Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rwan Vale 185

Posted by ADMINMMADMIN, ? Views, Released on January 9, 2026

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“I have to make sure you’re truly, truly happy before I can let you go.” Shepard said, his voice low and serious.

Shepard wasn’t the type to talk much, and he was never good with words.

But facing Briana, he opened up and said more than he ever had before, laying his heart bare.

But Briana didn’t take in a single word; she just brushed it off, thinking he was full of it.

“Why are you saying so much? I just want one answer,” Briana said, staring deep into his deep eyes. “Are we getting divorced or not?”

“We can get divorced,” Shepard said, his voice hesitant.

“It’s either yes or no. What do you mean?” Briana pressed, not letting up.

“I need to be sure you’ll be better off after the divorce,” Shepard replied quietly. “Otherwise, it would do you no good at all.”

Briana shook her head softly. “No, Shepard. Only by leaving you can I truly start over.”

She knew exactly how much she stood to gain by staying his wife.

Shepard’s guilt, the Carter family’s sense of owing her all that would be her leverage for the rest of her life.

With the Carter family behind her, anything she wanted would come with ease.

But if she got divorced, she’d have nothing left.

But honestly, what did Briana even want with all that stuff?

Riches and status were here today, gone tomorrow, just things outside herself that didn’t really matter.

What she truly longed for was an ordinary, steady kind of happiness.

“That’s it, then,” Briana said quietly. “Shepard, you promised you’d let me go.”

“Briana,” Shepard murmured.

“I’ll be okay. I’ll live my life with this baby and with Henry’s words in my heart,” Briana said, blinking back tears. “He made me promise, with his dying breath, that I’d keep living. How could I let him down?”

Her hand gently rested on her belly.

Henry had accepted this child as his own before he passed, so to Briana, this baby would always be his.

Shepard would never know that he was actually the father of this child.

*****

Three days later, the Parker family held Henry’s funeral.

Briana was turned away at the gate.

She wasn’t allowed in, so all she could do was stand outside and watch the funeral from afar.

She stood tall and unyielding, dressed in black with a white flower pinned to her chest, her eyes locked on Henry’s photo.

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Chapter 185

“Mrs. Carter, you should go,” the butler said coldly. “We don’t want you here.”

“I’m not going in. I’ll just stay right here,” Briana replied.

“That’s not happening,” the butler said, his tone firm. “The Parker family never wants you around.”

Briana didn’t say another word, simply clasping her hands in front of her.

A gentle breeze lifted the hair by her ear, and she tucked it back behind her ear.

The butler looked at her with disgust and hatred.

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“This woman ruined Henry’s life!‘ the butler thought, resentment flooding his chest. ‘Henry was such a good man, and now he’s gone. Such a shame.’

The funeral music lingered in the air, distant and heavy.

“Honestly, I think he would’ve wanted to see me,” Briana said, her eyes rimmed with red. “He needed to know I was safe before he could finally let go.”

“Can’t I at least say goodbye to him one last time?” she whispered. “If he were still alive, and if only-”

Briana couldn’t go on.

She lowered her head, gently wiped the corners of her eyes, and moved off to the side.

As she glanced up, she spotted Shepard standing beneath a tree in the distance.

His gaze was locked on her.

He wore black as well, a white flower pinned to his chest.

Briana’s gaze slid right past him, like he wasn’t even there.

Before long, a light drizzle began to fall.

Shepard came over with a black umbrella, angling it so Briana was completely covered.

Half of him was getting soaked in the rain.

He didn’t say a word about going home. He just stood there, quietly holding the umbrella for her, staying by her side.

He knew that even if she couldn’t get in, she’d stay here as long as she had to.

“Why not tell the Parker family you’re pregnant with Henry’s baby?” Shepard said in a low voice. “Maybe they’d cut you some slack because of the kid.”

Briana shot him a fierce glare. “None of this is your concern.”

“I’m just giving you a suggestion,” Shepard replied quietly.

Shepard’s heart twisted for her.

He did everything he could to make her happy, always walking on eggshells around her, but anyone from the Parker family could just throw shade, roll their eyes, or show her the door like she was nothing.

He couldn’t bear it.

“I don’t need it,” Briana said coldly. “Shepard, just staying away from me is the biggest help you can give.”

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Chapter 185

“You really don’t want to see me, do you?” Shepard asked quietly.

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“Yes” Briana nodded, her voice sharp with anger. “I hate you. I hate that you always let Vivian get away with everything, and I hate that you always showed up too late. Shepard, I hate you so much!”

“Honestly, I wish it were me instead,” Shepard said, locking eyes with her. “If it were my funeral. I’d let you in. let you say goodbye. But I keep wondering, would you even care if I was gone?”

Briana shot back without a second thought, “No. Shepard, if you died, I wouldn’t cry for you, not even one tear

Before the words had even faded, she reached out and smacked the umbrella right out of his hand.

The black umbrella fell to the ground.

Rain started to fall, soaking through their black clothes.

Briana turned away, keeping her eyes locked on the funeral.

A dense crowd was lining up, each person offering flowers to Henry.

She clenched the flower in her hand.

Briana’s eyes were on Henry, while Shepard’s were on Briana.

Love never lined up the way one wanted it to.

The rain soaked Briana’s lashes, blurring her vision.

The rain started to come down harder.

Shepard bent down, picked up the umbrella, and held it over her head again.

He wouldn’t budge, no matter how much she yelled or tried to drive him off.

He just had to stay with Briana. He couldn’t stop worrying about her.

After the funeral, Kolson cradled Henry’s ashes as he got into the car, heading for the cemetery.

The sky was so gloomy and overcast that it felt like night was falling, even though it was only two in the afternoon.

Briana followed quietly from a distance, refusing to leave, no matter what.

It wasn’t until Henry was laid to rest and the crowd had finally dispersed that Briana walked up to the grave.

She stood quietly before the newly erected tombstone.

There was a black–and–white photo of Henry on the headstone.

He was smiling, his face gentle and warm, like he’d never known sadness or pain.

“Henry, I’m here to say goodbye,” Briana whispered, her voice barely above a breath.

She reached out, her fingertips brushing gently over the photo, tracing his face again and again.

Then she knelt down in front of the tombstone.

“I used to go visit my parents at the cemetery all the time. They were the closest people to me, but they were gone, and that was the only way I could see them.