A fair amount of time had passed since the incident in the study between Mr. Taylor and Simon. Sofia and Simon had gotten pretty close as they spent more time with each other.

"Yes yes! That's it, princess. C' mon, keep walking. Come to me." Simon cheered as Sofia got up from the wheelchair and started walking towards him. She was taking small steps. She felt like she was walking for the first time since she was born. Sofia reached Simon and hugged him. Every day, Simon came over for an hour to make her walk. Simon started falling more in love with her.

"Hey Sofia, let's go out to eat tomorrow. It's my treat." Simon said as they strolled around the perfectly manicured garden.

"Oh okay. Where do you want to take me?" She asked him.

"Nothing special or grand. It's just the beach. There's a new seafood place by the beach and I want to check that out with you." He said to her.

"Okay. I'll drop by your place around 5." She said.

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you." He said with a smile. He hugged her and went home.

Simon recalled the incident with Mr. Taylor overnight. It really shook him when he thought about leaving the girl he loved.

The next day Sofia went out with Simon.

"Hi!" Sofia greeted.

"Hey princess," Simon replied and kissed her forehead.

"Let me look at you." He said as he held her at an arm's length. Then he ran to the garden and brought a yellow flower.

"Now you look like my princess. "He said as he stuck the flower in her hair.

"Oh thank you!" Sofia said as she thanked him.

"Let's go." He held her hand and left her house. Together, they strolled around the beach, collecting shells, watching the sunset, capturing their memories in photographs, writing their names on the wet sand and playing with it. They had fun. They had dinner at the little sea food restaurant and then Simon dropped Sofia home.

That night as Sofia lay in bed, she thought how wonderful was the time she spent with Simon. She felt so safe, protected and loved.

It was her birthday next week. Bella was throwing a grand party at her house. The party was originally for Sofia to celebrate her birthday but Bella turned it into a matchmaking party. She had invited the creme of the city to this party and all the paparazzi. The thing Sofia hated the most was the paparazzi. To humiliate Simon, Bella gave the catering orders of the food to the hotel where Simon worked. She wanted to show him that no matter how close he may be to her daughter but she was always going to get her the perfect gentleman.

"I need someone who can handle the work here!" Bella scolded the person at the other end.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sending my most talented team out there. Your issues will be addressed as soon as they reach there." The manager said.

"Simon, you take three of the best people and go to Bella Taylor's place. That woman has called for the tenth time in an hour to tell me that the team we sent doesn't know how to work." The manager, Rosie told Simon. Simon nodded his head and went with his team to Bella's place.

"Wow! It's magnificent. This girl must be a princess." Simon's colleague Naomi gasped as she looked at the decor around the garden.

"It's going to be all over the news tomorrow. Look at all the media over there." Tim, another of his colleague said as he pointed to the paparazzi taking pictures of the party.

"C' mon guys. We're here to work. Let's start. " Simon said and started explaining the chores to each and every person on the team.

Sofia was extremely frustrated as her mother woke her early in the morning. Her room was full of racks on which hung some of the most revealing clothes on the planet as Sofia mostly wore shirts and jeans.

"Mum, what is this?!" Sofia asked gesturing to all the people in her room.

"Oh Sofia, these are all the outfits that you're going to try until we find you the perfect dress for the party."

"C' mon Sofia. We haven't got time to waste. We need to doll you up for the party. C'mon!" Bella said as she clapped her hands in excitement and left Sofia to do her morning routine.

Sofia tried calling Simon. She needed to calm down and he was the only one who could calm her down. Simon's phone had been switched off due to low battery.

"Mum, is Hazel and Sam coming tonight?" Sofia asked as a lady applied some weird looking liquid to her face.

"No. They aren't. I didn't invite them. It's not a party for them. They'll feel uncomfortable among all the rich people." Bella clarified as she walked around in the room typing away on her phone.

"Mum, you could have asked me," Sofia said aloud.

"Just be quiet Sofia. Let Martha do her work." Bella said as she shut Sofia's mouth.

By afternoon, Sofia was looking like a real princess. Her hair was made with tons of hairspray so perfect that not a single hair was out of place. Her skin looked flawless which had a few spots from the pimples which sprouted on her cheeks.

The dress trial was the worst. She was forced to try out fifteen very expensive evening gowns. At last, she settled for a very elegant deep purple gown. It had a bottleneck with a tight bodice. The lower part of the dress twirled around her as Sofia walked. To say Sofia looked beautiful was an understatement. She looked breathtakingly gorgeous.

Sofia had to force herself to smile and shake hands with numerous people. Her mother kept introducing her to handsome billionaires and CEOs of some of the top companies.

"Princess,this is Calvin. Calvin Harris. The director of the Harrison group of companies. He is the son of my friend and business partner, Maxwell Harris. Do you remember uncle Max who passed away last year?" Her father said as she stood in front of a handsome young man but he wasn't as handsome as Simon was. 

Calvin was tall with a chiseled jaw wearing a black suit tailored to perfection. He screamed billions at a glance. His grey eyes were cold and distant and his lips curved slightly upwards in a smirk. His well maintained body could bring every woman to her knees but Sofia wasn't interested in him at all. She had eyes for only one man and that was Simon. The man who loved her with everything he had.

"Happy birthday Sofia," Calvin said as he wished her. Sofia took his appearance in and mentally rejected him. 

"Thank you so much, Mr. Harris," Sofia said giving him a tight smile.

"Please call me Calvin. Mr. Harris is my father." He said to her flashing his set of perfect teeth. Sofia nodded her head in acknowledgment.

As the evening progressed, music started playing in the background. Couples started getting onto the dance floor.

"Can I dance with the beautiful birthday girl?" Calvin said as he tapped her shoulder. Sofia hesitated a bit.

"Why not,sure," Bella answered for Sofia. Sofia was getting frustrated and angry as time passed. Calvin held Sofia's dainty waist as he swayed her in his arms. Sofia tried stepping on his foot once but he managed to fail her attempt of embarrassing him. Simon was hurting a lot when he saw her dancing with Calvin. He was supposed to be the one holding Sofia in his arms not this guy in front of him.

The cake was cut and food was served. Sofia started feeling weird. She was feeling a bit dizzy as a strong headache started to kick in.

"Where are you going?" Her mother hissed at her.

"Leave me alone!" Sofia hissed back as she sped towards the back of the huge tent and towards the house.

"Simon..." Sofia gasped as she saw Simon and fell down with a thump. Simon wanted to rush to her help but just then he saw the man she was dancing with, running towards her. He scooped her in his arms and took her inside the house.

What do you think will happen now?

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