Olima finally found a taxi and she entered into the back seat and told the taxi driver her destination, “To the Emerson estate.”
The taxi driver replied, “Okay.”
He started the car and drove ahead as Olima was the only one seated in the cab and arriving at the Emerson Housing Estate gate entrance.
The taxi stopped while Olima paid for her ride before she alighted from the taxi and rushed into the estate gate, running home speedily.
The estate security men stared at Olima and wondered what was chasing her again with her running home as they knew her.
One of the estate men said, “She's a gorgeous young lady, and mostly running errands after her parents were gone.”
The others kept quiet and continued with their job as there were four security men there.
Olima finally arrived home in front of her late father's mansion gate and she banged heavily on the gate while calling out to Nathan.
Nathaniel quickly approached the gate from within, pulled the small gate open, and asked her, “Why are you banging on the gate like that?”
Olima smiled faintly at Nathan and apologized, “I'm sorry, sir. Please open the gate quickly.”
Olima quickly rushed into the compound and made her way towards the mansion frontage after Nathan pulled the small gate open for her.
She was nervous as she knocked on the door entrance of the white mansion. Pulling the door knob open, she walked into the living room and saw Mia still seated on the couch, watching television.
Mia looked at Olima as she stepped into the living room. Olima's big brown eyes quickly traveled to the living room wall clock and gasped as she saw the time was already 8:30 pm.
Olima quickly rushed into the kitchen and started preparing their dinners, as she knew that her stepmother would soon come downstairs to inquire if she had finished cooking their meals.
She didn't want her stepmother to flog her mercilessly for wasting so much time in the market area and not arriving home on time.
Olima hurriedly took out all the vegetable soup ingredients that she had bought from the local market nearby. She washed the green vegetables quickly and cut them into smaller pieces.
She unhooked the dried stockfish from the rubber band and soaked it in a bowl of water.
Furthermore, she quickly cut the meat into smaller chops, washed it neatly, switched on the gas cooker, and placed her pot on it, starting to cook the meat first.
With every second that ticked on the clock, Olima was sweaty all over as she hurriedly prepared the vegetable soup.
She jumped in fright when she heard the kitchen door slide open.
Mia walked into the kitchen and asked, “What took you so long to arrive home on time? I'm hungry.”
Olima sighed out in relief as Mia approached her and watched as Olima was turning the big pot of soup with a big spoon and tasting the soup to know if she should add more salt or a little pepper into the soup…
Olima directed her big turning spoon towards Mia's right hand and said, “Please taste the soup first to know if it is okay, or I should add a little salt?”
Mia opened her right palm, and Olima dropped a few drops of soup from the big spoon on Mia's right hand. Mia tasted it and saw that the vegetable soup was delicious.
She licked her right palm but frowned as she wanted her mother to discipline Olima for making her hungry.
She told Olima, “Add more salt. It lacks salt…”
Olima frowned as her brows furrowed at Mia.
She turned the soup and tasted it again on her right palm and said, “But the soup is okay like this.”
Mia frowned and used her hand to carry the salt container. She opened it and poured more salt into the soup.
Olima screamed, “Mia!”
Just then, the kitchen door pushed opened, and Mrs. Gina walked into the kitchen in her long white nightgown.
Olima quickly shut the pot of soup, carried it down from the gas cooker, as she hadn't prepared the semolina that they would use with the vegetable soup.
Mrs. Gina asked, “What's going on here? It's already after 9 pm, yet you're still cooking the soup. Why?”
Olima quickly replied, “Nothing ma, I'm almost through with the semolina.”
Olima quickly poured water into the empty pot to prepare the semolina quickly, and Mrs. Gina shifted her gaze towards Mia and asked, “And what are you standing here doing?”
Mia muttered, “Mom, I'm hungry.”
Mia frowned and stomped her feet on the ground as she walked to meet her mother.
Mrs. Gina said, “Go and sit down at the dining table first. The soup will soon be ready.”
Mia frowned and walked towards the kitchen door, shouting, “Olima be fast, please.”
Olima nervously replied, “Okay.”
She breathed out in relief as she saw that her stepmother and stepsister had left the kitchen.
Olima sighed again as she finished preparing the semolina. She switched off the gas, used her gown to wipe off her sweaty forehead, and immediately served the semolina onto smaller flat plates first.
Not wanting to anger her stepmother and stepsister, Olima quickly dished out their soups into smaller plates and placed everything on the big tray, then carried it to the dining room to serve her family.
Mia sat on her usual dining chair across from her mother, and Olima walked up to the dining table to dish out their meals.
Mrs. Gina adjusted her seat closer to the dining table to start eating, and Olima served them bowls of water to wash their hands.
Mia washed her hands first before her mother did.
Olima asked Mrs. Gina, “Ma, do you still need anything else?”
