CHAPTER 1

In the Adams mansion, a beautiful 17-year-old girl named Olima Adams lost her parents six months ago, and she had been living with her stepmother and stepsister since then. Her stepmother stopped her from continuing her education and turned her into a maid.

It was 17 years ago that Olima's father, Mr. Leo, had married her mother, Zoe. They were so in love, but after Mrs. Zoe gave birth to Olima, she had complications and couldn't get pregnant again.

Mr. Leo promised his wife that he would love her, as Mrs. Zoe became so sad that she wanted to give her husband more children. But he assured her that he would never stop loving her.

Well, two years later, Mr. Leo told his wife about his intention to marry a second wife. Mrs. Zoe became bothered and spoke to her best friend, Gina Edwards, to agree and marry Mr. Leo.

Gina was jealous of Zoe, even as they attended the same college and grew up in the same town. Gina hated the fact that Zoe got married before her, but she pretended to like Zoe and visited the white mansion where Zoe and Mr. Leo lived to see Olima.

Mrs. Zoe pleaded for Gina to accept, as she was afraid of another woman coming into her home and turning her husband's heart against her. She begged her friend Gina to accept and marry Mr. Leo.

After Gina accepted to marry Mr. Leo, Mrs. Zoe convinced Mr. Leo to agree and marry Gina.

Mr. Leo didn't like Gina and wanted to refuse, but seeing that Mrs. Zoe would only accept him marrying someone other than her best friend, he agreed.

After Mr. Leo had married Gina and brought her into his house as his official second wife, Gina changed on the first day of her arrival.

She told Mr. Leo to send Mrs. Zoe away so that she could use the master bedroom as the new wife of the mansion.

Mr. Leo got annoyed, and he threatened to divorce Gina the next day. He yelled at her, "How dare you come into my house, Gina, and ask me to send Zoe away. Do you think that I desired to marry you? If Zoe hadn't convinced me to accept you, do you think that I love you? Get ready to sign the divorce papers. Olima is our daughter and will grow up to inherit my wealth; I only wanted to have a son to bear my name because Olima would get married and change her surname. But there's no point in continuing this marriage with you. So get ready to leave."

Mrs. Gina hadn't expected that Mr. Leo would still be in love with Zoe, and she went on her knees and begged Zoe to plead with their husband not to send her away.

Mrs. Zoe cried and blamed herself for allowing her husband to marry her best friend. She should have known that Gina was a pretender, and she didn't want the town folks to mock Gina, as she knew that the embarrassment would be unbearable for Mrs. Gina to bear. So she begged Mr. Leo to forgive Gina and to allow Gina to continue living with them.

Mr. Leo was angry, but he let it slide with a warning that Mrs. Gina shouldn't dare to disrespect Zoe again. He gave Gina another room on the top floor as her own room to live with them.

That night, Mr. Leo didn't go to meet Mrs. Gina, as he avoided her.

Mrs. Gina paced about in her room, thinking of how to claim Mr. Leo as her husband, as she developed a deep resentment for Zoe.

After that night, Mr. Leo continued to avoid Gina, as he left early for work and didn't talk to her in the house.

Unable to bear the shame of being called a barren woman, Mrs. Gina went into Mrs. Zoe's room to meet her and begged her to speak with their husband to perform his marital rites with her.

Mrs. Gina accused Zoe, "I hope you didn't insist your husband marry me to turn me into a barren woman. Speak to Mr. Leo to have sex with me too as my husband."

Mrs. Zoe was rendered speechless, and for peace to reign, she agreed and told Mrs. Gina, "I will speak to our husband when he is back from work."

Mrs. Gina looked away from Mrs. Zoe and left the room, as they were no longer friends.

They cooked separately despite using one kitchen. That night, when Mr. Leo came back, Mrs. Zoe was nervous as she served him dinner since he didn't eat Gina's food.

Olima was only two years old and was already sleeping in the master bedroom, as Mrs. Zoe didn't leave her daughter to stay in her room.

After dinner ended, Mr. Leo returned to the room to be with Zoe, but she told him, "You cannot continue to avoid Mrs. Gina in this house. Go to her room and make love with her as your wife."

Mr. Leo refused, but seeing that his wife didn't want to allow him to sleep on the bed, she reminded him, "You are the one who wanted a second wife. So what stops you from getting Gina pregnant?"

"But I do not like Gina," Mr. Leo said, his voice filled with deep regret, but Mrs. Zoe didn't want to hear him out.

"That's not my business. Just go ahead and sleep with her to get her pregnant so that she can stop fighting me."

Mr. Leo finally agreed, and he left the bedroom and went to Gina's room and slept with her.

After that night, Mr. Leo never returned to Gina's room again. Mrs. Gina wanted him to touch her, but he told her coldly, "Only one night is enough to get you pregnant."

Mrs. Gina scowled, and after Mr. Leo left for work, she quarreled with Zoe and accused her of being a bad friend. She told Mrs. Zoe all sorts of demeaning words, and Mrs. Zoe didn't reply as she avoided quarreling with Gina.

That night, after dinner ended, Mrs. Zoe told Mr. Leo about the quarrel, and Mr. Leo had already arranged divorce papers. He gave them to Mrs. Gina the next day to sign and leave his house.

Mrs. Gina refused and told Mr. Leo, "I am pregnant." Mr. Leo knew he couldn't send Mrs. Gina away with his child growing in her womb, so he took her to live separately in the boys' quarters while Olima and her mother, Zoe, lived in the main house.

Eight months later, Mrs. Gina gave birth to a girl, and Mr. Leo's hope of having a son crashed. Mrs. Gina was happy to be a mother, so she named her daughter Mia Adams.

However, after Mia grew up to be two years old, Mrs. Gina still wanted Mr. Leo's love, but he refused to acknowledge her or touch her.

With each passing day, it became evident that only once in Mrs. Gina's marriage did Mr. Leo have sex with her, until 14 years later.

Mrs. Gina's heart turned cold, and she plotted against Mr. Leo and his wife.

On the day of their children's graduation, as Olima was graduating from college and Mia was entering a senior class, Mrs. Gina orchestrated an ordeal with a driver that ended both Mr. Leo and Zoe's lives.

Mrs. Gina went to the school graduation ceremony and took several pictures with Mia, while Olima stood in vain, waiting for her parents' arrival until nightfall.

However, when Olima got home and received the devastating news, she was broken to pieces and knew that her stepmother hated her.

Olima wanted to leave the house, even as it was an exquisite mansion, but she knew that she had no one to turn to.

Mrs. Gina waited until after the burial of the late Mr. Leo and Zoe, then she moved back into the white mansion and discarded all of Zoe's belongings and photo frames on the living room walls.

Mrs. Gina replaced the walls with her own images while leaving the late Mr. Leo's images on the walls.

After a week passed, Mr. Leo's two younger brothers came to take over his company and other mansions that he owned. They knew that the late Mr. Leo was a billionaire.

However, Mrs. Gina had all her in-laws arrested, accusing them of being the ones who had killed her late husband and his lovely wife.

Mrs. Gina filed a lawsuit against Mr. Leo's two brothers, and they had to bail themselves out and promised never to trouble Mrs. Gina again.

Mrs. Gina claimed the land and property, and she invited the late Mr. Leo's lawyer to learn about his will.

When the lawyer arrived, he told Mrs. Gina that the will could not be changed, and the will stated that the oil company should be given to Olima Adams when she turned 24 years old.

Mrs. Gina got annoyed, sent the lawyer away, and plotted how to turn the oil company and other companies belonging to the late Mr. Leo into her own.

Do you think she will succeed? Find out in the next chapter.