Fake heiress? I earn enough to be rich on my own.

When Nathan Hart and family came back home, he called Sophia to library directly. Did not even let her rest for few minutes. Even before she closed the door, he started lambasting her.

"Why can't you just think,Sophia? Why did you behave so stupidly at your grandparents' home?"

Sophia didn't dare to answer back. She was still a fledgling. Though she had declared herself adult, not many states in this country recognised it. More importantly, her family had enough sway to make her life h*ll if she left.

She knew the crux of the matter. Favour of Nicole. She did not have to wait for long before he said it himself.

"Do you know how difficult it is to own a favour from Nicole? Even if we don't use it, till we don't use it, we can milk it for long time. Your uncle will be like a mouse in front of me . Not making things difficult for me in the office."

Was he finished? Nope. He wanted her to understand that she had to successfully get Nicole's sponsored child to the slot in the concert.

"We can do so many things with a guarantee from your aunt Nicole. We can even expand to city P or city N. Just think how much beneficial it is to our family.

You should have agreed directly when your grandparents talked about it. They would have had a better impression of you. Don't forget, they will decid your entry job when you finish your college. If you had agreed then and there itself, I believe that you could have started as assistant manager in one of our offices directly. Such a big jump in the beginning. It would have helped you tremendously."

Sophia didn't add a word to stop his monologue. She knew Nathan could be even more ruthless than he let others in family know.

"But, not all is lost. You still have a chance. I believe as first born child in this family, you will know the priorities."

He probably would be shameless enough to attend the concert or the party afterwards clinging to the claim of Sophia being a student there. So he could still wheel and deal, rub shoulders with prominent people. F om his point of view, giving up this concert to help Nicole would be best of both worlds.

Never mind the fact that Sophia had to work her *ss off to get that chance. Never mind that if her teacher gave up hope on her, she would never get a chance to perform. A favour from Nicole. That's enough to blind all of the Harts. Didn't you see how her uncle's family did not fan the matter and let it be. Even they wanted Nicole's favour.

So next day morning, soon after breakfast, Sophia left to meet her piano teacher. Miss Felicity Joan Evans had practically dedicated her like for music. She had given world tours at height of her musical career. But she settled back in this small city when she was about to retire and opened a big musical academy. She had found many talents since then. Everyone had praised Ms Evans for her talent to find talents. So, it was a matter of prestige if she accepted your child into academy. An occasion of joy if your child was allowed to perform in a concert.

And yes, Sky High school had to pay very high price to have her as honorary music teacher. Few of her old students worked as full time music teachers in the school.

Ms Evans prefered to stay away from hustle and bustle of the city, so her academy was spread across a large plot in one of the suburbs. Whatever complaints the neighborhood had, they vanished when they watched costly cars parking in the lot.

She was a thin woman, who looked lively only when a soulful music was coming around and surrounding her. Her old students could directly guess her mood inspite of her mask like face depending upon the background music.

Today, the day was not good. Melancholic song was coming through speakers in low volume, so that students who had come to practice would not find it difficult to practice.

Chloe, Sophia's mother had brought both her daughters to have a nice little chat with Ms Evans. Shirley was right, Chloe thought. After the accident, Sophia had changed. Before, she would say yes immediately. Now, she didn't say anything. Not yes. Not even a rebellious no.

After thinking long and hard, she and her husband had concluded that they had to resolve the matter themselves. So a personal visit to the piano teacher to show their stand.

Sophia hadn't realised that her parents were not even allowing her to talk about the matter. She assumed it was just a show to portray herself as loving mother. She had bad premonition when her mother insisted on coming in and greet Ms Evans, rather than letting her go after showering with multitude of reminders in the parking lot. But when she heard the music, she relaxed suddenly. Whatever mother had planned, would not happen.

Contrary to what Harts believed, Ms Evans knew Sophia's condition better. Her kidsin the Sky Lark High had let her know. Before the accident, she was good. Now she was excellent. Before, people would listen to pleasant sounds. Now, Sophia could transfer the audience to her own world of music. Would she give up such talent? Only if Sophia herself gave up on herself.

Chloe, with Sophia and Shirley trailing behind her, met Ms Evans in her office. Yes, there was indeed an office in music academy. Not just one but many. And as academy's founder and director, Ms Evans had largest office. Not including the attached soundproofed room with her baby grand.

"A very good morning to you Ms Evans. I brought my daughter Sophia today as she is still recovering from her accident and I was very worried about her."

Ms Evans, probably because she felt and expressed her emotions via music, behaved as if she hated words. She used them sparingly. So she just nodded at the info dump there. She eyed the newly made genius and nodded again.

Her kids might just feel she had changes, based on the music she performed. But she could see. The poise, the elegance....blah blah blah. What she saw was someone ready to fight the world a hundred rounds and still be ready for next hundred. She was no quitter. So whatever her family said would be irrelevant.

But like a good lady of standing in the society, she did allow Chloe to ramble on and on.

It's not that Chloe wanted to keep on talking but this lady sitting opposite her was like a mute, just nodding now and then.

"Though it's not Sophia's fault that she had an accident, it's still true that due to her the scale of performance in the concert would come down. We are deeply sorry regarding this regard. So we took the matter to our hands and have found an excellent substitute, if I may add. I have few copies of his previous performances. Even Conte Kamenov spoke highly of this student. Perhaps, you might have heard of his name before - Adam Arlov."

Sophia was surprised. Her parents had done a lot of homework last night. And she did know Adam Arlov, the prince of piano.