Chapter 2

It was a bright Monday morning.

Olima woke up in her bedroom at 5:30 a.m. She was wearing a light blue nightgown and rushed out of her room to tidy up the house. It was the first day of school, and her younger stepsister, Mia Adams, was going back to college.

Olima swept the entire mansion clean, starting from the top floor and working her way down to the first-floor living room. She swept and mopped everywhere until it was spotless before heading outside to clean the entire compound.

After finishing her work and ensuring that the entire mansion was neat, Olima returned to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for her younger stepsister. She knew that her stepmother and stepsister would soon wake up.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Gina Adams, a 39-year-old woman, woke up in her bedroom upstairs, the first room given to her when she initially married Mr. Leo Adams.

She yawned and stretched as she sat up carefully on the bed, staring around her bedroom and feeling like the madam of the house again.

"Hmm... How time flies," she said as she dropped her legs down from the bed and stood up.

Mrs. Gina was wearing a long white nightgown, and she slipped on the black slippers beside her bed, knowing that it was school resumption day. Her 14-year-old daughter, Mia Adams, was going back to college.

It was 7:00 a.m. when she decided to go downstairs to inspect the house and check if Olima had finished sweeping and mopping the entire mansion.

Mrs. Gina stepped downstairs into the living room and looked around. She saw that Olima had cleaned everywhere, and a satisfied smile curved her lips as she thought about getting her revenge by punishing Olima.

She walked up to the dining table, took a seat, and waited for Mia to come out for breakfast just before the school bus arrived.

Olima stepped out of the kitchen and saw her stepmother in the dining room.

She stepped out to check if Mia was ready for breakfast. Seeing her stepmother in the dining room, Olima quickly greeted the older woman, "Good morning, Mother."

Mrs. Gina swiftly turned to face Olima, her blood boiling at the sound of Olima calling her "Mother."

She rushed up to Olima and landed a hot, resounding slap on her left cheek.

[SLAP!]

"How many times have I warned you never to call me 'Mother' again in this house? Do I resemble your stupid late mother?" Mrs. Gina questioned angrily, glaring at Olima.

"No, Mother... I mean, Ma," Olima replied as she sobbed, while Mrs. Gina continued to glare at her and released Olima's shoulder, which she had gripped tightly. She questioned Olima again, "Have you prepared my daughter's breakfast? Or do you want Mia to be late for school today?"

"No, Ma, I have prepared Mia's breakfast," Olima shakily replied, and Mrs. Gina narrowed her eyes at her before moving away and sniffing the palms she had used to hold Olima.

Mrs. Gina hated Olima's scent; she smelled like apples.

She immediately went into the kitchen to wash her hands, eager to rid herself of Olima's fruity scent and feel irritated that it reminded her of late Mrs. Zoe.

Olima looked like her late mother and smelled like her, too, and Mrs. Gina detested that.

Similarly, Mia was standing on the balcony upstairs and witnessed her mother gripping Olima by the shoulders and landing a hot, resounding slap on her left cheek. The sound of the slap reverberated around the living room, shocking Mia as she just stepped out to walk downstairs.

Mia understood that her mother hated Olima, as Olima had enjoyed the luxury of their late parents' wealth. She knew how her late father loved Olima and late Mrs. Zoe while neglecting her own mother.

Mia, wearing a blue school uniform with white stockings and black shoes, carried her black school bag on her shoulder as she carefully descended the living room stairs, already headed to school. Her school bus would arrive soon.

Mia wasn’t ready to say sorry to Olima, so she looked away and walked over to one of the dining room chairs to sit down for breakfast.

Mia was a dark-skinned 14-year-old girl, while Olima was 17.

Likewise, Mia resembled their late father very much. Her mother had told her the whole story about how Olima's mother had begged her to agree to marry Mr. Leo Adams.

Mia had witnessed how her late father treated her mother like she never existed. She wasn’t happy with how her mother was treated inferiorly while Olima and her late mother were treated like royalty. Olima was the apple of their father's eye.

Settling into her dining chair, Mia placed her school bag on the chair beside her. Her mother stepped out from the kitchen and glared at Olima again.

Olima's brown eyes welled with hot tears as Mrs. Gina yelled at her, "What are you standing there doing? Haven't you prepared Mia's breakfast yet? Get into the kitchen and serve it up now before I break your head!"

Olima quickly ran back into the kitchen to serve Mia's breakfast, not wanting her stepmother to beat her that morning. She sobbed as she dished out delicious noodles and fried eggs into a red flat plate, placed it in a white tray, and stepped out from the kitchen to serve it on the dining table in front of Mia.

Mrs. Gina knew she had to live with her guilt of killing her best friend and their late husband out of jealousy. Olima resembled her late mother, while Mia looked like the late Mr. Leo Adams.

Mrs. Gina grimaced as she remembered when Mr. Leo was still alive; he usually fed Mrs. Zoe in front of her and pampered Mrs. Zoe in the dining chair across from her whenever they had their breakfasts and dinners together before she was sent to live outside the mansion.

She wished she had peacefully signed the divorce papers and left when Mr. Leo offered her a divorce after their first quarrel. But she stubbornly refused to leave, as she loved Mr. Leo so much and wanted him as her husband.

Now, Mrs. Gina had killed the truck driver to hide her secret for life. They were living in Emerson Estate, where the billionaire families resided, and she wasn’t ready to go to jail yet.

Mrs. Gina sighed heavily, and Mia asked her, "Mom, what's the problem?"

Mrs. Gina replied, "Nothing, Mia. I’m fine. What’s Olima still doing in that kitchen? Does she want me to storm in there and break her head?"

Olima quickly stepped out from the kitchen and walked up to the dining table, serving Mia’s breakfast while Mia adjusted her seat closer to the table. 

Olima stood aside, wondering if she could talk to her stepmother about the need to resume her tutorial classes, as she really wanted to further her education and become a nurse.

She stood beside the dining table, and Mrs. Gina glared at her, asking, "What are you standing there doing? I thought I told you to leave?"

Olima shuddered in fear and moved backward a little, while Mia continued eating the delicious noodles and eggs at the dining table. Mia knew she didn’t know how to cook, while Olima had been forced to learn.

Olima hesitated near the kitchen door, thinking of trying her luck and pleading with her stepmother about the need to resume her tutorial classes.

She spoke, "Ma, it's about my university entrance examination form that I have spoken to you about?"

Mrs. Gina stood up from the dining chair harshly, pushing the chair back as she stepped away from the seat and said, "And I told you that you’re not going to any stupid university, Olima! How did you graduate as the best in your class and pass your examinations when you can’t understand simple English at home? Just get out of my sight now, before I give you another slap!" Mrs. Gina warned, and Olima quickly ran away toward the kitchen door, and stopping in her tracks.