Tearing Apart the Fake Brother of the Film Queen

Chapter 1

The charity case my family sponsors casually mentioned he’s the mega-star actress, Serena Sterling’s, little brother.

On the very day Serena snagged her EGOT, he shows up to the after-party with, like, a whole posse of friends.

I suggested he take them to the overflow room, figuring we should keep the main event clear for the VIPs.

But then, right in front of a gaggle of reporters, he blasts me:

“Serena said it’s cool if I bring people! Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“If you love the side room so much, go hang out there yourself and stop cramping my style!”

His crew surrounded him, shoving me and laughing.

This time around, I just smiled, pulled back the red velvet curtain, and gently stroked the huge python inside.

“Oh, you wanna act tough?”

“Back off, or I’m letting Princess out to play.”

1.

The second they saw Princess hissing, coiled up in the corner, the shoving stopped.

Even the paparazzi forgot to snap pics for a minute. Silence.

I got out the key and unlocked the cage.

“Nobody movin’? Guess Princess gets to make an entrance!”

I said, and the python nudged the cage door open and slithered out.

Screams ripped through the room as people scrambled backward.

The reporters were so freaked out they dropped their mics. So much for exclusive coverage.

Chad, the charity case, rushed over, grabbing my sleeve. “Liam, get her back in there! You trying to ruin the whole night?!”

Looking at Chad’s face, I couldn’t help but smirk.

“It’s not your night, is it?”

Chad’s face was pulled tight.

“Liam, what are you talking about!”

“Just ’cause you’re jealous I’m Serena Sterling’s little bro doesn’t mean you can sic a snake on everyone!”

“If you scare somebody important, Serena’s gonna be pissed!”

Suddenly, everyone was yelling at me.

Cameras were shoved in my face, and some random fans tried to rush in.

I just smiled and started walking forward with Princess, pushing Chad and his buddies back.

“You’re her little brother?”

“Then how come you didn’t know the invitations specifically said there’d be a python at the party?”

Chad had been playing the “Serena’s brother” card for months, and I never bothered to argue.

Now, one little question and he looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“Liam! You’re a snake dude. Who even are you to act like you know anything!”

I gave him a wide, surprised look.

“Dad, your son’s being a real piece of work here. You gonna let that slide?”

The driver, Frank, who’d been lurking in the shadows, scowled.

He stepped forward, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me aside.

“Are you crazy? You can’t talk to Chad like that! Get out of here!”

Frank was strong, and I stumbled.

He didn’t even notice. “Your mom knows you’re not happy being just the snake guy, but you can’t go against Chad like this!”

“If Chad hadn’t taken us in, we’d be sleeping on the streets!”

I just laughed and shook him off.

“Suddenly I’m your kid? Got any proof?”

Out of nowhere, my ‘best friend’ Dylan steps forward, holding up a picture. Dude even looked serious.

“Liam, I can’t believe you’d deny your own father just to look good!”

“You want proof? Here’s your proof!”

Everyone stared at the blurry photo.

I knew what it was – a picture of me and Frank in a tiny apartment room, celebrating a birthday.

Last time around, they used this fake picture to “prove” I was the driver’s son.

Then the online hate started.

I couldn’t leave the house without people yelling and throwing stuff.

Someone even sent a dead rat and razor blades in the mail.

I ended up with severe depression, locked in my room.

I wouldn’t even look at my phone.

Dylan showed up one day and laughed when he saw me.

He even slapped my face and said, “Always thought you were too good for everyone, huh?”

“Can’t even handle a little bit of trouble?”

“You’re useless! You deserve everything you get!”

I snapped back to reality with a dark expression.

“A chauffeur’s son, pretending to be a Sterling!”

“Think you’re so good at acting? Why don’t you go to Hollywood?”

“Come on, reporters, get some good shots! Help him start his career!”

Before I could react, the reporters were shoving mics in my face.

“Mr. Henderson, do you deny your father because of his profession?”

“Is your silence an admission that you’re after a wealthy lifestyle?”

“Mr. Henderson, is this outburst staged to garner attention?”

