SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 10

He closed the door with a thud. Julianna ’s lips curled up into a smile as if she was having a sweet dream. But she would soon realize that after the sweet dream, came cruelty beyond her expectations.

After some time had passed, sunlight and natural warmth filled every corner of the room. But then, the door roughly opened.

“Madam, you really sleep a lot.” The voice was so noisy that it could burst Julianna ’s eardrums. Her eyelids fluttered open. She sat up and pursed her red lips.

“You really think you’re the madam.” It could be jealousy or something else, but the maid evidently had no hint of respect for her anymore.

More so, the master said they were of the same status in the mansion.

Hence, she could make her do whatever she wanted.

“Get back to work,” said the maid in a cold tone before she walked out. She couldn’t possibly clean this huge villa by herself!

Julianna slightly lowered her eyes as she stared at the maid's uniform. She picked it up and slipped on it. Indeed, she wasn’t a madam—she was less than a maid.

She was panting hard when she finished every single chore. She had to lean against the wall to support her tired self, while the maid, in the corner, was sitting down and leisurely eating an apple. To others, it would seem like the latter was the master, and Julianna was the servant instead.

She walked back to her own room. She did not wish to argue about it, not because she was scared, but because that is what he wanted. If this is what pleases him, then what is there to argue about?

She changed into a new set of clothes that she had just bought.

When she walked out, the maid was still on the sofa, watching the television like she was the master. Julianna did everything, so if she didn’t sit there, where would she sit?

“I’m going back to the Roberto family. You can tell Diego or do you want to come along?”

Julianna opened the door and stood in the doorway. She did not turn to look at the maid, but she softly said, “Diego hates me, but I am not a prisoner. Even if I owed Diego, I do not owe you anything.”

“You...” The maid abruptly stood up, but the sound of the door closing cut her short.

Julianna , how dare she? She was just a slut and even the maid appeared more innocent than her. She had no right to become the master’s wife. She could not even compare herself to a maid.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She suddenly sat down, her face contorted with jealousy.

...

Standing at the door of the Roberto family, Julianna briefly recalled the way she felt when she first arrived at the mansion. Just like before, she was scared, lonely, and helpless. She knew no one would welcome her back, yet she came anyway.

She walked in. When the people inside saw her, everyone gave her a dirty look. Yes, everyone thought she had caused her sister’s death just to marry Diego.

There was a mourning hall in the living room, and in the hall hung a black and white portrait of Diana . The young and living Diana was no longer around, only a photo of her lived on.

“What are you doing here?” She had just lifted her head when she received a slap on the face. She calmly looked at the woman standing in front of her. She could see the hatred in the woman’s eyes as clear as crystal.

“You are not welcome here. You are already Mrs. Hanson. What is your motive for coming back here? To mock Diana? Do you want her to turn in her grave and not find peace?”

This was the first time Julianna had witnessed Evelyn behaving aimlessly—no, this wasn’t the first time! She was already like this since before. In her heart, she only had one daughter, and that was Diana . To her, Julianna was her enemy.

This was her mother. The one who gave birth to her—her biological mother.

Evelyn took a step back as Julianna continued to stare at her. In her eyes, she could see a look of unfamiliarity mixed with faint sarcasm.

“Get out of here! I don’t want a vicious daughter like you! You have nothing to do with us, the RobertoFamily,” screamed Evelyn at the top of her lungs. She does not even know why she screamed like that. She only wanted Julianna to scram, so she could never see her again. Not even a glance!

Julianna simply smiled. She smiled with some self-mockery and bitterness. Tears shimmered in her eyes and under her long eyelashes.

“When have you treated me like your daughter?”

Julianna and Evelyn had similar features under mild indoor lighting. No one would doubt that they were mother and daughter. But in reality, they did not behave so.

How in the world could a mother treat her daughter in such a manner?

“What am I to you? A daughter or a tool?” She kept laughing and at the same time she cried. Evelyn did not have a vicious daughter, and neither did Julianna want a cruel mother like her.

“Why? All of you thought I had caused Diana’s death. Isn’t it true? If I was the one who died in the first place, all of you would be happy. You would jump out for joy, even! In your heart, could it be that Julianna can’t even compare herself to a strand of Diana ’s hair?”

Evelyn was at a loss for words with her rhetorical questions. If Julianna died, they might have shed some hypocritical tears. But if Diana really had caused her death, would they still blame her all the same?

So, Julianna ’s life was this worthless. With the slap, it had shattered all expectations and sentiments between the mother and daughter. She no longer knew why she had made her way back to the family mansion. Did she come to accept her mother’s slap? Or to clear up things?

Diana died. And Julianna ? She was also dead.

She turned around and left without the feeling of yearning. She might never return to that place again. Her own mother said she did not have a daughter like her. This place was never her home to begin with, anyway.

Evelyn had a big shock. She looked at her hand and only then did she realize what she had just done. She felt she had lost something—something permanent.

Roberto struggled as he looked at the doorway until the silhouette vanished from his sight. Finally, he walked over to his wife and held her.

“Evelyn, why did you do that?” He then turned to look at his own daughter’s photo. He was grateful that he had given his heart and soul to provide for her. But...

Julianna had been Evelyn ’s biological daughter after all.

“I was not wrong. She had caused Diana’s death. Diana would not be dead if not for her. She was only twenty years old.”

Evelyn held tightly to Roberto’s shirt. She was not wrong. She really wasn’t.

“Evelyn...” Roberto could only sigh. From the start until now, why was he able to look at Julianna with no hatred? But then, Diana was his daughter. How could he not know that she had always been a tyrant ever since she was young, and that she bullied her way through everything to get what she wanted?

Evelyn, on the other hand, thought the man was clueless. That was the only reason Julianna asked that it was Diana’s idea to drive that day. To say that Julianna caused Diana’s death, one might as well put the blame on the father.

But he was selfish. Diego had already married Julianna . She had taken everything away from Diana. And he couldn’t let Diana lose Diego.