the queen of kezia

Aneta Alvarendra, the mother of Kezia Angelina Alvarendra, was currently playing inside their grand and luxurious mansion together with Abian Alvarendra, who was also Kezia’s older brother. Bian and Kezia were only one year apart. While they were having fun, suddenly the mansion door was knocked. A servant opened it, and there came Mr. Jovan Alvarendra, the head of the Alvarendra family. But he didn’t come alone; he brought a woman and a child who was the same age as Kezia. “Dad, who are they?” asked Aneta. “Oh, I found them on the street being beaten up by some thugs, so I brought them,” Jovan answered, his expression unchanged, the same face he wore every day. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Jessica, and this is my daughter, Vanesa,” said Adara as she introduced herself, bowing politely. “All right, please come in. Make yourselves at home,” said Aneta warmly. Without knowing what would happen in the future, Aneta welcomed Adara and Vanesa into her mansion with open arms. But who would have thought that deep inside Adara’s heart, there was a hidden intention to take the Alvarendra family’s wealth. “Just wait and see what I’ll do to steal your wealth,” Adara thought with a sly smile, a smile so faint that neither Jovan nor Aneta noticed it. Weeks passed, and Adara and Vanesa lived in the Alvarendra residence. Adara acted like a housemaid to repay Aneta’s kindness—at least that’s what she said back then. Kezia had disliked Adara and Vanesa from the very beginning, but she could only remain silent. Even if she protested, her parents wouldn’t understand her anyway. One day, Jovan was at the office, while Bian was sleeping peacefully in his room. Now Aneta, Kezia, Adara, and Vanesa were relaxing in the family room. Aneta, who felt tired, went to her room to rest. But unexpectedly, Adara followed her into the room, though Aneta didn’t know what she was planning to do. “Adara, what is it?” asked Aneta after entering the room, turning her body to face Adara who was now standing right behind her. Without answering, Adara grabbed a fruit knife from the table and stabbed it straight into Aneta’s stomach. Aneta was shocked and didn’t expect it, holding her stomach and staring at Adara before collapsing and closing her eyes. Kezia, who saw Adara stabbing her mommy, screamed and asked for help. Coincidentally, Jovan had just arrived from work. Hearing Kezia’s terrified scream, he ran upstairs toward the source of the sound. “Mommy!” Kezia cried, rushing to Aneta who was already on the floor with blood flowing, no longer in Kezia’s embrace. “What did you do to my mommy?!” Kezia yelled at Adara, who stood staring down at Aneta. Jovan entered the room, followed by Bian and Vanesa. Jovan saw Aneta lying lifeless with Kezia crying beside her. They were shocked—his wife was covered in blood. Seeing Jovan enter, Adara quickly crouched down, pretending to match Kezia who was holding onto Aneta. “Kezia, why is Mommy like this?” Jovan asked, approaching Kezia. “She killed Mommy!” Kezia screamed, pointing at Adara who was right in front of her. “No, no, sir, I didn’t do it. Aneta wanted to peel some fruit, but she slipped and the knife hit her stomach,” Adara lied with fake tears—her acting was almost flawless. “Liar! I saw her stab Mommy!” Kezia shot back, pointing at Adara. “No! I’m not lying, it was purely an accident,” Adara insisted, forcing more tears to flow. “Who taught you to lie, Kezia?!” Jovan yelled slightly, making Kezia feel as if her heart was hit by a violent wave. What? Her father was accusing her of lying? What child would lie to protect an outsider who clearly killed her mother? Was she crazy? Of course not. “I’m not lying! She’s the one lying!” Kezia shouted back, unable to understand what her father was thinking. But Jovan slapped Kezia hard across the face, making her fall to the floor. “Great, this will make it easier for me to get your wealth,” Adara thought with a wicked smile—terrifying like a bloodthirsty psychopath, though she wasn’t a real psychopath, just a greedy woman hungry for wealth and power. Aneta was buried properly, and everyone returned to the mansion. Kezia didn’t speak a single word to her father; she was truly heartbroken by how normal he acted. Until the day Jovan married Adara. “Kids, from now on, call her mommy, okay?” Jovan ordered his children, his hand on Adara’s shoulder. Bian nodded, but Kezia refused strongly. “She’s not my mommy. My mommy is gone because of her, and I will never consider her my mommy,” Kezia rejected sharply, refusing to look at Adara or Jovan, both of whom she now saw as her enemies—especially Adara, whom she glared at like a demon. “Kezia! How many times have I told you, it was purely an accident!” Jovan snapped angrily. “No murderer ever admits anything,” Kezia replied with her signature smirk she had developed from a young age. Unexpectedly, Bian slapped Kezia’s cheek, making her shed tears. Her older brother, the one who was supposed to protect her, had hurt her both physically and emotionally. “You slapped me? You don’t believe me, and now you slapped me?” Kezia said, trying so hard to hold back her tears. But sadly, the tears she tried to suppress escaped anyway. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to,” Bian apologized, regretting his actions. But Kezia ran to her room, ignoring everyone. Her heart was shattered—losing her mother, her father didn’t believe her, and now even her brother didn’t believe her. Bian felt extremely guilty, but he didn’t know who to believe. On one side was his father who deserved to be happy with a woman who could replace their late mother, and in his eyes, Adara seemed like a good woman. On the other side was Kezia.