Behind me, Princess got riled up by the flashes, rearing up and hissing at the cameras.

I ignored the reporters, a slow smile spreading across my face.

“Looks like Princess has had enough!”

“You don’t get to make fun of me!”

I gave a command, and Princess ignored the driver, and lunged at the crowd.

In the chaos, I grabbed Chad, pulled him in front of me, slapped him, and kicked him to the ground.

“So you think you’re better than me!”

“Did you really think I’d just let you walk all over me?”

2.

The scene sent everyone scattering, tripping over themselves to get out.

A few reporters tripped and ate pavement.

Pretty soon, the doorway was clear.

Frank, the driver, was still trying to pull Chad to his feet.

“Are you crazy?! Siccing a snake on him wasn’t enough? Now you’re hitting him too…”

I didn’t have the patience to listen to his rant, so I slapped him too.

“I can hit anyone in this house! Shut your mouth!”

I snapped my fingers at Princess and, ignoring Frank’s horrified stare, walked into the ballroom.

The party hadn’t officially started, just some busy staff running around.

I smirked, looking at the photos on the walls.

Chad and Frank really went all out, trying to erase me and make Chad the official heir.

I grabbed a random staffer.

“Get rid of all of Chad’s stuff! If you don’t, you’re out of here with him!”

The staffer glared at me. More came over.

“So it’s okay to bully Chad all the time, but why do you have to ruin Ms. Sterling’s party?”

“Ms. Sterling approved all of this! Chad just wants to break into Hollywood, what’s it to you?”

I just laughed.

Last time, I was always worried about the staff and didn’t want to make trouble. Looks like that just made them ungrateful.

I patted Princess’s head and looked at the staff.

“If you don’t get moving, you’ll be sorry!”

Princess hissed, loud.

“Liam, is this how you treat Chad?”

“Get that thing out of here now!”

That familiar voice made me jump.

I knew I was forgetting something. Time to deal with my biased mom.

I rolled my eyes at the gloating staff and went over to her.

Serena Sterling was dabbing at Chad’s face with an ice pack.

She looked worried, and Chad was clinging to her sleeve, tears streaming down his face.

“I knew he didn’t like me, but to go after Dad like that…”

“Dad’s already sick. If something happened to him, I wouldn’t want to live.”

Chad gasped, like he was about to faint.

Frank squeezed Chad’s hand.

“Serena, you see how it is. Chad was just worried about the snake scaring people, but Liam is bullying him.”

“Maybe we should leave the Sterling house.”

Frank started to pack up.

Serena glared at me.

“Why are you just standing there? Apologize to Chad!”

“If they leave, you’re out of the family too!”

I scoffed.

“He’s just a charity case. He trashed me in front of everyone, said I was just a snake guy. Don’t I have a right to defend myself?”

Chad’s tears dripped onto Serena’s hand.

“Serena, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have thought of Liam as a big brother just because of his jokes!”

He forced himself up, pushed past Serena, and ran for the door.

Serena grabbed his arm.

“Don’t listen to him. The Sterling family is your family!”

I leaned against the wall, petting Princess and recording a video.

“Look at this touching mother-son moment!”

3.

Serena spun around when she heard me.

Then she stormed over and slapped me as hard as she could!

“You bully! You don’t deserve to be a Sterling!”

“If anything happens to Frank and Chad, pack your bags!”

I rubbed my cheek as Serena turned away. I kicked her in the knee.

She almost went down.

When she turned to hit me again, I smirked.

“If you don’t get him some ice, he’ll never make it to the party tonight!”

“Or do you want him to show up with a swollen face?”

Serena just huffed and spat a few insults under her breath, “You wait, I’ll be back!”

I looked at the watching staff.

They looked shocked, like they couldn’t believe I’d hit Serena.

“Nobody moved anything? Guess you really don’t want to work here anymore!”

One of them snorted.

“What are you worried about? Ms. Field will be here any minute and kick you and that thing out!”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, here came my girlfriend, Amy, storming towards me.

