Billionaire's Admirable Bride

Chapter 2

On a bright Monday morning, Mrs. Gina woke up in her bedroom on the top floor of the mansion. It was the first room given to her when she got married to Mr. Leo, and two months before he sent her away to live in the boys-quarters apartment alone.

Mrs. Gina sat on the bed, stretching her arms as she looked around the room. Her gaze landed on the clock, seeing that it was 7am.

Mrs. Gina carefully got out of the bed, placing her legs down from the bed, and feeling like the madam of the house.

"How time flies," she murmured, wearing her slippers that were beside her bed. She adjusted her white nightgown and exited the room, going downstairs to the living room.

Mrs. Gina was now a 39-year-old woman. She sighed, knowing that it was school resumption day, and her 14-year-old daughter, Mia, was going back to college.

Mrs. Gina arrived in the living room and paused beside the stairs. She looked around the exquisite living room and black couches, seeing that Olima had swept the house clean.

A satisfactory smile etched on the corner of Mrs. Gina's lips, as she intended to deal with Olima.

Just then, Olima came out of the kitchen behind Mrs. Gina's back and greeted her, "Good morning, mother."

Mrs. Gina's blood boiled hot, her anger skyrocketed as she heard Olima call her mother.

She hastily turned to face Olima and landed a hot slap on Olima's left cheek.

[SLAP!]

Olima was wearing a light blue nightgown, and she hadn't expected her stepmother to rush to grab her arm and slap her hard across the face.

"How many times have I warned you never to call me mother again? Do I resemble your late mother?" Mrs. Gina questioned with anger laced in her voice, and Olima burst out in tears and apologized, "I'm sorry, ma..."

The hot slap had reverberated around the living room and even stunned Mia who stood by the stairs.

"Shut up! And keep your sorry to your stupid self. Have you prepared my daughter's breakfast?" Mrs. Gina asked, glaring at Olima as she hated to see Olima's pretty fair-skinned face that was a constant reminder of the late Mrs. Zoe.

Olima stuttered and replied, "Yes... ma."

"Hmm," Mrs. Gina glared at Olima and stared at her palms that she had used to hold Olima by her shoulder.

She pushed Olima aside and sniffed her palms. Her eyes narrowed at Olima, as she marched into the kitchen to wash her hands.

Olima's brown eyes welled with tears as she cried, while Mia carefully walked out to the balcony, and she slowly descended the stairs.

Mia saw how her mother treated Olima poorly, but she didn't care. She didn't like Olima either.

Mia stepped downstairs into the living room, and she was dressed in her blue school uniform, white stockings, and black shoes. She clutched her school bag and moved over to the dining table to have her breakfast.

Mia was in senior class one, and she knew that her mother hated Olima deeply. She never showed it to Olima that she hated her too. She was black-skinned like their late father and resembled the late Mr. Leo, while Olima was very fair-skinned and resembled her own mother.

Mia disliked the fact that when her father was alive, he never acknowledged her mother. He doted on Olima and Mrs. Zoe so much that he never cared for Mrs. Gina.

Mia attended a day-school while Olima was in boarding school. She knew that Olima was the apple of their late father's eyes, while she and her mother were seen as outcasts.

Mia frowned and walked toward the dining table to have her seat. She was not ready to say sorry to Olima too.

Mia knew that after her father had passed away, her mother had sent the former housemaids away with the disguise that there was no money to pay the maids' salary anymore. Then she mandated for Olima to become their full-time housemaid, with Olima's complete withdrawal from her tutorial classes.

Mia knew that her mother even tore the admission form into any university, stating that Olima wasn't going to any university but would remain as her lifetime housemaid.

Mia stared away from Olima's pretty teary face, as she knew that Olima enjoyed all the luxury of their father's wealth while her mother suffered from rejection.

Her mother lived in the boys-quarters apartment for fourteen years while Olima and her mother lived in the mansion, driving all the cars, and her mother had only one small black car.

Olima silently cried, while Mrs. Gina got out of the kitchen and looked at her.

Mrs. Gina had finished washing her hands off Olima's fruity scent, as Olima smelled like apple, a reminder of Mrs. Zoe's scent too.

