Chapter !
Chapter 1
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By the time Briana Lane got home, night had already fallen. She pushed open the master bedroom door and saw men’s clothes and a belt tossed carelessly across the bed. The sound of running water echoed from the bathroom.
Shepard Carter was in the shower. Briana lowered her gaze, staring at the pregnancy test report in her hand. It was positive, and she was carrying twins.
When the doctor confirmed it, Briana’s first thought was, maybe the babies could keep Shepard by her side and save her fragile marriage. But then, the doctor told her one of the embryos didn’t have at heartbeat and would have to be removed.
Briana immediately said she wanted to have that embryo removed and do everything to protect the healthy one. But she was told that the procedure required both her and Shepard’s signatures. She couldn’t decide on her own.
Suddenly, the bathroom door creaked open, and Shepard emerged with just a towel around his waist. His hair was still damp, water dripping down his skin. His physique–broad shoulders, tapered waist, carved muscles–was pure, predatory attraction. He radiated an aura of raw appeal.
He walked right past Briana like she wasn’t even there, heading straight for the closet to grab his pajamas. In his eyes, she was never worthy of any attention.
Briana was used to the cold treatment. She trailed after him, her heart sinking. “I need to talk to you.”
“I need to talk to you, too,” Shepard said, his voice cold and emotionless, keeping his distance.
Briana gripped the pregnancy report tightly, biting her lip. “You go first.”
Shepard didn’t hesitate. “Vivian’s coming back.”
Briana swayed on her feet as she thought, “The woman he loves most is coming back. Guess there’s no room for me in his life anymore.
“So,” Shepard added and turned his head, his gaze sharp and cold, “Briana, you know what needs to happen.”
After five years of marriage, Briana still couldn’t warm Shepard’s heart. She heard herself ask, “Between me and her, will you always choose her?”
Shepard’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Do you really think you’re even worthy of being compared to
Vivian?”
Briana’s face turned pale. “What did I do that was so unforgivable for you to hate me this much?” Her eyelashes trembled. “Shepard, I’m your lawfully wedded wife.”
Shepard replied coldly, “You know exactly how you became my wife, and you know even better how you wormed your way into my bed.”
Shepard was always quiet around Briana. He specialized in the silent treatment, and his true mastery was subtler, causing her a slow, emotional death by a thousand cuts.
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13:04 Thu, 18 Dec TAG.
Chapter 1
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But whenever their marriage was mentioned, his eyes would flash with contempt, and he would angrily accuse her of stealing the spot that was meant for Vivian Fletcher.
Briana took a deep breath. “The engagement was set up when we were kids. As for how I ended up in your bed, I honestly have no idea.”
After the wedding, Shepard never laid a finger on Briana, and her belly stayed flat. Evelyn, Shepard’s grandmother, grew frantic and, through some mysterious means, managed to force the two of them into sharing a bed at last.
Briana only remembered waking up completely naked in Shepard’s arms. The moment he opened his eyes, he wrapped his hand around her throat, furious. No matter how desperately she tried to explain, he refused to believe a word she said.
That was the night she got pregnant, and it only took that one time. ‘I must be ridiculously fertile,” she mused.
Shepard gave a cold, dismissive snort as he pulled on his silk pajamas, his voice low and frosty. “Didn’t you say you had something to tell me?”
He passed by Briana and noticed the paper she was clutching, but he only gave it a fleeting glance, not caring in the slightest. He walked over to the window, lit a cigarette, and let it dangle between his fingers.
Briana looked at his back. “If we were to have a child, then—”
Losing patience, Shepard cut her off, “Briana, you’re really trying to use a kid to trap me now? Sleeping with me wasn’t enough for you, and you’re getting greedy, huh? I can’t believe I never saw how scheming you really are.”
He flicked the ash off his cigarette. “For five years, you’ve been playing the dutiful wife. Now you can’t keep up the act and finally show your true colors, huh?”
