years. You’ve been soaking up Sterling attention that should’ve been hers for two freaking decades. And now that she’s finally home, you’re still trying to hog the spotlight?”
“You’re literally the entire problem here.”
Brandon’s tone stayed casual, but something dangerous flashed in his eyes that made Anna backpedal without thinking.
The color drained from Anna’s face like someone had pulled a plug. She grabbed the edge of a chair, swaying for maximum effect. Her bottom lip quivered dramatically, making absolutely sure everyone witnessed just how devastated she was.
Rose, who’d treated Anna like a princess since day one, couldn’t stand seeing her baby girl under attack.
Completely forgetting her son was fresh out of surgery, she went nuclear. “How DARE you talk to her like that! Anna is the daughter I’ve raised for over twenty years! She IS your sister, whether you like it or not!”
“Did you not hear me five minutes ago when I said be nice to her? And you just straight–up ignored me?!”
The hospital room erupted into a full–on shouting match as Brandon’s head pounded like someone was going at it with jackhammer. Bone–deep exhaustion hit him like a truck.
“I only ave one sister,” he stated, cutting through the noise. “And it’s not her.”
With that bomb dropped, Brandon turned his back on all of them. He yanked his blanket up and settled in, his voice dropping to a dead–tired mutter. “I’m wiped. Need sleep. It’s late – take this drama somewhere else.”
The tension hung thick enough to cut with a knife, neither side ready to wave the white flag.
Only then did it finally dawn on Rose and John that their son was recovering from a major operation. With obvious reluctance kids being dragged from a candy store – they gathered their things to leave.
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Chapter 92