Mrs. Gina frowned and replied, “No, go and eat your food first.”
Olima replied, “Okay.”
She walked away, but just then, Mia screamed, “Mom!”
Mrs. Gina glared at Mia and asked, “What is it?”
Olima also paused beside the kitchen door and stared back at Mia.
Mia said, “Mom, the soup is bitter.”
Mrs. Gina's eyes narrowed at Mia suspiciously, and she tasted the soup herself since she had already washed her hands.
She dipped her right index finger into the small plate of soup, tasted it herself, and her face twisted in irritation. She immediately stood up from the dining chair and questioned Olima, “What's the meaning of this nonsense that you just cooked, Olima?”
Olima took some steps backward and replied, “Ma, I…”
Mrs. Gina moved away from her dinner chair and rushed up to meet Olima.
She asked, “You what? Didn't you taste this soup at all?”
Olima stammered, “I did, ma… Mia added more salt to the soup and…”
Mrs. Gina landed Olima a hot, resounding slap on her left cheek.
She approached Olima more and dragged her roughly towards the dining table, then bent Olima's head into her small soup plate, and said, “Here is the soup. Taste the soup by yourself and eat the nonsense that you have cooked! You stupid witch! See how bitter the soup is and eat it yourself! Did Mia follow you and prepare the soup? Weren't you the only one that cooked the soup and was in the kitchen when I entered there?”
Olima cried and tried to explain, “Ma, please…”
Mrs. Gina landed Olima another hot resounding slap on her right cheek again and yelled, “Shut up!”
Mrs. Gina started beating Olima while Mia smiled viciously.
Mrs. Gina yelled, “You witch! You killed your parents, now you want to kill me and my daughter too?”
Mrs. Gina continued beating Olima, and Olima begged, “Please, ma. I'm innocent, I didn't touch Mia. I didn't spoil the soup. Please, ma.” Olima cried.
“Shut up! And get out of this house! I would rather not see your ugly face here again!” Mrs. Gina called out to the gate man, and he immediately ran into the living room, responding, “Yes, madam, you sent for me.”
Mrs. Gina said, “Throw this witch out of this house, I would rather not see her here again.”
Olima begged, “No, mother, please… I didn't touch Mia, I didn't spoil the soup.”
Mrs. Gina landed Olima another hot resounding slap on her left cheek again and said, “One more word from you. I will have you arrested tonight, you witch. Nathan, throw her outside now, and never let her into this mansion again, ever!”
Nathan grabbed Olima by her left arm and dragged her outside the mansion, as he was now working for Mrs. Gina alone.
He dragged Olima outside the house that belonged to her late parents and towards the mansion exit gate around 10 pm in the late night hour.
Mia smiled victoriously, and Mrs. Gina was the happiest that she had finally gotten rid of Olima and the mansion was now her property.
She went outside from the house to find out if Nathan had thrown Olima outside or not.
Nathan dragged Olima outside of the mansion, and she sobbed and begged him, "Please sir, don't throw me out. I don't have anywhere to go to, Please Nathan." Olima cried, and Nathan replied, "I'm sorry, small madam, but I cannot help you now. You have to leave this house." Nathan was also worried as he didn't know what Olima had done. He had seen her return home and run back speedily into the house, and now she was sobbing heavily, and Mrs. Gina ordered him to throw her outside. Olima begged, "Please don't throw me out. This is my father's house. I don't have anywhere else to go to, please." Nathan let go of Olima's hands and raked his short black hair in frustration. He is a dark-skinned man and was of average height too. Mrs. Gina stepped out of the mansion and questioned, "Nathan! Is that witch still outside there?" Nathan stared at Olima in fret and pulled the gate open as he replied, "No, madam. I have sent her outside." Nathan wasn't yet ready to lose his job; he opened t
Justin stared at Jesse's face in the strip club parking lot, and after contemplating for a while, he said, "Remember the pretty lady that we saw when we were leaving the estate?". Jesse smiled and replied, "You mean the one who ran away from you when you approached her?". Justin glared at Jesse, but Jesse laughed and apologized - "Forgive me, boss." "Justin! How many times do I need to remind you, Jesse, to stop calling me boss?" Justin questioned angrily as he never liked it when Jesse tried to maintain the master-servant relationship between them. "I'm sorry, Justin, but you know that your father will be angry with me if he finds out that I am being friends with you and calling you by your name," Jesse apologized. "I know, and that's why I want you to call me by my name, especially when we are not at home and in public places like this. To reduce others' eyes on me," Justin said. "Okay, Justin," Jesse replied, and Justin sighed frustratedly and said, "I just seem to like that y
Jesse's eyes also widened in shock as he saw Olima's face and knew that she was the same young lady that Justin was asking about earlier when they were still at the club, but now she looks so battered than when he earlier saw her before. Jesse couldn't believe that she was the one and Justin was seriously worrying himself about her too. Olima was still unable to speak about who had hurt her as she cried and begged Justin, "Please, sir... help me get to the estate gate?" Justin asked her, "Why?" He held her left hand closely as he didn't want her to run away from him again, but his phone continued ringing out in his black suit trouser side pocket. Jesse's phone also rang out too, and Justin knew that his parents were the ones calling him. Even though they acted blindly towards him sometimes, his mother still always called him to know where he was and if he was alright. Justin said, "Wait first..." He immediately took out his phone from his trouser side pocket, and at the same tim
