Chapter 5
My grandparents seemed pretty happy with how I handled things.
"Jack, how come you're still not as thoughtful as Sophie? Even she knows to look out for Samuel. Why won't you let him be on the show?" my grandpa said.
"Sophie, you're growing up now. From now on, whenever there's a good opportunity, make sure to let Samuel have it, okay?" my grandma added.
Looking at my grandparents' fake smiles, I forced myself not to gag and nodded. "Got it."
Samuel saw that even his least favorite sister was rooting for him to be on TV, but his favorite parents were the ones stopping him from getting famous.
Furious, he kicked his dad and climbed out of his dad's lap. "You're all bad guys. You won't let me be on TV. I don't like you anymore. I don't want you as my parents."
With that, he flopped onto the floor and started rolling around, kicking his legs wildly.
"I don't want to live anymore. Just let me die," he screamed.
My dad grabbed his thigh where Samuel had kicked him, looking both pissed off and hurt.
My mom just stood there, totally clueless about what to do.
My grandparents hurried over and crouched down, fussing over their darling Samuel.
Grandma cooed, "Samuel, be a good boy. It's all your parents' fault. I'll hit them."
She flicked Mom's arm like she was shooing a fly. Samuel's howls dropped to sniffs.
Mom still hated the move. "See? This is what happens when you let him run the house. The second he hears 'no', he's rolling across the floor like a soccer ball!"
Grandma whipped around. "Oh, you're an expert now? Who sprinted back to a film set three months post-baby? Who dumped him on us? Who refused to bring him on the show? I raised him. What did you do for him?"
My mom was left speechless, tears streaming down her face.
The entertainment industry moved fast. If she didn't keep acting, she'd fade into obscurity even quicker.
Finally, Grace couldn't stand it anymore and just threw up her hands. "Whatever, let him go if he wants. All this bickering is giving me a headache."
The whole room went quiet. Even Samuel knew who had the real power.
He bounced over, clamped onto Grace's thigh like it was a jungle gym, and sang, "Pick me up."
My parents just stood there, lips trembling, swallowing all their worries.
But their faces were still clouded with concern, afraid Samuel wouldn't be able to handle a live variety show and even more worried that his wild personality would get him roasted by viewers.
Amid all the laughter, only Mike gave me a knowing look.
*****
Three days later, the hashtag of Samuel's joining was trending again, with netizens flaming it all the way to the top.
My parents had pushed that "daughter-obsessed" image so hard at first, and now that it's totally blown up in their faces, no wonder the internet is going off on them.
[So they used Sophie as the door key, and now the prince waltzes in to cash the check? Loud and clear.]
[Boom, the prince makes his grand entrance.]
[Who cares about his name? He's Sophie's brother to us.]
My dad was slumped on the couch, scrolling through all the hate messages in his DMs. He immediately called up a marketing company to buy some trending topics.
He said, "Get a few trending topics up right now to shift the spotlight. My son's still just a kid. What if all this hate messes him up for life? But I'm not throwing money away for nothing. Just buy trending topics about my daughter.
"What kind of trending topics? The more controversial, the better. Like, say she only got an F on her exam. That's perfect for stirring things up.
"You think I'm crazy? Of course not. Free hype. My daughter should be thanking me for this."
He hung up, already picturing me taking every arrow while Sammy tiptoed through the rainbows.
Like hell I was going to let him get away with that.