Chapter 3 - Begging Again

Olima stopped at the kitchen door and begged, "Please ma, I need to write the exam so I can gain admission into the university."

"And who will sponsor your fees? Do you want to tell me that you're blind, and that you didn't know how your loving father cast me and me away? Well, if you've forgotten, let me remind you. Note that the money I am using to feed you now is the money I'm supposed to be paying to the old maid, as there's no money in this house, and I cannot take my business money to sponsor your university fees. Why am I even explaining all this to you? Just get lost from here now before I break your empty head!" Gina shouted at Olima, and Olima sobbed and went back into the kitchen, while Mia finished eating her breakfast.

Nathan knocked and walked into the living room. He was the gateman of the house, and he came to inform Gina that the school bus had arrived to take Mia to school.

"Good morning, madam," Nathan greeted Gina, as he knew that Gina wasn't the madam of the mansion before. But after his former madam's death, Gina took over the mansion and became the new madam of the house.

"Yes, what do you want, Nathan?" Gina asked as she stepped away from the dining room and walked into the living room to meet Nathan after dismissing Olima.

"The school bus has arrived to take Mia to school," Nathan informed her. Just then Mia stood up from her dining chair, having finished the delicious noodles and fried eggs, and turned to carry her schoolbag.

"I'm off to school, mom. Take care," Mia said to her mother and walked away from the dining room.

Gina responded, "Yeah, take care too, my baby."

Gina watched as Mia left the house and sighed, as she stared back at the dining table that Mia had used, seeing the empty dirty plate still left on top of the dining table.

Gina walked back into the kitchen to find out what Olima was doing inside.

Olima stood beside the kitchen sink, crying as she washed her face and sobbed.

Olima thought to prepare her breakfast, but hearing the sound of the kitchen door being pushed open, she turned and stared at her stepmother, who walked into the kitchen.

Gina's eyes burned with irritation at Olima, as Olima was very pretty for her age, with bigger boobs and a more seductive shape than Mia. Olima was also taller.

Gina asked, "What are you standing there by the sink doing?"

Olima shuddered and replied, "I want to prepare my own breakfast, ma, and cook another noodles."

"Hmm." Gina walked towards the carton of noodles she had bought the previous week and inspected it.

"How many noodles did you cook for Mia today?" Gina asked, as she checked the noodles carton. The noodles packets were smaller-sized.

"Two," Olima replied, visibly shaking as she saw her stepmother standing beside her.

"And how many noodles am I seeing on top of the cabinet that you want to cook for yourself alone?" Gina glared at Olima. She shivered and replied, "The—three."

"Three noodles! Just for you! My goodness! Do you intend to turn me into a thief overnight?" Gina questioned in shock, and Olima quickly shook her pretty head and replied sadly, "No ma."

"Hmm. Then how can only you finish three noodles just this morning? What about Mia? What will Mia eat to school tomorrow morning, and for the rest of the week and the entire month?" Gina questioned.

"No wonder you're looking so fresh and chubby every week, even after killing your parents," Gina glared at Olima again, while Olima took more steps backward in fear.

Gina walked closer to the cabinet where Olima had dropped the three noodles she wanted to cook. She picked them up and said, "Only one noodle is enough for you. I will count this carton of noodles now to know how many are remaining. If I notice that you cook more than one noodle for yourself per day, then you will see the other side of me."

Gina warned and counted the remaining noodles in the carton and said, "There are just 10 noodles left. So, automatically, you and Mia have eaten 30 packets already this week. And I am sure that you ate the most. Return those two packets now into this carton to make it twelve, and you cook just one noodle and one egg for yourself alone. But before that, prepare my tea first and bring it out to the dining table."

Gina dropped the noodles carton and walked out of the kitchen, leaving only Olima inside.

Olima sobbed and quickly prepared her stepmother's tea the way she knew her stepmother liked it. Then she stepped out of the kitchen and walked to the dining room to serve it where Gina sat waiting.

After Olima was through serving Gina her tea, she returned to the kitchen to prepare the single noodle and one egg for herself.

Olima sat on a stool in the kitchen and ate her noodles quietly..Her father was a billionaire, and Olima had not thought of applying for a university scholarship examination when she was still in high school. She felt that her father might not be pleased with the preferred choice of university that her school had offered for their best graduating student.

Olima continued to sob as none of her maternal nor paternal relatives cared to ask about her again, even after her parents were gone. They were rather concerned about who would inherit her father's oil company and his properties.

To know who would take over the CEO position. But as her stepmother was alive and around, none of her uncles dared to interrogate her stepmother, as Gina had threatened to have them rearrested again if any of them came to visit.

Olima finished eating her noodles and stood up from the kitchen stool. She stepped walked into the dining room to clear her stepmother's used teacup, and saw that her stepmother had left the house.

Walking up to the dining room window, Olima saw that one of the cars Gina drove had left the mansion premises. The car was one of her father's latest, brand-new, expensive cars.

Olima sighed and walked back into the kitchen to wash all the dirty plates and cups.

After she was through, she went upstairs to her bedroom, wondering how she would overcome her stepmother's daily torture.

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Later in the evening, Gina returned home from her shop, drove the expensive Jeep into the garage, and parked.

There were about five exotic cars parked, and Gina could vividly remember that her late husband had only agreed to buy her a car after Mia grew up to five years old and complained that Olima's mother had a car, and her own mother also needed a car too.

That was when Leo Adams finally decided to buy her a small car.

Parking the black exotic Lexus Jeep that was previously used by the late Leo, Gina stepped down from her ride and locked the Jeep doors with the car remote in her hand.

She walked towards the main mansion, and Nathan greeted her as she walked away from the garage, "Welcome back, madam."

"Yes, well done," Gina paused and replied before she walked back into the house.

Gina saw both Olima and Mia seated on the living room black couches, watching the huge flat-screen television that was displaying a romance movie.

Olima stood up on seeing her stepmother walk into the living room, as she hadn't even heard the sound of the car due to the noise from the romance movie she and Mia were watching.

"Good evening, ma," Olima quickly greeted Gina, but she didn't respond, as her black eyes shifted to look at the living room wall clock and saw it was already past 7 p.m.

"Hmm," Gina hummed and eyed Olima irritably, while Mia stood up and greeted her too, "Good evening, mom."

"Evening, Mia. Have you done your homework?" Gina asked Mia, and she responded, "Yes, mom."

Gina walked towards the living room stairs and paused, while Olima shifted away to the dining room area.

Gina then asked Olima, "Olima, have you prepared dinner yet?"

Gina knew that there weren't any foodstuffs in the house, so she asked, wanting to be sure.