SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 11

How many lives have been harmed?

Julianna put a hand over her face. The mildly warm sunlight fell on her face. Everyone looked at her in a weird way; some with pity, some with sarcasm, and others with accusation. She could smell the evil behind their smiles and the way they gloated over her misfortune because she knew—she had become some sort of celebrity. She had made the headlines of a newspaper. Doesn’t that at least make her a celebrity?

She looked up and suddenly... she had no idea where she should go next.

She hugged her elbows and smiled. It was a smile coated with loneliness.

Julianna—an ugly duckling. Her father was not fond of her, and her mother did not love her. Nobody loved her bald head. She closed her eyes. They were extremely dry and badly aching. Though this time, she did not cry.

Because she knew that there would be bitter and tougher times lying in wait for her in the future.

Julianna would love herself even if no one was there to love her.

She was not aware that a privately owned black sedan had parked not far away from her. A male passenger sat inside the sedan. He had looked at the woman who was wandering aimlessly. He exhaled circles of smoke which turned into a fog, and it slightly blurred his features. Despite that, a dark, cruel look flashed in his overly penetrating gaze. It seemed to create a shade over the light.

He casually put the cigarette out with an icy smile on his thin lips.

“Start driving,” he instructed as he rolled the window down. They drove past Julianna. She remained oblivious and stayed in the same position.

When she returned to the Hanson villa, the maid, Susa, simply dumped a pile of clothes for her. She gave Susa an indifferent look, her eyes as clear as the day, which left the maid in shame.

Julianna smiled with indifference as she carried the pile of clothes and walked out. It was just laundry, but those clothes were not hers. Neither do they belong to Diego. It belonged to Susa—a maid.

She knew that Diego employed Susa as his way of humiliating her. Nothing else.

But she did not care because it was Diego.

She soaked her hands in the cold, icy water. Her fingers were frozen and were as cold as her heart. She bent down at the waist. There were frequent waves of pain stabbing at her stomach. However, she remained smiling. If one did not want to cry, the best way would be to smile.

She was no longer a complete woman.

Susa kept peering. As she turned around, she saw the calmness on Diego’s face. He was looking with no expression. She had no idea when he had stood behind her. He had witnessed her smirking at Julianna and her deliberate intentions.

“Master...” Susa gave a quick shudder as if she was a fallen leaf during an autumn breeze.

“You seem to have forgotten your status.” The words sounded like icy beads. For a moment, Susa felt her legs turn into jelly. His voice was chilly and combined with a face that looked aloof and somber; it would cause even a grown man to succumb under his radiating pressure. Moreover, she was a maid who had seen little of the world.

A cold draft was emitted from Diego as he walked past Susa, and it had caused the girl to pale. Devil. He was the devil.

Diego stood behind Julianna. He looked at her pair of hands that had swelled from the icy cold water. His face was expressionless. He did not attempt to stop her. He merely looked at her with indifference. He squinted his dark eyes—an impassable gloom.

Julianna put her hand against her stomach. There was cold sweat on her forehead. It hurts there.

She simply rested for a while. Then, she put her hands once again into the cold, icy water to continue with the laundry. However, it wasn’t her clothes.

A bigger hand suddenly grabbed at her own. She looked up, a pair of dark eyes that could absorb a man’s soul greeted her. It was so gloomy that she could no longer escape from his curse. As unfortunate as it was and as cruel as it seemed, she was resigned to that fate.

“You don’t want to live anymore?” His voice was extremely deep but his gaze landed on her stomach. Was she unaware that her uterus had suffered severe trauma? And that the one who had caused it was him?

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” She pulled her hands out of his grasp. She continued to put both of them into the cold water in a fit of anger. Or rather, it was more of being wronged?

Now he was accusing her.

“You can rest assured that I will not die. I know you are not done torturing me.”

She did not wish to sound like that, but she had said them out of anger. Regardless, those words still came out of her mouth even if she did not mean them. She was not usually that bold. She had gotten used to adversity. She had gotten used to days like that in the Roberto family. But today, she was done tolerating.

“Enough!” Diego’s dark eyes became darker. He suddenly grabbed her shoulders with both his hands. He could see the crystal-like tears forming on her bare face.

She had not cried when her mother beat her, nor did she cry when people bullied her. When she was in pain back then, she did not cry. But she started crying when he spoke about taking responsibility.

She was not a strong woman. She was not a block either. She had emotions and a heart.

They honestly thought she wouldn’t feel hurt?

Diego’s eyes were so dark that she almost lost herself in its depth. He suddenly lowered his head and firmly kissed the woman on her lips. His heart was actually aching for her as he looked at her in her pitiful state.

To his surprise, he could not tolerate her attitude to abandon herself to despair. He knew where she was going. Every action she did was completely under his control. She was bullied and beaten by the Roberto family. She wandered along the streets for several hours after that. When she returned to the mansion, she had to do the laundry. He had no idea what went through her mind. No idea at all.

He thought he would have felt happy or excited. However, he was wrong. He had experienced the thrill of exacting his revenge, but he also felt his heart ached.

Damn woman. He kissed her hard on the lips. The impact was so great that it might have worn her lips off. They could both taste blood between their lips. It had started bleeding when they met. Would it have ended with one of them dead?

Julianna could feel the surge of pressure between her lips. It was as though he had consumed her soul. She shook her head. She passively received his nearly frantic abuse.

He bit on her lip. After a long while, he finally released the woman. She could barely catch her breath.

“Do not make me angry the next time, woman.” He placed his finger on her lips. There was something hidden behind his dark eyes. She blinked in confusion and an indescribable cold shiver went down her body.

“Was what I said clear? You won’t be able to bear the consequences if you provoke me. If you want to live a decent life, listen well and be good.” He lightly patted her face. His voice might be mild, but it sounded cold and hard. Rather than calling it a warning, one might as well say it was a command or even a curse.

Julianna pursed her lips. She felt some discomfort. There were scars, deep and shallow, hidden under her eyes. Was this his way of showing her his concern?