Chapter 1 - The beginning

**Seventeen Years Ago**

Mr. Leo Adams, a wealthy 29-year-old billionaire, fell in love with a beautiful woman named Zoe.

"Will you marry me?" he proposed to her in a public restaurant after two years of dating.

"Yes," Zoe responded, after which they had their lavish wedding.

Nine months later, Mrs. Zoe went into labor, but the doctor informed her that she had complications and it wouldn't be safe for her to welcome another child.

Mrs. Zoe cried, lying on the hospital bed. She told her husband, "I would have loved to give you more kids. Why?" But he assured her, "My love for you won't change."

Mrs. Zoe and her husband named their child "Olima Adams." She had brown eyes, blonde hair, and was an exact replica of Zoe.

Mr. Leo's love remained the same for Zoe, but two years later, he spoke to his wife about the need to have more children.

"Honey, I want to take a second wife," he told her, and Zoe was dumbfounded. She had a best friend named Gina Edwards. Both were 25 years old, and she had to confide in her friend.

"I cannot believe my husband wants to take a second wife," Mrs. Zoe said to Gina. "He promised me that his love wouldn't change. How can Leo do this to me?" Mrs. Zoe cried at her friend's abode. She recalled her husband telling her, "I just want her to bear me a son to take over my company and properties."

'African mentality,' she thought. 

Gina Edwards had been secretly admiring Leo Adams, even while being friends with Zoe. She faked pity and told Zoe, "So what are you planning to do?"

"I don't know, but I am scared for this marriage. I could have considered having a surrogate, but I don't know if it will work. Can you accept to marry my husband? Please, I don't trust anyone else out there?" 

Hearing the offer, Gina pretended to look disinterested. However, she wanted Mr. Leo badly. She had tried to seduce him, but he shut her out.

"How do you expect me to marry your husband, Zoe? You know that he doesn't like me and loves you very much," Gina refuted, shaking her head in refusal so that Zoe wouldn't suspect a thing.

"I will talk to him. Please, just agree to marry him. You're my best friend and like a sister to me," Mrs. Zoe said, clasping her hands together. "I cannot stand the thought of another woman coming in to take over my home. Please accept. I promise to speak with Leo, and he will agree."

"Fine. I will need some time to think about this," Gina replied, and Zoe nodded. "Thank you."

Later, Mrs. Zoe spoke to her husband about accepting to marry Gina, but he refused.

"So you're already cheating on me out there that you refuse to accept to marry my friend?" Mrs. Zoe questioned her husband accusingly, and he tried to explain himself.

"No, Zoe, don't get me wrong, but I don't like your friend. She looks at me like she wants me, but I never gave her a chance. Why would you want me to marry her?"

In their bedroom, Mrs. Zoe sighed and hugged her husband, standing in the room with her. "I can only trust Gina not to break my home. She's my childhood best friend and wouldn't do anything bad to me. Please..."

"Fine..." Mr. Leo reluctantly agreed, and he later went on to marry Gina.

The following day, when Mrs. Gina arrived at the lavish villa as Mr. Leo's new wife, she ordered him, "Send Zoe away. I cannot stand the sight of her in this room. We need to have a baby fast."

"What?" Mr. and Mrs. Adams' eyes widened, and Mr. Leo snapped. "What has come over you, Gina? Just today you arrived at my home as my official second wife, and you think you can order my wife around and send her away? So you have been pretending with Zoe all along?"

Mrs. Gina scoffed, "I wasn't pretending with her, but Zoe can agree with me that her presence would prevent me from conceiving faster."

"Shut up!" Mr. Leo cut Gina off, his eyes glaring at her.

"You should note that I didn't marry you because I love you or wanted you. Zoe pushed me into this, and I can get a divorce tomorrow if you don't behave yourself. Olima is still our child, and she will inherit my assets tomorrow, which you cannot change. So get out if you don't find it convincing to live here peacefully with my wife."

Mrs. Zoe's eyes welled up with tears as she realized her mistake. She shouldn't have pushed her husband to marry Gina. How did she not see through Gina's pretense?

"Fine. I am sorry; I won't quarrel with Zoe again. But where do I stay? I am your wife too?" Mrs. Gina questioned, and Mr. Leo led her to another room, as Zoe now avoided her once-in-a-lifetime childhood friend.

Mr. Leo comforted his first wife, telling her that his love for her would remain unchanged. He wanted to get a divorce and send Gina away, but Zoe stopped him.

"No. You cannot send her away after everyone already knows that she is your wife. The shame would be too much for her to bear."

Mr. Leo saw the pain in his wife's eyes and felt like his gut was being twisted with a hot knife. "It's alright, stop the tears." He comforted his wife, hugging her passionately before kissing her forehead.

Time moved by quickly, and Mrs. Gina saw that she couldn't win Mr. Leo's love as she had thought. She then went to meet Mrs. Zoe to speak with Mr. Leo about performing his marital rites with her.

"Ever since your husband married me, he hasn't touched me. He ruined my wedding night, and you don't find it in your heart to talk to him to be with me? Is that why you brought me into your marriage, Zoe? To show me how much your husband loves and values you?"

"No, Gina. Don't say that. Fine, I will speak to Leo tonight," Mrs. Zoe said, trying to calm her friend. Mrs. Gina replied, "Fine. I will be waiting after our dinner."

Mrs. Gina left the room, and Mrs. Zoe sadly blinked her tears away.

That night, after dinner, Mr. Leo wanted to make love with his wife Zoe, but she sent him away to Gina's room.

