Chapter 2

On a Monday morning, the time was 5 a.m. when Olima Adams, a fair-skinned 17-year-old girl, woke up in her bedroom.

She hastily got out of the bed, dressed in a blue nightgown, and rushed out of her room, wearing a black pair of slippers. As she descended the stairs, going downstairs to the living room to tidy up the whole house.

Olima knew that it was school resumption day, and her younger sister, Mia Adams, was going back to college.

Entering the living room, Olima swept the tiled floors, cleaned the couches, and mopped the tiles.

After finishing her work in the living room, she went to the kitchen to clean it up and prepare breakfast for her younger sister.

Olima knew that her stepmother and stepsister would soon awake, so she hurried with her cooking, not wanting to provoke them.

However, Mrs. Gina Adams, a 37-year-old woman, awoke in her luxury white bedroom. It was the first room given to her when she newly got married to Mr. Leo Adams, before he sent her outside of the white mansion and to live in the boys' quarters alone.

Mrs. Gina yawned, stretched, and carefully sat up on the bed. Staring around her bedroom, she felt like the madam of the house again.

"Hmm... How time flies," she murmured, getting out of her bed. As she dropped her legs on the ground, before standing on her feet.

Mrs. Gina wore a long white nightgown and put on her black slippers that were beside the bed.

She knew that it was school resumption day, and her 14-year-old daughter, Mia Adams, was going back to college.

The time was after 7 a.m. Mrs. Gina then exited her room and went downstairs to the living room to inspect the house.

She wanted to know if Olima had completed cleaning the entire mansion to look as neat as she had ordered.

Upon descending the stairs in the living room, Mrs. Gina saw that Olima had indeed cleaned everywhere. A satisfactory smile curled up her lips, as she intended to get her revenge by punishing Olima too.

Mrs. Gina then walked up to the dining table to take her seat, as she waited for her daughter, Mia Adams, to come downstairs for breakfast.

Just then, Olima walked out of the kitchen and saw her stepmother in the dining room. She had come out to find out if Mia was ready to have her breakfast.

Upon seeing her stepmother seated on the dining chair and glaring at her, Olima hastily greeted the older lady, "Good morning, mother."

Mrs. Gina's anger boiled upon hearing Olima call her "mother." She swiftly rose from the couch and rushed to meet Olima. Then she delivered a hot, resounding slap on Olima's left cheek. [SLAP!]

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

"No, Mother.. I mean, Ma'am," Olima replied, crying, while Mrs. Gina glared at her.

Mrs. Gina released Olima's arm that she had gripped firmly. Then she questioned her with a stern voice, "Have you prepared my daughter's breakfast? Or do you want Mia to be late for school today?"

"No, ma'am, I have prepared Mia's breakfast," Olima hastily replied, trembling.

Mrs. Gina's eyes narrowed at Olima. She moved away and sniffed her palms that she had used to hold her.

Mrs. Gina hated Olima's scent because it smelled like apple, also a reminder of the late Mrs. Zoe.

Mrs. Gina then went into the kitchen to wash her hands off Olima's fruity scent, as she felt irritated to be reminded of the late Mrs. Zoe.

Olima resembled her late mother and smelled like her too. Mrs. Gina gritted her teeth and hated that.

However, Mia stood up at the balcony on the second floor of the duplex. She saw when her mother had gripped Olima's shoulder and delivered a hot, resounding slap on her left cheek.

The sound of the hot slap reverberated around the living room and shocked Mia.

Mia had just stepped out of her room, dressed in a blue and white school uniform as she was going to school and wanted to walk downstairs for her breakfast.

Mia knew that her mother disliked Olima because Olima had enjoyed the luxury of their late father's wealth.

Mia knew how her late father loved Olima very much, and he disliked her own mother, Gina. But he loved the late Mrs. Zoe.

Mia wore a blue skirt, white top, and black polished shoes with white stockings as she slung her school bag over her shoulders.

She carefully descended the living room stairs, stepping downstairs into the living room to have her breakfast with her mother, as her school bus would soon arrive to pick her up.