Mrs. Gina paused in the living room and questioned Olima with anger, "What are you doing there? Haven't you prepared breakfast yet, or do you want my precious daughter to be late for school today?"

"No, Ma. I have prepared Mia's noodles," Olima shakily replied, moving away from Mrs. Gina.

"Then go into the kitchen and serve it out at once. Are you planning on starving my daughter to death?" Mrs. Gina growled. "Do you want Mia to be late for school?"

"No, Ma," Olima replied.

"Then get lost into the kitchen now and serve her breakfast quickly, as this is almost 7:30am," Mrs. Gina yelled, and Olima darted into the kitchen.

Mrs. Gina's black eyes burned coals behind Olima's back, as she disliked Olima.

*If only Olima didn't resemble her mother,* Mrs. Gina thought about her former childhood best friend before they grew into adults. She had never thought she would be the cause of Zoe's demise.

Zoe was a kind-hearted woman, and sometimes Mrs. Gina wished she had peacefully signed the divorce papers and left them. But she let her anger get the better side of her. Now, she was going to live with the guilt or risk going to jail.

Mrs. Gina moved over to the dining table to have her seat, and Mia asked her, "Mom... Is everything okay?"

Mia saw that her mother looked worried.

Mrs. Gina sighed and sat across from Mia. She looked at her daughter's face and saw that Mia also resembled Mr. Leo. A constant reminder of her grievous sin.

"I am fine," Mrs. Gina said, as she sat on the chair across from Mia.

"It can never be okay with that stupid witch living in this house with us." Mrs. Gina grimaced, remembering how her late husband usually sat across from her on the dining table, and he would be feeding Mrs. Zoe to her lips in her presence too.

Mrs. Gina shook her head, trying not to remember her past. Her face twisted in irritation at the remembrance, and Mia asked again, "Mom, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mia," Mrs. Gina replied. "What is taking Olima so long to serve your breakfast in that kitchen? Does she want me to storm into that kitchen and deal with her?"

Olima hastily walked out from the kitchen, carrying a tray of hot noodles and fried eggs in her hands. She walked faster to the dining table to serve Mia's breakfast.

The hot noodles were kept in a smaller plate, and fried eggs were laid on top of it.

Olima firmly held the white tray and walked to serve the meal on the table and in front of Mia.

The delicious aroma of the noodles and fried eggs made Mia smile and sit up properly on her chair. She collected the tray of noodles from Olima's hand and scooted her chair closer to the dining table to ravish her meal.

Mia didn't know how to cook, but she knew that Olima was forced to learn how to cook by her mother shortly after Mrs. Gina took over the mansion and sent the maids away.

"Get out of here! Or what are you still doing here and staring at?" Mrs. Gina queried Olima with anger.

Olima shuddered and moved away from the dining room, as she knew that her stepmother disliked her.

She wished that her parents were around. She wished they hadn't driven in the same car to her school.

Olima had graduated as the best in her science department. She was given a scholarship which she turned down because her father was a billionaire and he had other plans for her.

Presently, her stepmother had refused to let her further her education, with the excuse that there was no money. However, Mia was going back to college after the long term holiday.

Mia was in the second term of her first year in a senior class, and Olima was still at home.

Olima briskly walked a bit to the kitchen door and stopped. She turned to stare at her stepmother seated at the dining table, as she wanted to speak with her stepmother again. She wanted to tell her that she needed to write the university entrance examination and to gain admission into any university, even the cheapest institution in their state. She wanted to study nursing.

Olima walked back towards the dining room and stopped, while Mia finished the delicious noodles and fried eggs, since she knew that her school bus would soon arrive.

Olima stopped and pleaded with her stepmother with a trembling body. "Ma..."

Mrs. Gina turned and glared at Olima. She met with Olima's big brown eyes and asked, "What is it? I thought I asked you to leave here?"

Mrs. Gina shifted her chair backwards and stood up, while Olima took some steps backward and pleaded with a shaky voice, "Ma... it's about my university entrance examination that I spoke to you about..."

"And I told you that you're not going to any university, Olima. Don't you understand simple English? How did you graduate as the best in your class when you couldn't even understand simple English at home? Just get out of my sight now before I give you another slap!" Mrs. Gina shouted, and Olima hastily ran away to the kitchen door and stopped.