"Ever since you got married to Gina, you have been avoiding her in this house. You were the one who spoke to me about needing a wife. You cannot continue to avoid her. Please go to her room and perform your duty with her."

Mrs. Zoe smacked Mr. Leo's hands away from hugging her on the bed. Mr. Leo frowned but knew that Zoe was right. But he didn't like Gina; he wished he hadn't accepted to marry her. The way she openly gawked at him and lusted after him was unsettling.

"Fine. I will go and meet Gina," he said, getting off the bed and going to Gina's room.

Mrs. Zoe lay on the bed, her eyes filled with tears as she cried herself to sleep, knowing that it was what she had to endure.

Mr. Leo went to Gina's room, and despite not liking her, he took her to bed and made love with her.

*****

A few weeks later, Mrs. Gina wanted Mr. Leo to sleep with her again, but he told her, "Only one night is enough to get you pregnant."

Mr. Leo avoided Gina, not caring if he hurt her. He didn't want her and barely stood seeing her presence in his house.

One day, after Mr. Leo had left for the office, Olima Adams, a two-year-old girl, was with her mother when Mrs. Gina came into the living room and quarreled with Zoe. She accused Zoe of being a wicked friend and a bad influence.

Zoe was hurt, and when Leo returned home that night, she told him about the quarrel.

Mr. Leo didn't address Mrs. Gina that night, but the following day, he offered her a divorce agreement to leave his house and sign it. "I am fed up with your presence, Gina. Sign the agreement and leave. I will pay you off, and you don't have to worry about it. Our marriage is barely two months old."

Mrs. Gina looked at the document and refused to sign it. She knew that her parents had refused her marriage to Leo. So where could she possibly go? She told Mr. Leo, "No. I cannot sign it. I am pregnant with your child."

Mr. Leo became frustrated and knew that he couldn't send Gina away with his child growing in her womb, so he allowed her to stay until after she had welcomed his child.

Eight months later, Mrs. Gina went into labor and welcomed a baby girl. Mr. Leo's hope of having a boy was shattered, as he thought the baby would be a boy.

Mrs. Gina was happy to be a mother and named her daughter Mia Adams. She hoped that Mr. Leo would be with her again and get her pregnant, but Mr. Leo avoided her and sent her to live in the guesthouse.

Fourteen years later, Mr. Leo still hadn't touched Mrs. Gina again.

Mrs. Gina knew she couldn't cheat on Mr. Leo to get pregnant and give him another man's child, so she made up her mind to kill Mr. Leo and his wife and seize all of Mr. Leo's wealth, including his oil company.

Mrs. Gina was tired of seeing Mr. Leo and Mrs. Zoe acting lovingly toward each other, as Mr. Leo avoided her and never accepted any gifts from her.

With each passing day, Mrs. Gina yearned for Mr. Leo's love. She knew he would never love her, so she arranged for a truck driver to ram into Mr. Leo and Mrs. Zoe's car.

She knew they were going to Lemon Hill High School for Olima and Mia's graduation ceremony.

Mrs. Gina attended the graduation ceremony alone and took several photos with her daughter, while Olima waited in vain for her parents to arrive.

Later in the evening, when Olima, a 17-year-old girl, got home, she was shocked to receive the news of her parents' absence. She cried, knowing her stepmother hated her the most.

She wanted to leave the house too, but there was nowhere she could go.

Olima patiently waited for her uncles to arrive. When they did, they were more interested in asking Mrs. Gina about the oil company and other documents and the mansion.

It was only three months after Olima's parents' burial ceremony ended, and Mrs. Gina wasted no time arresting all her in-laws.

She accused them, "You guys are the ones who killed Mr. Leo and his wife to claim all of his wealth.'

"What?!" Mr. Leo's two brothers looked stunned. They arrived at the police station and had to sign an agreement never to disturb Mrs. Gina again. They left and never returned.

No one asked about Olima again, and Mrs. Gina moved into the main mansion that Mr. Leo had previously chased her away from. She threw all of Mrs. Zoe's belongings away, burned them outside, as she couldn't stand seeing all the beautiful portraits of her late friend on the living room walls.

Mrs. Gina replaced the empty walls with her own photos, leaving Mr. Leo's images on the wall. She fired the five housemaids, including the cook, and turned Olima into her housemaid.

"I think you saw how your late father treated me and Mia when he was alive," she told Olima. "Well, there is no money for you to further your education. So you will have to remain as my maid to help take care of this house that your late parents left behind. We cannot sell it to sponsor your education. That would be cruel of you to sell the only property we live in when we haven't seen the will or acquired another house. Isn't that so?"

Olima gulped hard and couldn't do anything against her stepmother. Her stepmother withdrew her from her tutorial classes and turned her into a maid.

She was forced to learn how to cook, wash the dirty dishes, and wake up very early in the morning to tidy up the house.

Olima had to take care of her mother's farm, and also trim the flowers. She cried, but her tears weren't enough to resolve the issue, as she watched Mia resume going to school. Even though her stepmother had already told her there was no money for her to resume.

A few days later, Mrs. Gina invited the family lawyer to learn about the late Mr. Leo's will.

Upon the lawyer's arrival, he told Mrs. Gina, "The will could not be changed. It stated that the oil company left behind by Mr. Leo Adams should be given to Olima Adams, but only when Olima turned 24 years old."

"What?!" Mrs. Gina was annoyed, scrambling to her feet and sent the lawyer away. She thought of how she could turn the oil company and all assets that belonged to her late husband into her own.