Briana forced herself to keep it together, her voice barely steady as she asked her final question. “Because you hate me, you’ll hate any child I have for you, too, right?”
“Yes,” Shepard answered without hesitation.
Briana felt her heart breaking, piece by piece. Her devotion to love in her entire youth and the five years of marriage was wiped out. Their story, from childhood sweethearts to husband and wife, turned out to be a hollow joke that she alone had kept alive.
His hatred for her would extend to the children they might have. His love for Vivian, however, was a different story. For years, it had paved the way for the Fletcher family to get everything they wanted, making them a powerhouse in Belaris.
Briana finally understood. She raised the pregnancy report in her hand, took a steady breath, and said, “Shepard, here’s the divorce agreement.”
Shepard paused, turning to look at her. For once, he was actually caught off guard because she was the one asking for a divorce.
“I’m letting go. I don’t want to love you anymore,” she said. “The terms are already written up. I was about to hand them over to you, but…”
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Chapter 1
Iriana stopped muid sentence, and then out of nowhere, started ripping the pregnome report to dreds, the sound of tearing paper billing the bedroom
Shepard howned, thinking, Te she losing it?
Briana shredded the report and tossed the pieces into the air, letting the scraps rain down all over the
Shepard narrowed his eyes. “Changed your mind? Don’t want a divorce anymore?
“No” Briana replied. “I want to change the terms. I’ll draw up a new agreement”
“What do you want?” Shepard asked.
“Money,” Briana replied.
She wanted a lot of money, enough for her and her child to be set for life. No way was the walking out with nothing. She owed Shepard nothing, Instead, she deserved the money,
When it came to love or marriage, Briana knew she’d given him everything she had. If it were just her, she wouldn’t care about money at all, but she was pregnant.
Shepard would never know that Briana was tearing up the proof that he was ever the father of her child.
All she needed was for Shepard to sign both the divorce agreement and the surgery consent form, without ever letting him know she was carrying his babies.
One of them didn’t have a heartbeat. As a mother, hearing that felt like her heart was being ripped apart, but she had to tough it out alone.
Shepard’s face was full of contempt as he snorted, “Briana, once you get your money, you’d better just get lost for good.”
“And another thing,” he added, his tone icy, “make sure you tell the family it’s your idea to end things.”
Briana nodded, “Okay”
She was just going along with it, only asking for cash and not making any other demands. Shepard was actually surprised. He’d expected her to make a scene, and maybe even go off on him. But she was weirdly calm, almost like she didn’t care at all.
Shepard thought, ‘Something’s off Annoyance bubbled up inside him, but he took a few drags from his cigarette, trying to tamp it down. “Don’t try anything funny.”
Honestly, after five years, Shepard was almost starting to find Briana tolerable. She was actually flawless as his wife. She was the whole package.
Out in public, she always looked put–together and knew how to work a crowd, keeping everyone happy. At home, she was sweet and never talked back, keeping the place running like clockwork
But then, Shepard found her manipulating things so they finally spent the night together, forcing the overdue wedding night after five years. That was when his disgust for her hit an all–time low, because he had no way to explain things to Vivian anymore.
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Chapter 1
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“Just say it. What else do you want? Shepard stubbed out his cigarette, sounding impatient. “Spit it out.”
Briana held up one finger. “This is my last and only request.”
Shepard let out a cold snort. “I knew it”
He thought, ‘No way she’s letting me off that easily. She’s about to pull something
Briana blinked, staring at the man she’d loved for years. She’d been by his side from their school days all the way to wedding vows, watching him grow from a boy to a man.
Now he ruled his world, always in control, but she was never the one he saw, never the one he cared about. She thought, I should’ve known. Loving someone who won’t love you back is doomed from the start.
She said, “Shepard, let’s have some cake together. Let’s celebrate five years of marriage.”
Shepard was caught off guard. Today’s our anniversary? he wondered.
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