SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 13

Diana was supposed to be the one alive while Julianna should be the one dead. Right. Some were born to be a princess while others were just redundant—like her.

She slowly lowered her eyes and placed her hand on her stomach. Her fingers tightened. It felt like it was snapping.

Hasn’t she paid enough? She lost the chance to be a mother! Wasn’t it enough?

Was it really enough? In fact, she was ridiculously wrong. She had a lot to pay, so much more that she could not even imagine.

She looked around. The place really resembled a prison. It not only imprisoned her body and everything she had, but even her soul was stuck there.

She lay down and coiled her body up. It was the only way she could feel herself alive. Her fingertips were already frozen.

She had no idea how long she had slept because she had awakened in the same position. It was dark outside. She was alone in the huge room and her only audience was herself.

She walked out of the room and turned on all the lights. She had long gotten used to that kind of life. There was nothing to be afraid of.

She sat on the sofa and began reading the day’s newspaper. After a glance, she felt her heart spasming. On the page was her husband—not anyone. He had one of his arms around a woman’s waist in an intimate fashion. Beneath the photo was others’ speculation as to when his wife would fall, be abandoned, and become his ex-wife.

She put the newspaper down. Her eyelashes fluttered. She was feeling slightly dizzy and lost under the milky white lighting.

As it turned out, he was perfectly capable of treating another woman well—except her.

She stood up and, all of a sudden, she could not tolerate the atmosphere in the room. It was stuffing and she couldn’t breathe. She locked herself up and stood with her back against the door. Despite that, she could not stop her anger. Her hand was clutching the chest part of her blouse as she lifted her head.

It was indeed agonizing.

Bitter.

Intolerable.

And endless pain.

She sprawled on the bed once more and buried her face in the blanket. No one could hear the sound of her suppressed cries that resounded from within the room.

A privately-owned black sedan was parked in the doorway. A man in a black suit emerged. It seemed that the suit perfectly blended into the night, as did the man himself. His lips were slightly pursed together.

He was a man who belonged to the darkness.

He fished his keys out. The card reader beeped and he walked in. All the lights inside had been turned on. His lips curled up a little in a more sarcastic way. He thought, “That woman is afraid of humans or ghosts?”

He removed his necktie, sat on the sofa, and casually picked up the newspaper on the table. His eyebrows raised ever so slightly. Another woman who did not know what was good for her. Would he, Diego, be manipulated that easily? She had only spent a few nights with him, but she thought that she could get into his good looks. With the exception of Diana, for only she could be his wife.

He callously crushed the newspaper. When he stood up, he noticed how quiet the room was. He opened the bedroom door. He had prepared everything here for Diana. However, the one who came was Julianna .

He smiled. The curve on his lips was as cold as ever.

He walked in and closed the door. He crossed his arms as he watched the woman sprawled on the bed. Was she waiting for him? He watched for a long time, and in that time, her silhouette was not within his sight. The look in his eyes was so dark and profound that he couldn’t tell whose memory had been imprinted on it.

He turned around and walked into the bathroom.

Julianna woke up, still groggy from sleep. She heard the sound of water and felt something familiar yet strange in the air. It was a calm, faint smell of cologne. She turned around and heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom. He had returned. But she was clueless as to how she should face him.

She wanted to see him and yet she was afraid to.

The door to the bathroom opened. She cowered out of instinct. The only two times that their bodies had united were the most intimate but also the most brutal. The only memory she had was the ripping pain and the truth about losing her ability to be a mother.

The pure masculine scent drifted over. She cowered even more.

Diego slightly lifted his brow. The woman was afraid of him.

He held her hand in a single grasp and pinned his body down on hers. But she never stopped shivering or cowering.

“Don’t you forget your status. You are to provide whenever I want it.” He gripped her slender wrists. It was so hard that it left bruises on her wrists. If he exerted more strength, it would break her wrists.

Julianna turned her face around. The smell of masculinity raided her face. Little goosebumps appeared on her skin—such sensitive skin.

He brushed his hand gently over her lower body. As he looked at her, there was a look of meekness and honesty on the woman’s face. She seemed so innocent, so pitiful. But no one knew that under such looks, lay such a vicious mind.

“P—please, let me go...” Julianna twisted her head towards him. She knew it was futile, but she kept begging him to stop hurting and tormenting her.

Rolls of translucent tears rolled down her pale face little by little. It flowed with the gradient of her face, and it landed on the pillow.

It was pathetic and helpless.

“You are my wife. I said this before, that you are to provide whenever I want. If you don’t give me what I want, I can always go to others.” Diego released her hand. Julianna could only rub the pain out of her wrists.

After that, she remained silent. She did not want him to go to other women. Her heart ached so badly from just looking at Diego hugging another woman. Just the thought of them behaving intimately caused her to have spasms of pain all over again.

He was indeed merciless. He knew exactly what to do to hurt her deeply.