Justin's car finally drove into the garage and parked. He stepped down from his car first and saw his mother standing at the mansion frontage and staring at him too as he walked over to the second side of the car and assisted the young lady in stepping down from his car. Mrs. Juliet was wearing a red long rosy nightgown and hearing the sound of her son's car arriving in their compound and parking in their garage. She immediately rushed out to have a peek at who had arrived, and seeing it was Justin made her relieved. Her husband had traveled abroad for a business trip to other states where he owned other mega houses as well, and she knew that he usually cheated on her, even more than Justin. Her husband, named Mr. Emerson Robert, kept his promiscuous lifestyle a secret, thinking she wouldn't know. She had seen a lot of photos and videos of him with some shameless young ladies who were proud to host her husband in their beds. Despite knowing that he was a married man and a billionai
Justin walked into the living room with his mother, but Mrs. Juliet wasn't in a good mood at all and she questioned him, "Son, just take a look at the time. You're just arriving home now. It's after 12 am in the midnight!" Mrs. Juliet ranted, and Justin rather apologized to his mother, "I'm sorry, Mom. I saw her on the road, and I couldn't just drive past her." "Why, son? We have the estate security agency to help her out, and now with you bringing her here, that will prolong the matter and warrant more questioning and explanations. What if that young lady did something more terrible in her family home or killed someone there, and you shamelessly brought her here to us, to implicate us too?" Mrs. Juliet roared out her frustration at Justin. "No, mother! She's innocent and cannot hurt a fly," Justin said, and his mother shook her head as her black eyes narrowed at her handsome son. "Okay. It's already late now, and I want to go and sleep. Tomorrow, I want you to take her away from h
Justin replied to Leah's greeting, "Good morning Leah, how was your night?" Justin was practically a free guy, and even though he knew that he was supposed to be strict with his staff and workers, he wasn't that type of guy that took life so seriously and should be demanding for respect all the time from his staff. He knew so well that Leah, Jesse, and their gate man, Alex, all respected him as he is their boss, just after his father, but he smiles with them and plays with them behind his parents' back, especially when his father isn't at home, as his mother usually turned a blind eye on his playfulness sometimes, but his father didn't approve of it at all, and always told him to maintain his distance of boss to servant relationship with their staff. "My night was fine boss, and yours?" Leah asked Justin as she paused her sweeping and stared up at his balcony again, he was leaning on upstairs. "Fine too," Justin replied, but his eyes remained focused on Olima, while Leah saw that he
Mrs Juliet's eyes shifted to stare at Mrs Gina as she finally walked out to the gate, meeting Mrs Gina's cold gaze on her. Mrs Juliet asked, "Why did you send her away last night from here?" Mrs Gina didn't know who the black beautiful woman standing in her presence was, as she knew most of the women in the Emerson estate were all big men's wives. "Pardon? Who are you to come into my house to question me?" Mrs Gina retorted. "Who am I?" Mrs Juliet scoffed. "I'm very ashamed of you, woman. You have a young daughter like her size and choose to send this young lady away by midnight last night. Yet, you could sleep so peacefully inside your room... how evil of you to be heartless to another human's daughter, let alone your stepdaughter too?" Mrs Juliet questioned coldly, but Mia's school bus finally arrived. Mia had no other option but to leave for school. Mrs Gina replied, "Olima is not welcome in this house again, as she dared to poison my daughter and me last night, attempting to
Olima's life had not been rosy after her stepmother's arrest as Mrs. Gina ensured to mistreat Olima even more. Mrs. Gina stated, "You didn't work for the money that you used in eating here daily, and yet you have the nerve to gang up against me and get me arrested. Really?" Mrs. Gina smirked as she stood in the center of the living room, and Olima stared downward and listened to her stepmother. Mrs. Gina said, "When I returned home, we will discuss this appropriately. And if you know what is best for you, you better prepare and leave this house for good." Olima was silent as she watched her stepmother finally leave the house shortly after returning from the police station. Olima could hear her stomach grumbling out of hunger while she returned back upstairs to her bedroom, as she was sure her stepmother had left the house. She later stepped downstairs from her bedroom and walked back to the kitchen to check for what she could eat. Olima saw the remaining noodles left, cooked it