Chapter 2

On a bright Monday morning, Mrs Gina Adams, a 39-year-old woman, woke up in her upstairs bedroom. It was the first room given to her when she initially married Mr Leo Adams. She yawned, stretched as she sat up carefully on the bed, and looked around her bedroom, feeling like the madam of the house again.

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

Mrs Gina was wearing a long white nightgown. She put on the slippers beside the bed, knowing it was the first day of school term and her 14-year-old daughter, Mia Adams, was returning to college. The time was 7 a.m. sharp, according to her room clock. Mrs. Gina went downstairs to inspect the house and see if Olima had finished sweeping and mopping the entire mansion so it looked clean.

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

Mrs. Gina walked to the dining table to sit and wait for her daughter to come out for breakfast, just before the school bus arrived.

Just then, Olima came out of the kitchen and saw her stepmother in the dining room. She stepped out to check if Mia was ready to have her breakfast. Seeing her stepmother in the dining room, Olima quickly greeted the older woman, "Good morning, Ma."

Mrs Gina swiftly turned to face Olima, her blood boiling at hearing Olima call her "Mother." She rushed up to Olima and landed a hot, resounding slap on Olima's left cheek. [SLAP!]

"How many times have I warned you never to call me mother again in this house? Do I look like your late mother?" Mrs Gina demanded angrily, glaring at Olima.

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

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

Mrs Gina hated Olima's scent, as Olima smelled like apple. She immediately went into the kitchen to wash her hands of Olima's fruity scent, feeling irritated to be reminded of the late Mrs Zoe. Olima looked like her late mother and smelled like her late mother's scent too, and Mrs Gina hated that.

Mia was standing on the balcony upstairs and saw when her mother gripped Olima by the shoulders and landed a hot, resounding slap on her left cheek. As the sound of the slap echoed around the living room and shocked Mia, as she had just stepped out and was walking downstairs.

Mia knew her mother hated Olima, because she had enjoyed the luxury of their late parents' wealth. Mia also knew how her late father had loved Olima and the late Mrs Zoe, while neglecting her own mother.

Similarly, Mia was wearing a blue school uniform with white stockings and black shoes, carrying her black school bag on her shoulder. She carefully descended the living room stairs, as she was already preparing to go to school and her school bus would soon arrive.

Mia was not ready to apologise to Olima, so she looked away and walked over to one of the dining room chairs to sit down and have her breakfast. Mia was a dark-skinned 14-year-old girl, while Olima was 17.

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

Mia had also witnessed how her late father had treated her mother, and she was not happy with how her mother had been treated as inferior, while Olima and her late mother were treated with great care.

Olima was the apple of their father's eye when he was alive.

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

Olima's brown eyes filled with hot tears as Mrs Gina yelled at her, "What are you standing there doing?" “Haven’t you prepared Mia’s breakfast yet? My friend, get into the kitchen and dish it out now, before I break your head!”

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

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

Mrs Gina grimaced as she remembered when Mr Leo was still alive; he would feed Mrs Zoe in front of her and pamper Mrs Zoe in the dining chair across from her whenever they had breakfast and dinner in the dining room, before she was sent to live outside the mansion.

Mrs. Gina wished she had peacefully signed the divorce papers and left when Mr Leo had offered her a divorce after her first quarrel with Mrs Zoe. But she stubbornly refused to leave, as she loved Mr Leo so much and wanted him as her husband too. Now she had killed the truck driver to hide her secret for life, as they were living in the Emerson Estate, where the billionaire families live, and she was not ready to go to jail yet.

Mrs Gina sighed heavily, and Mia asked her, “Mum, what is the problem?” Mrs Gina replied, “Nothing, Mia, I am fine.” "What is Olima still doing in that kitchen? Does she want me to storm in there and knock some sense into her?"

Olima quickly stepped out of the kitchen, walked to the dining table, and served Mia's breakfast while Mia adjusted her seat closer to the table.

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

Olima remained beside the dining table. Mrs Gina glared at her and asked, "Why are you still standing there? Did I not ask you to leave?" Olima shuddered with fear and stepped back a little, while Mia continued eating the delicious noodles and eggs at the table.

Mia knew she could not cook, and Olima had been forced to learn by her mother.

Olima paused by the kitchen door, deciding to try her luck and plead with her stepmother about resuming her tutorial classes. She spoke, "Ma... it is about my university entrance examination form that I have spoken to you about."

Mrs Gina stood up abruptly, pushing the chair back as she left the seat and said, "And I told you, you are not going to any stupid university, Olima! How did you graduate as the best in your class and pass your examinations when you cannot understand simple English at home?" "Just get out of my sight now, before I give you another slap!" Mrs Gina warned. Olima quickly ran towards the kitchen door and stopped.