The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 8

Aveline

I glanced at Ryan, noting how he'd turned slightly toward us, those extraordinary eyes fixed on my face with an intensity that made my breath catch. There was something there—a spark of curiosity, maybe even hope. As if he was seeing something he'd been waiting for.

"Your family connections are irrelevant to your treatment of this child," I said, my voice steady but cold. "What I just heard was emotional abuse, plain and simple."

"Emotional abuse?" Melody's voice rose to a screech. "I was trying to motivate him! The boy is practically mute—he never speaks, never responds, never shows any normal human emotion. Someone needs to push him!"

"By telling him he's broken? By attacking his mother's memory?" I took another step forward, and I noticed Ryan's attention sharpening even further, as if he was cataloging every word. "That's not motivation, Miss Hart. That's cruelty."

"You don't understand," Melody snapped, her carefully applied composure cracking. "This child is impossible to reach. I've been trying for months to get some kind of response from him, and nothing works. He just sits there like a little robot!"

I looked at Ryan again, really looked at him. Behind that carefully blank expression, I could see a brilliant mind working, processing everything around him with an intensity that was almost tangible. This wasn't a broken child or a robot. This was a highly intelligent little boy who'd learned that the world was safer when he kept his thoughts and feelings locked away.

"Have you considered," I said quietly, "that maybe he's not responding because he doesn't feel safe?"

Ryan's head tilted slightly, and for just a moment, our eyes met directly. In that instant, I saw a flash of something that made my heart clench—recognition, as if he'd been waiting his entire short life for someone to understand.

"Safe?" Melody laughed harshly. "He lives in a mansion with servants catering to his every whim! How much safer could he possibly be?"

I knelt down so I was at Ryan's eye level, ignoring Melody completely. "Hello, Ryan," I said softly. "My name is Aveline. I'm here because I think you're very special, and I'd like to be your friend."

For a moment, the room was absolutely silent. Ryan stared at me with those devastating eyes, and I could practically see the gears turning in his brilliant little mind. Then, so quietly I almost missed it, he whispered:

"You smell like roses."

And then his lips curved upward in the most beautiful, genuine smile I'd ever seen. It transformed his entire face, lighting up those dark eyes and revealing the sweet, intelligent child beneath all that carefully constructed armor.

Just then, Mitchell rushed into the room, clearly having heard the raised voices from downstairs.

"What on earth is going on here?" he demanded, then stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the scene. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Ryan's face—still glowing with that unprecedented smile.

"Master Ryan," he breathed. "You're... you're smiling."

Melody immediately seized her opportunity, her voice turning shrill and accusatory. "Mr. Mitchell, thank goodness you're here! This woman just barged into our lesson and started attacking me! She was completely inappropriate and aggressive—I think she might even be dangerous!"

But before I could defend myself, Ryan's small voice cut through her theatrical protestations, clear and articulate in a way that made everyone in the room freeze.

"Miss Hart was being mean to me," he said, his vocabulary and enunciation far beyond his years. "She said I was broken like my mother, and that my mother didn't love me. She was going to hit me, but Miss Aveline stopped her. Miss Hart is the one being inappropriate."

The silence that followed was deafening. Melody's mouth fell open, her carefully applied lipstick making her look like a shocked doll.

"You're... you're only five years old," she stammered. "How do you even know words like 'inappropriate'? How can you speak so clearly when you've been practically mute for months?"

Mitchell's expression shifted dramatically, his earlier shock transforming into something much colder and more authoritative. "Miss Hart," he said, his voice maintaining its polite veneer while somehow managing to sound absolutely menacing, "I believe today's lesson has concluded. Perhaps it would be best if you gathered your things."

Melody's face flushed red. "You can't just dismiss me! Do you have any idea how close my family is to Mr. Blackwell? Do you know how... fond he is of me personally?"

Mitchell's smile was razor-sharp. "Miss Hart, if you'd prefer that I relay today's events to Mr. Blackwell in complete detail—including your treatment of Master Ryan and your rather creative interpretation of appropriate conduct with a five-year-old—please, by all means, continue this conversation."

The color drained from Melody's face so quickly I thought she might faint. "I... I was only trying to help the boy. I care deeply about Ryan's development. You're misunderstanding—"

"The only thing I'm understanding perfectly," Mitchell interrupted smoothly, "is that your services are no longer required. The door is behind you."

Melody cast one last venomous look at me, then practically fled from the room, her heels clicking frantically down the hallway.

Mitchell shook his head as he began cleaning up the broken china. "I do apologize, Dr. Reeves. That was... illuminating." He glanced at Ryan, who was watching me with those intense dark eyes, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Perhaps you and Master Ryan could use some time to get properly acquainted?"