SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 17

“I’m sorry,” she absentmindedly apologized and forcibly wiped her tears away until her face turned red.

She dared not move him, dared not even touch him.

Her fingers tightened into a fist and loosened. Finally, she put her small hand on his face.

“I have no regrets about marrying you. No matter how cruel you treat me,” she said with her hand on his face. She realized she was tearing up again. She quickly turned her face away while something rolled from her eyes.

“I don’t—seriously no regrets.” She shook her head. “But did you know?” There was an undeniable sadness in her voice. “I have no regrets, but I’m afraid that one day I will stop loving you, and you will no longer be in here.” She rested her hand over her chest. “I already have forgotten how it felt like when I first started loving you.”

She sniffed. She sobbed for a while before removing her hand and retreating into her corner. This was her whole world—her lonely world.

She was not aware that Diego had opened his eyes. He was deep in his thoughts, and his lips curled up.

He suddenly placed a hand over his face. No one should know what had gone through his mind as he squinted. Even the darkness could not hide his brute aggressiveness. He rubbed his face hard again, as if trying to wipe the invisible germs away.

Rays of light landed on the man’s face in the dark. In the partial darkness, a thought flashed in his eyes.

...

Julianna held a rag in her hand and stood at the window with half her body hanging off. She looked out from the second story of the villa. It was not that high, but from where she was, she could feel waves of dizziness in her head. She quickly held onto the window and moved her body out of the way.

She abruptly stopped what she was doing and looked down once more. Now, her bright eyes were slightly misty. Would one die from a fall at such a height? Would it be liberating?

Julianna at that moment was serious about trying. If she died, would anyone cry for her? Or...

A sneer?

“What are you doing?” a man roared all of a sudden. Julianna hastily grabbed the window. She almost allowed herself to fall over, but then something powerful grabbed her—so powerful that it almost crushed her bones.

“What were you doing? Thinking of dying?” Diego said in fury. His eyes looked angry. Was it worrying? Or what?

“You saw me. I was wiping the window,” Julianna replied plainly as she looked up. He looked angry enough to swallow her whole. However, she did not believe he was worried about her.

“Which bloody i***t asked you to do this?” The man had lost his poise. He was enraged, as if he wanted to eat her up.

“Have you forgotten that it was you?” She watched him lay his hands on her shoulders. Her voice mocked him, and the tone was laced with sarcasm.

His fingers relaxed. While Susa stood aside and cowered. In fact, she really wished Julianna fell.

“Relax. I won’t commit suicide.” Julianna struggled out of his grasp, and so he loosened his hold. She picked up the rag and continued to wipe the other windows. “I won’t die. If I die, you have no one to exact your revenge with.” She said with indifference, lacing her voice as if she was resigned to her fate. She was mocking someone else and yet hurting herself at the same time.

She couldn’t deny that what he felt for her was hate. Nothing further.

“Enough!” he growled as he put his hands down. “Do you find joy in going against me? Have you ever thought of begging me?” This woman really had a stubborn streak about her. Why can’t she beg him? Why?

“Beg you?” Julianna could only smile. It was such a half-hearted effort that the corners of her lips curled weakly. “Have you forgotten? I tried begging you but you never relented. So, why should I? For what?”

She turned around and left him with a view of her back.

Beg, would it do any good?

Beg, would he have let her off?

Diego ’s eyes turned a few shades darker, as if someone had taken all the light out of them—it was scary and infinite.

“That’s enough, Julianna .” He repeated and then closed his eyes. When they opened once more, he had calmed his emotions. The moment he saw Susa, who had cowered at the side, he stopped in his tracks and issued her a cold and hard warning. “If you ever let her do these chores in the future, I will skin you alive.”

Susa nodded, dumbfounded as she thought to herself, “I thought you said to let her do everything? How come she does not have to do anything now?”

Julianna simply lowered her head slightly as she put both her hands on her stomach. Through the full-length windows, she could see the man leaving, followed by the departure of a black sedan.

She stood there for a long time, like a mannequin with a porcelain white face. No matter how much sunlight fell, it would not warm up.

She had locked herself in the bedroom again. What was she supposed to do if she was not a maid?

...