Afternoon changed into evening and evening changed into night. Sofia sat by the window in her room hugging her knees and bawling her eyes out. Every word her parents said stung. Each word broke her heart.

Sofia was hurting all night. She couldn't believe her parents had threatened her. She couldn't believe that her father who was always her savior would do this to her.

The whole night, Sofia's mind was reeling with her father's threats and her mother's smirk. She knew her parents didn't like Simon and they really didn't want her to marry him just because he was not a rich snob like Calvin. They didn't see how pure his heart was. All they saw was his money which he didn't have much.

She couldn't wait for the night to end. She couldn't get her mind to think logically. All she wanted at that moment was the comfort of Simon's arms. Sofia looked around for her phone frantically but when she couldn't find it, she gave up and she fell on her stomach onto her bed. It was nearly one in the morning and time was just not passing.

It was one of the longest nights of her life. Her eyelids were growing heavier. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She was exhausted. She rolled in a fetal position on her bed and let sleep take over.

"Good morning Mrs. Clarke. Where is Sofia?" Jeremy asked as he saw her existing kitchen with a bowl of iced water and a hand towel on the tray.

"Good morning, Mr. Taylor. Sofia is in her room." She replied with a smile.

"Good morning. Who is sick? Where are you taking this?" Bella said as she stood beside her husband.

"Sofia is sick, Mrs. Taylor." Mrs. Clarke replied.

"WHAT??" Jeremy and Bella both exclaimed in unison. They ran up the stairs as fast as they could with Mrs. Clarke tailing behind them.

Jeremy threw open the door to find Sofia huddled up under the covers. He sat beside her and caressed her cheek. His hand nearly burned from the intensity of the heat. He pulled out his mobile to call the doctor. Mrs. Clarke stopped him.

"I don't mean to intervene but a doctor can't heal a heartbreak. Yesterday's events broke her. She needs time to heal. No medicine can lessen the pain when someone breaks the heart." She said as she connected her eyes with Bella who had her hands folded in her lap. Jeremy put his phone back in his pocket and stood up.

"Very well, Mrs. Clarke. You take care of her and let us know if there's any change in her situation." Jeremy said as he took Bella with him.

"I just hope you find your love, Sofia." Mrs. Clarke said as she put the cold towel on her forehead. Her face was reddish from the heat.

"I don't know how I am going to put up with her drama until the wedding." Bella said as she descended the stairs with Jeremy.

"She's stubborn like you. This girl is going to be a tough nut. She's quite a fighter. Just like you." Jeremy said as he stood by his wife in the library.

"Oh please. I didn't fall in love with a pathetic assistant." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, when you fell in love with me, you didn't know I was rich. So we can say that she got this from you." He said giving her a smile.

"I can't believe she wants to marry that ordinary boy. Actually, I think it is their plan to lure our daughter into marrying their son." She said thoughtfully.

"I don't think so. I've met his mother. She's quite a nice woman. She's a very polite and caring woman. Not to forget beautiful." Jeremy replied to her with a smile.

"Oh is that so?" Bella said as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Since when did you start making eyes at poor women? And not to forget you find them beautiful too. How pathetic, Jeremy. "Bella scoffed as she stomped away angrily.

Jeremy smiled as he saw his wife getting jealous. He'd take her out or buy her some exclusive piece of jewelry and she'd be fine. He thought so.

Bella went to the garage and grabbed the keys of Jeremy's car and sped off. She was pissed off. She wanted to teach him a lesson to remind him not to mess with her again.

She zoomed through the estate and Jeremy saw his car going out of his sight. It was his first and favorite car. He just prayed Bella brought it back safely in one piece.

Bella called Mark. She asked for a certain address. Mark was astonished but he reluctantly provided her with what she had asked for. Bella followed the address and reached a small cottage-like house with a small garden in the front.

A woman sat there with a couple of kids. She rechecked the address given by Mark.

"Hello, May I ask where do Evans live? Simon Evans to be specific." She asked a middle-aged man who passed by her. The man pointed in the direction of Evans's residence.