“Do you love me?” Diego got up abruptly. He held Julianna ’s pointed and thick chin. He could see the looks of anguish and love that she had for him in her eyes. Perhaps she wanted to love but couldn’t, or maybe she was afraid to.

“Do you hate me?” He pinned her hands over her head once again. He then looked at the woman underneath him. His handsome and aloof face revealed nothing.

Was it hate? Julianna lightly shook her head. She knew she was cheap, but she had never hated him. She did not hate him because there was too much love.

“You love me that much?” Diego sneered. Something dark flashed in his eyes, but Julianna missed it.

He placed his huge palm on her face, and he could almost feel the soft trembling of her body. She didn’t hate him but feared him.

The scent of masculinity became stronger. She could only helplessly shut her eyes as the hands that had pinned her own above her head tightly clenched.

There was a light sensation on her lips, and it made her weak in her knees. It startled her, and so she stared at Diego in disbelief.

He was kissing her—oh so gently.

“Focus, woman.” He put his hands over her eyes to prevent her from seeing. However, the fluttering kisses he gave her all the more amplified.

Diego looked down at her. A sliver of iciness flashed across his eyes.

He adjusted his body over her, putting just an ample amount of weight on her—not too heavy and not too light. He let go of the hand covering her eyes, revealing a pair of extraordinary eyes.

Just like the new moon, her eyes were as clear and as bright. It occasionally shimmered, with a ripple of misty, pearly. More so, her sleek eyebrows and petite lips gave her a perpetual look. When he pulled away from her lips, she could only bite her lips again. It made her feel embarrassed and sad.

It was just a kiss—just a simple kiss—yet he ignited sparks of love and lust in her. It was so gentle she wanted to cry.

He could treat her cruelly, but please, he can’t be as gentle as he currently was because she couldn’t imagine the cruelty that would come after it.

Her eyelashes fluttered constantly and brightly. It was undeniable that the woman had skin as white and as pure as snow. Her bones were as slender as bamboo shoots. Everything was perfect, making even Diego, who was used to beauty, feel something different towards her.

Since she was his wife, she should fulfill his needs. To put it simply, she was but a maid in his house—a woman to warm his bed.

“Do you love me or not? Tell me!” He bit her petite earlobe and remotely looked at her. He wants her to be crazy over him and reveal her true ugly colors. Julianna slowly opened her eyes, eyes that looked as if someone had drowned her. She looked intently at the man in front of her, and his eyes were void of expression like usual.

“I love you... I really do...” Her lips lightly trembled. A transparent teardrop fell from the corner of her eye, and it was almost as if it pierced through Diego’s extremely cold and hardened heart. It made his black eyes narrow a little, but only just for a second.

But her un-regretful expression made Diego laugh, it was cruel and cold.

“You’re really sly.” His cold words made Julianna ’s face, which had just gained color, pale again. The cruelty that came after the gentleness made her feel miserable.

Julianna tightly clutched the bedsheets under her. Her face was deadly pale, with only a bitter smile barely hanging on her lips. It was heartbreaking.

She only bit her lips as she tried so hard to accept all of him, and it was all because she dearly loved him and only him. Even if he was heartless, even if he was cruel, she would still love him, regardless. She had forgotten how many years she had loved him.

He had no idea how much time had passed. Diego rolled off from Julianna ’s body because the woman had already fainted from his torture. He suddenly held his hand out but resisted his urge to touch her pure, snow-white face. He stood up and walked into the bathroom. He did not use protection as he had already taken away her right to conceive his child.

Under the hot water, the man’s features were more somber. He harshly reached his hand out to hit the wall, for he had taken pity on her. If not, he would have really torn her body apart again. He felt a strange desire, and it made his blood go cold.

No, that’s not it. He coldly laughed. He just didn’t want her to die so soon.

He put on his clothes and walked out. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the woman huddled on the corner of the bed. After a short silence, he walked over and covered her bruised and battered body with a blanket.

He did not like sharing a bed with a sick person, because he did not want to get infected.

He stood up. His lips curled up into a bland smile, but he raised his head to look at the picture hanging on the wall. The Diana in the picture was smiling so sweetly that it made his heart sting with endless hate and perpetual pain. If it wasn’t for her, his Diana would not be dead.

He walked out in big strides.

Julianna ’s eyelashes softly fluttered. A soft breeze passed through the curtains, blowing softly...

In the darkness, the man’s scent became closer and closer, then it grew farther, all in an instant.

“Little brother...” She reached her hand out.

The door closed at that moment.

When they interacted, they never knew how much they had let each other pass them by.

It was another morning. Julianna tiredly sat up. Her long lashes fluttered softly, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

She put her hand on the other half of the bed. The pillow had no sign of being slept upon, and the bed did not have its warmth. She bitterly laughed. What was she expecting? He didn’t even sleep there last night.