Chapter 4 - The Snakes in the Garden,
The woman stepping out of the red Ferrari was Victoria Vance—a high-society heiress, top shareholder in Reed Global Enterprises, and a woman who had spent the last two years subtly attempting to position herself as the future second Mrs. Daniel Reed.
She marched through the front doors without knocking, her designer heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. Behind her walked a sleek, stern-faced man carrying a leather briefcase—Julian Thorne, Daniel’s ambitious Vice President of Operations.
"Daniel!" Victoria barked, her eyes sweeping over the emotional scene on the floor with deep disgust. "What on earth is going on here? I've been trying to call your cell phone for three hours! The press is having a absolute field day!"
Daniel slowly rose to his feet, keeping a protective hand on Oliver’s shoulder. His tender expression vanished instantly, replaced by the cold, steel mask of the billionaire CEO. "Victoria. Julian. What are you doing in my home without an appointment?"
"An appointment?!" Victoria gasped, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Daniel, someone took a video of you weeping on your knees at the restaurant last night while a waitress screamed at your nanny! It's all over TikTok and the tabloid rags! 'Billionaire Hotel King Loses It in Public'! The board of directors is panicking! They think you're having a mental breakdown from grief over Clara!"
"I am not having a breakdown," Daniel said coldly, stepping forward to block Victoria’s view of the children and Arya. "I was fixing a disaster in my home. Mrs. Harrison was abusing my children. I fired her."
Julian Thorne stepped forward, adjusting his gold cufflinks with a practiced, cynical calm. "Daniel, with all due respect, firing a globally renowned nanny based on the word of a low-wage restaurant staff member looks disastrous for the company's image. Reed Global is about to launch the four-billion-dollar Tokyo Resort project next week. Investors are terrified that your personal life is compromising your judgment."
Julian’s eyes slid past Daniel and landed on Arya. His lip curled into a condescending smirk. "And who is this? The miracle worker from the restaurant? Daniel, surely you aren't letting random street-level staff live in your residence?"
"Watch your mouth, Julian," Daniel warned, his voice dropping into a register that made the ambient room temperature seem to plummet. "Arya Santos is the new private educator and BSL specialist for my children. She answers directly to me, and her presence in this house is non-negotiable."
Victoria stepped up beside Julian, her sharp green eyes locking onto Arya like an eagle targeting prey. She took in Arya’s simple jeans, canvas shoes, and plain sweater, a sneer forming on her painted lips.
"A BSL specialist?" Victoria scoffed, taking a step toward Arya. "She was serving water twelve hours ago! She has no pedigree, no elite credentials, no social standing. Daniel, this is absurd! If the children need 'special care', they should be sent to a elite boarding facility in Switzerland! There are world-class institutions designed specifically to handle... impaired children quietly away from the public eye!"
Before Daniel could explode, Arya stepped past him. She didn't raise her voice. She didn't lose her composure. She walked straight up to Victoria Vance, stopping mere inches away.
"They are not impaired," Arya said, her voice dripping with lethal quiet confidence. "They are deaf. They speak a rich, beautiful visual language that you are clearly too ignorant to comprehend. And as for my pedigree, Miss Vance—I spent four years studying developmental child psychology and BSL at London South Bank University while working two jobs to support my family. I am more than qualified to protect these children from people who view them as inconvenience taxes on a corporate balance sheet."
Victoria gasped, taking an involuntary step back from Arya’s intense gaze. "How dare you speak to me like that! Do you have any idea who I am? I own fifteen percent of Reed Global!"
"And you own zero percent of this family," Arya countered smoothly.
Oliver, watching the body language of the adults, grabbed Sophie’s hand and signed to Arya: Is the loud yellow hair lady bad like Mrs. Harrison?
Arya couldn't suppress a small, swift smirk. She signed back to Oliver: She is just noisy. Don't worry.
Victoria saw the exchange and flushed red with embarrassment. "Look at them! Communicating in secret codes right in front of us! It’s bizarre! Daniel, you are ruining your reputation for these children who won't even be able to run your empire one day!"
That was the final straw.
Daniel grabbed Julian by the lapels of his suit and pushed him toward the front doors, turning back to glare at Victoria with an expression of pure wrath.
"Get out," Daniel commanded. "Both of you. Out of my house before I have security throw you onto the pavement."
"Daniel, think about the Tokyo project!" Julian yelled, trying to adjust his jacket. "The board meeting is in three days! If you show up talking about sign language instead of profit margins, we will vote to strip you of your executive authority!"
"Then bring your best vote, Julian," Daniel snarled. "Because if you ever speak about my children as 'broken' or 'incapable' again, I will strip you of every stock option you possess and throw you into the street."
He slammed the massive front doors in their faces, the heavy sound echoing through the foyer like a cannon shot.
Daniel leaned his forehead against the solid wood doors, breathing heavily. The weight of his world—his multi-billion-dollar corporate empire, the board of directors, the public scrutiny, and his terrifying realization of how close he had come to losing his children's trust— threatend to crush him.
A soft hand gently touched his shoulder.
He turned to see Arya standing beside him. Her face was calm, her brown eyes filled with an unspoken strength that grounded him instantly.
"You defended them," Arya said softly. "They saw that, Daniel. They've never seen anyone fight for them before."
Daniel looked past her to where Oliver and Sophie were sitting on the rug, tentatively playing with a set of bright wooden building blocks Arya had unboxed earlier. For the first time in years, the house felt alive.
"Julian wasn't lying about one thing," Daniel murmured, looking down at his hands. "The board meeting is in three days. They are going to use my children's condition and my 'unstable behavior' to try to oust me as CEO. If they take control of the company, they will strip funding from the accessibility programs I've been secretly building in memory of Clara."
Arya looked at him, a determined fire igniting in her eyes. "Then don't let them hide behind their corporate jargon. Show them who you are. And better yet... let me show you how to show them who Oliver and Sophie really are."
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Daniel looked at Arya, a flicker of genuine hope breaking through his exhaustion. "What do you have in mind?"
"Three days is enough time to learn more than just basic BSL," Arya said with a sharp, beautiful smile. "It's enough time to learn how to shock a boardroom."
