SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 6

Flashback.

She thought that was all there was to her life. Her family would continue to control everything about her, including her life and her marriage. She did not realize she was wrong until she saw him on that day.

“Sister, look. This is my boyfriend.” Julianna smiled so sweetly. He looked matured and introverted. And with the hand-made tailored suit with a matching shirt that he was wearing, he stood among the crowd with an air of exceptional grandeur.

He was exceptionally handsome. Aristocracy was written all over his face and one could not help but notice a domineering edge about him. There was depth in his long, narrow gaze, almost as if it was extremely invasive.

Julianna felt a little finger tug tightly at her heart.

“Little Brother...”

She could recognize him with one look. He was the one who told her to wait for his return. Her little brother. He had changed, he has now become a big brother. She almost couldn’t recognize him, but somehow she still did.

“Mmm.” The man nodded in Julianna ’s direction with indifference before he turned away. He moved his hand towards Diana and caressed her hair. Finally, he rested his hand on the amulet that hung around her neck. His eyes glimmered with a faint look of warmth.

The corner of his lips finally curled up but he did not see the bitter pain in Julianna ’s eyes.

“Little Brother, did you know that? I was the one who had been relentlessly looking for you?”

But, this time, no one would have believed her.

“Sister, this is Diego and also my Brother .” Diana said happily while she rested her head possessively on Diego’s arm.

At this point, Diego’s look turned from extremely grouchy to a gentle one which not many had seen before.

“Let’s go.” Diego took Diana ’s hand and walked into the Roberto household. They did not pause as they passed by Julianna , not even a step. The girl could only look and feel dumb as they passed. For a moment, her heart started to shatter.

She balled her hands into a tight grip. The faint sunlight touched her cheeks and she managed to smile slightly, albeit that smile was sad and full of misery.

Roberto was very satisfied with Diego. He had expressed his motive very directly and clearly to him. Diego wanted to marry Diana . He was determined to have things his way. Diego thought he might have been a bit arrogant but, he had the means and the position to behave like that.

The heir to the Roberto family business to match his beloved daughter. It was not a shabby arrangement for them at all.

Julianna stared at Diego, feeling all numb all over. No one knew that she was trying her very best not to cry on the spot.

She walked back to her room. She would forever be an outsider in this family. If it was possible, she would rather go back to a tough life with her mother.

From then on, Diego became a regular visitor at the Roberto household. She had wanted to approach him many times, to tell him that she was the one who he had made a promise to. But every time she was on the verge of telling him, she was incapable of doing it.

For she knew—she knew that as aloof as he was, he had fallen completely head over heels to Diana . It was just a promise made when they were just children—true love—but Julianna could never compare it to Diana .

She closed the door and recollected her emotions. She locked herself in her narrow and tiny room.

The door opened at this moment but she maintained the same posture. Her hands were around her kneecaps, tightly hugging them. She stared outside without any emotion, but in her face, her fragility had fallen apart.

She was made of flesh and blood. She was not a block of wood. She could feel ache and pain.

“Julianna...” A woman’s voice rang in her ears. It sounded unreal. She turned her head and found herself standing face to face with Evelyn. She had no idea when her mother had come in.

This was her mother but she had forgotten when was the last time she had called her mother. It had been so long ago.

She straightened herself. She hid the unyielding look, which was not often seen, under her long eyelashes.

“Julianna, Diego belongs to Diana.” Evelyn issued this warning the moment she opened her mouth. That shook Julianna out of her daze in a split second. She had been very careful and yet, her mother had managed to see through her.

“Julianna, you should know your status. You do not deserve Diego. So, do not think about him and don’t hurt your sister.” Evelyn caressed Julianna ’s hair with both hands. That gesture had instead caused Julianna ’s body to shudder over and over again.

Status right, Diego would be the future CEO of a huge company while she would forever be an orphan, one who lived under other people’s roof. She had a home that was not hers. She had a mother who belonged to another.

“I know.” A faintly discernible voice came out which quickly crushed the air. It didn’t seem to sound like her though.

“Julianna, one must learn to be grateful. Your father gave us the life that we have now. He provided for you, allowing you to go to school and clothes to wear. Otherwise, the two of us, mother and daughter, would be living out on the streets.”

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