Mia was not ready to say "sorry" to Olima. So, she looked away and strode to one of the dining room chairs to sit down and have her breakfast. She was a 14-year-old black girl, while Olima was 17 years old and fair.

Mia resembled her late father very much, and she knew that her mother had told her the whole story of how Olima's mother had begged her to marry Mr. Leo Adams, only to avoid her in the beginning of the marriage.

Mia had witnessed how her late father had treated her mother. She was not happy with it, and she didn't wish her father's death.

Her mother was treated unfairly while Olima and her late mother were being treated like queens. Besides, Olima was the apple of their father's eyes.

Keeping her school bag on the next chair beside her, Mia sat down, while her mother walked out of the kitchen.

Mrs. Gina glared at Olima, asking her, "What do you stand there doing? Haven't you prepared Mia's breakfast yet? My dear, get lost into the kitchen and dish it out now, before I break your head!"

Olima's brown eyes welled up in hot tears, and she quickly ran back into the kitchen and served Mia's breakfast. She didn't want her stepmother to discipline her. So, she dished out the delicious noodles and fried eggs onto a red flat plate.

Once Olima set it up on a white tray, she prepared to step out of the kitchen to serve it on the dining table in front of Mia.

Mrs. Gina sat there silently, knowing that she had to live with her guilt of killing her best friend and their husband.

'If only I had known, I should have agreed and signed the divorce document and left Leo when I still had the opportunity. Olima resembles her late mother, while Mia also looked like the late Mr. Leo Adams too,' Mrs. Gina grimaced, remembering how Leo used to care for Zoe at the dining table when he was still alive.

Mr. Leo usually spoon-fed Zoe in Gina's presence at the dining table. He pampered Zoe and showered her with love, before he sent Mrs. Gina away to live in the boys' quarters alone.

Mrs. Gina shut her eyes at the memory. She loved Mr. Leo so much and wanted him as her husband, but he despised her.

Mrs. Gina had no regrets, even though she knew she would go to jail and be killed. Her heart was frozen as she had killed the truck driver to hide her secret for life.

Mrs. Gina lived in the Emerson housing estate with her daughter and Olima, as the white villa was owned by Leo before he died.

Mrs. Gina feared what the news would be when it got out to the public.

Only the billionaires lived in the Emerson estate. Mrs. Gina was not ready to go to jail yet, and she sighed heavily, while Mia asked her, "Mom, what's the problem?"

"Hmm, nothing, Mia. I am fine. What's Olima still doing in that kitchen in serving your breakfast? Does she want me to storm into that kitchen and break her head?" Mrs. Gina questioned aloud, her anger boiling.

Olima swiftly rushed out of the kitchen after hearing her stepmother's statement.

Walking up to the dining table, Olima served Mia's breakfast while Mia adjusted her seat closer to the dining table to resume eating.

Olima moved aside, wondering if she could ask her stepmother about the need for her to resume with her tutorial classes. She wanted to further her education to become a nurse. So, she stood beside the dining table, meeting Mrs. Gina's irritated gaze at her.

"What do you stand there doing? I thought I asked you to leave here?" Mrs. Gina growled.

"I know, Ma. But..." Olima shuddered in fret and moved backward a little towards the kitchen door.

Mia smiled and finished the delicious cooked noodles and fried eggs on the dining table. She knew that she didn't know how to cook, and Olima was forced to learn how to cook by her mother.

Olima stopped beside the kitchen door and thought about trying her luck to plead with her stepmother on the need for her to resume her tutorial lessons.

"Ma... It's about my tutorial class for the university entrance examination this year that I have spoken to you about?" Olima began, shivering and fearing her stepmother's wrath.

Mrs. Gina stood up from her dining chair, moving it backwards harshly and yelling, "I told you that you aren't going to any university! How did you graduate as the best in your class when you cannot understand a simple English at home? Just get out of my sight now, before I give you another hot slap!"

Olima sadly went back to the kitchen door and stopped, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.