“Liam, what the hell is going on? Why are you bullying Chad?”

“Put that thing away!”

I just stared at her.

Princess stopped chasing the other staff and slithered over.

Amy turned white.

“Liam! If that thing touches me, we’re done!”

“I’ll have someone skin it and turn it into soup!”

I leaned against the wall, watching her, amused.

“Go for it! I’d like to see you try and make that happen.”

The snake coiled around Amy’s legs, slowly tightening.

Amy freaked out and ran. The house turned into a circus.

A few of the staff got thrown out the door.

Serena got back just in time to see the chaos.

“Liam Henderson!”

“You want to die?!”

I ran into the nearest room, waited for Princess, and locked the door.

The door shook, but after half a minute, it stopped.

Then I heard the key turning.

Once I knew they couldn’t get in, I relaxed.

This was Chad’s room.

I looked at the expensive decorations and the designer clothes strewn across the bed.

The Sterlings gave Chad a stipend, but not enough to buy all this.

Besides Serena, I couldn’t think of anyone who’d spend this kind of money on Chad.

Chad had been taking what was mine for years, and I was going to make him pay.

4.

The party had already started when I got downstairs, in a fresh outfit.

Chad was back, surrounded by his friends, laughing and talking.

One of them saw me and tensed. Then he stepped forward and raised a glass of champagne.

“A snake guy? Must’ve been hard to get in here! I’ll drink to that!”

He dumped the entire glass on me!

I was soaked.

“Oops, so sorry. My hand slipped.”

He grinned.

I slapped him.

“My hand slipped, too.”

“You ruined my suit, so you’re paying for it!”

“Round it down to a million bucks. Now. Pay up!”

I shoved my Venmo code in his face.

He froze, his eyes wide.

Chad walked over, acting righteous.

“Liam, no matter how hard things get, you can’t go around extorting people!”

His friends started yelling.

“Yeah!”

“A snake guy can afford a million-dollar suit?”

Some of the guests started staring.

Someone said, “How did he even get in here?”

“So tacky. Bringing the whole place down.”

Chad’s eyes flashed with a little bit of satisfaction.

“Liam, buying a fake suit and trying to rip off my friend? That’s low!”

“I get that you’ve been targeting me, but now you’re going after my friends!”

Chad’s eyes began to water.

“Liam, I know you want to stop being known as the driver’s kid, but you can’t just make things up!”

“And you stole my pin!”

He grabbed the pin from my chest.

I pushed him.

The pin broke into pieces, scattering across the carpet.

I stared at the broken pin, my heart clenching.

It had belonged to my real dad.

Whenever I wore it, it felt like he was still with me!

Everyone at home knew how much I loved this pin!

I had to send it to the jewelry store every month for cleaning!

If it wasn’t for my sister’s party, I wouldn’t have worn it today!

Someone shoved me.

I snapped back to reality.

Amy was holding up Chad, who was staggering backward.

“Chad, are you okay?”

Chad shook his head, tears running down his face.

I pushed Amy away and went for the broken pin.

Someone stomped on my hand. I looked up. It was Dylan.

He slapped me.

“You can’t just steal from Chad and then hit him! You’re trash!”

I ignored the pain and reached for the pin.

Just as I was about to grab it, Chad picked it up.

He looked at me, a smirk on his face.

“Want it? Get on your knees and apologize to my friend.”

I glared at him, about to say something, when his friends grabbed me.

My knees hit the ground. Then Amy forced my head down.

I heard the laughter and the sneering. I fought back.

The cameras were flashing.

“With this and the old footage, our ratings are set!”

The reporters’ voices made me feel even more hopeless.

Had anything changed?

BANG! The doors to the ballroom flew open, and a group of people walked in.

The first person in line wore a long, elegant dress and her face was set.

The sounds died away.

The reporters all pointed their cameras at the door.

A moment later, Chad and his friends were taken into custody by well-trained bodyguards.

A hand reached down and pulled me up, holding me behind them.

A clear voice floated over me:

“You think you can make my brother get on his knees and apologize? Who even are you?”