People were surprised to see a sports car rolling in their street. They had only seen this kind of car in a sports magazine. Bella parked the car a little far away. She covered her eyes with her sunglasses and walked to the house she was pointed to.

Camilla saw a woman watching her. She had a faint idea who this woman could be. Camilla's hands were dirty. She was putting in plants with the kids of her neighbors.

"C' mon kids. You go right now and play. I'll call you later." Camilla said as she shooed them away.

"Hello, May I help you?" Camilla asked as she wiped her hands on a towel and came to open the gate. Bella saw what her husband said was not wrong. This woman was very beautiful indeed. Now she knew where Simon got his looks from. Bella was lucky she had covered her face with her large sunglasses which gave her a lot of coverage.

"Can I come in?" Bella asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't invite you, don't know what happened to my manners. I'm Camilla Evans. Yes please, do come in." Camilla said as she opened the gate wider for Bella to enter.

Camilla led the way. The inside of the house had a clean and homey touch to it. The whole house was painted in pastel shades. She led her to the drawing room and asked her to take a seat. Bella looked around the drawing room. There were two couches and a coffee table in the middle. The walls had some decorations and paintings hung on them. The coffee table had a small bowl of fresh flowers on it. They smelled sweet.

"What would you like to have? Tea or coffee perhaps?" Camilla asked.

"No. Nothing. Thank you for asking though." Bella replied as she took a seat and looked around.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," Camilla said as she left Bella alone and went to change her dress. 

Bella saw a wall at the far end of the room cluttered with photographs. She went to have a look. She saw different pictures of Simon's family but there were some pictures of Sofia with them as well. She looked at her daughter looking so happy and carefree. She was actually smiling in all those photographs. Bella felt something strike her heart.

Bella realized that she was so busy in her life and career that she didn't have any time for her daughter. She had celebrated each birthday party with Sofia but never had she actually felt happy. She had missed twenty years of her daughter's life.

"Sorry, you had to keep waiting." Camilla came in the drawing room carrying a plate of cookies. Bella instantly turned around and sat back in her seat.

"I don't think I know you but I'm just curious to ask. Are you Bella Taylor? You look very similar to Sofia." Camilla asked looking at this mysterious woman.

"Who else do you think I am?" Bella said as she took off her sunshades. Camilla gasped. Camilla had met Bella only once before in her life and that too was only for a couple of moments.

"Why are you here, Mrs. Bella Taylor?" Camilla asked emphasizing on her name.

"Quite a lot of pictures you have here of my daughter." She waved her hand towards the picture wall. Camilla shook her head.

"It's not what you think it is. Sofia is the best friend of my daughter. Besides, Simon and Sofia love each other. "Camilla said calmly. Bella looked at her with jealousy, envy, anger. This poor woman had everything she didn't.

"Don't say my daughter's name with your mouth," Bella said angrily.

"Each time you hurt her, I was the one she came to," Camilla said as she smirked at Bella. If Bella wanted to play with fire, then she wouldn't hesitate to play along. Nobody could talk like that to her.

"You can't misbehave as it's your mansion. This is "my" house. You have to respect me and talk nicely otherwise you can take your made up face and your fancy things back to your fancy mansion where nothing is yours." Camilla said as she stood up.

"Stay away from my daughter or you'll regret living in this city. I'll destroy your life." Bella said as she replaced her sunshades back on her face and stood up too.

"You try to make your daughter listen to you. My son obeys me. If your daughter does anything embarrassing who knows how many tabloid covers you and your family will grace. You should fear because one scandal can ruin your image. Rich have everything to lose. We don't have anything to lose." Camilla said as Bella stepped out of the door.

"It was nice meeting you, though," Camilla said from behind her.

"Whoa! That went well." She said to herself.

Bella slammed the door of the car angrily and drove back to her house. She was a little taken aback by how confident Camilla was and how she took a stand for her family. To say, she was an ordinary woman nothing big but her boldness intimidated her.

Bella was not an ordinary woman. She was Bella Taylor and she had never backed off. She will not let her daughter associate with those people and she would do anything she had to, in order to win this war with Camilla. She felt like she had to prove something to Camilla.