Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rowan Vale 54

Chapter 54 

‘Crap,‘ Briana thought. 

But it was too late for her to stop him. 

Even if she ran now, there was no way she could catch up to Charles. 

Shepard’s brows furrowed as Vivian closed in on him. “Vivian?” 

‘What the hell is she trying to do?‘ he thought. 

Vivian stayed silent, relentlessly leaning in, her lips aiming straight for his. 

Shepard’s grip on her shoulder tightened, his knuckles turning white. 

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Vivian was so close that Shepard could feel her breath on his lips. Then, out of nowhere, someone grabbed him hard and yanked him away. 

Staggering back a few steps, Shepard turned to see who it was. 

Staring back at him was Charles, looking absolutely furious. 

Charles was drenched in the smell of booze, his face bright red. 

Before Shepard could even get a word out, Charles swung at him. 

Charles shouted, “Getting cozy with Vivian in public? Do you even give a damn about Briana? Have you ever respected her? 

“Briana must be out of her mind to fall for a scumbag like you. She wasted her youth on you and threw away her career for you.” 

Charles kept cursing, swinging another punch. “Shepard, you don’t deserve her. You don’t deserve a wife as amazing as Briana. You totally deserve to get played and jerked around by that fake innocent bitch.” 

Charles swung and missed. 

Shepard quickly dodged, his reflexes sharp. 

Without missing a beat, Shepard struck back. 

He seized Charles’s wrist, his eyes blazing with killing intent. 

Charles was the first guy who’d ever tried to throw hands with him. 

With one hand locked down, Charles didn’t even hesitate. He kept swinging with the other. 

He went all out, throwing punches and kicks like a madman. 

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Chapter 54 

Pumped up by booze and pure rage, Charles was way tougher than he ever was sober. 

For a moment, Shepard was actually on the back foot, forced to keep retreating. 

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Charles fought like a wild animal, fists and curses flying. “I’ve wanted to punch you for years,” he snarled. “You helped the Fletchers and cheated on Briana. I’ll beat you up today. 

“I thought you’d wake up one day, so I stood by you. I even told you right away when Briana lost the baby. And you? You were probably just glad it was gone.” 

Shepard’s face was grim, his expression cold as he kept silent. 

As Charles swung at him, Shepard ducked and then darted behind him in a flash. He wrapped his arm around Charles’s neck, locking him in a chokehold. 

The tables had turned. 

Charles was completely helpless now, his hands clawing desperately at Shepard’s arm, but he couldn’t budge it an inch. 

Shepard said coldly, “Do you want to die?” 

He kept tightening his hold, and Charles’s face grew more and more twisted in pain. 

“Charles,” Briana shouted, her voice trembling with panic. “Let him go. He’s going to suffocate.” 

Briana rushed over, her hair wild and her face white as a sheet. She wanted to help, but had no clue where to 

even start. 

Her hands hovered in the air for a second and then dropped helplessly to her sides. “Shepard, let Charles go.” 

Shepard’s eyes were dark and dangerous. “Do you really think that’s possible?” 

He commanded a kind of wary deference. No one ever stepped out of line around him. People were always meticulously polite, careful to show the utmost respect. 

But Charles just punched him, as if he was throwing down the gauntlet, challenging Shepard’s dominance. 

Nobody had ever laid a hand on Shepard before. 

That punch landed hard, and there was a nasty bruise forming at the corner of his mouth. 

This was far from over. 

“He’s drunk,” Briana stammered, her voice trembling. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He… he…” 

But it was obvious that her excuse wasn’t going to cut it. 

The clear, unspoken thought in Briana’s mind was that Shepard had absolutely asked for this. 

It was a nice punch. 

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Chapter 54 

But she bit her tongue and held back. 

She couldn’t risk stirring the pot any further. 

Provoking Shepard was a one–way ticket to disaster. 

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Charles let out a choked gasp, desperately trying to breathe, his lips turning a scary shade of purple. 

“Shepard,” Briana cried out, panic rising in her voice, “if you don’t let go, he’s really going to suffocate.” 

Seeing that Shepard still had no intention of letting go, Briana threw caution to the wind. 

She rushed up and grabbed at Shepard’s arm, trying with all her strength to pry him off Charles. 

Her nails dug into Shepard’s flesh, leaving deep marks behind. 

But it didn’t make any difference. 

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, “Shepard, Charles is my only brother, my last family. Do you really want to make me an orphan, all alone in this world?” 

Even when Charles was a total mess, partying nonstop, blowing through the family fortune, and always hitting her up for money, she never gave up on him. 

She just wished he’d get his act together, so she tried to keep her distance. 

Now that Charles was finally turning his life around, working hard with Henry and Eric, Briana was even more protective of him. 

Besides, he only started this fight because he was trying to defend her honor. 

Briana’s eyes were brimming with tears. 

Shepard stared at her. 

He could barely remember ever seeing her cry. 

She maintained an image of gentle composure, her smile constant and her manner poised. Even when wounded, she never betrayed a hint of it. 

Right then, the sight of her tears landed like a blow, heavy and direct, in the center of his chest. 

Shepard’s grip slowly loosened. 

Charles finally managed to catch his breath, the pain fading from his face. His legs went weak and he dropped to his knees with a thud. 

It was like he’d just come back from the brink, barely escaping death itself. 

“Charles, Charles.” Briana crouched down next to him, her voice trembling with worry. “Are you alright? Can you breathe?” 

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Chapter 54 

Charles kept coughing, waving her off as he slowly started to catch his breath. 

Just as he was about to speak, someone stepped into view. 

Vivian walked over. 

She gave Charles and Briana a quick glance, and then made a beeline for Shepard. 

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“You’re hurt, Shep,” Vivian murmured, her worried eyes on his face. Her thumb traced the edge of the bruise at his mouth. “Charles never knows his own strength. This won’t fade fast. 

“Does he have serious anger issues or something? Last time he threw a bottle at David, and now he’s coming at 

you. 

Good thing there was nothing nearby for him to grab, or who knows what kind of mess we’d be in.” 

Shepard’s eyes narrowed. “He wouldn’t dare.” 

“He’ll do anything. He just keeps getting away with it because Briana’s always there to cover for him,” Vivian said, giving Charles a hard look as he lay on the ground. “Shep, you shouldn’t have gone easy on him.” 

Briana snapped back, “Vivian, quit making things worse.” 

‘Does she think this isn’t messy enough?‘ she thought. 

But Vivian shot back, “I’m just telling the truth, Briana. You’re playing favorites and it’s so obvious.” 

“Playing favorites?” Briana pointed at herself, genuinely confused. 

Vivian nodded. “Exactly. When Charles was winning, you stood by and watched. You didn’t lift a finger to help Shep. But the moment Shep gained control, you conveniently stepped in. 

“You wanted to see Shep take a beating, didn’t you? You might as well have handed Charles the first punch.” 

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