Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rwan Vale 194

Chapter 194 

Briana smiled warmly, “Okay.” 

Now, she was free of worries and could devote herself to her art and to managing Dreamscape Corporation Gallery 

She put Charles in charge of Dreamscape Corporation and only dropped by from time to time. 

Becoming an entrepreneur was never Briana’s dream. 

She wanted to be a painter. 

Someday, she wanted to sling her sketchbook over her shoulder and wander wherever inspiration took her, painting outdoors, exploring mountains and rivers, and living completely carefree. 

That was the life she dreamed of. 

Briana stared at Beneath the Waves, then glanced at the date, her mind racing. 

‘I can’t afford to waste any more time,‘ she thought to herself. 

In the Carter Estate, deep into the night, all was quiet. But the light in the study was still on. 

From time to time, Shepard’s cough broke the silence in the room. 

Each cough was louder than the one before. 

His coughs were coming more and more frequently. 

Daniel came in with a cup of water and some medicine, setting them down on the desk. 

“Mr. Carter,” Daniel said, “you’ve had this cold and cough for over a week now, and it’s still not getting any better. You really should go to the hospital.” 

“The family doctor already checked me out and gave me medicine,” Shepard said, his voice rough as he coughed again. 

“But you’re still coughing, and it’s even worse at night. If you keep putting it off, you could end up with pneumonia,” Daniel pressed. 

Shepard waved him off. “I’m not that fragile.” 

He picked up the medicine and downed it in one go. 

It tasted bitter, so he chased it with a sip of water. 

Then he turned back to his computer, getting back to work. 

Daniel sighed, “It’s almost midnight, Mr. Carter. You really should get some rest.” 

Shepard didn’t respond at all, just kept silent. 

Daniel tried again. “Mr. Carter, you really need to take care of your health.” 

“Get out,” Shepard snapped, his tone icy and impatient. 

The faint blue glow from the computer screen threw his face into a cold blue shadow, making him look even more stone- 

Chapter 194 

faced. 

Daniel had no choice but to turn and leave. 

Ever since Briana moved out of Carter Estate, Shepard had turned into a total workaholic. 

He was at the office all day, then holed up in his study at night, often not making it to his bedroom until the early hours. 

Sometimes, he didn’t even bother coming home and just crashed at the office. 

With him being sick and pushing himself so hard, it was only a matter of time before his body gave out. 

It was only a matter of time before he completely broke down. 

Daniel didn’t even allow himself to rest. He instructed the staff to stay on alert outside the study and to notify him immediately if anything unusual happened. 

The study was quiet as a tomb, the silence broken only by Shepard’s coughing every now and then. 

It wasn’t until 2 a.m. that Shepard finally stepped out of his study. 

He kept coughing as he made his way toward the master bedroom. 

His throat itched worse than ever. Shepard covered his mouth with his fist, tasting that iron–sweet tang in his mouth. 

He snatched a tissue and pressed it to his mouth. 

When he pulled it away, there was a smear of fresh blood on the tissue. 

He was coughing up blood. 

Shepard frowned deeply. 

But Shepard quickly convinced himself it was nothing serious, just a busted capillary from coughing too hard. 

Just a minor thing,’ he reassured himself. 

After freshening up, Shepard collapsed into bed. 

He was dead tired, but his mind was annoyingly alert. 

Sleep just wouldn’t come. 

This had been going on for what felt like forever, and he had no clue how to break the cycle. 

His bed felt way too empty without her. 

His heart felt just as hollow. 

Shepard grabbed his phone and tapped open his chat with Briana, 

Countless nights, he’d gone over their chat history again and again, but he just couldn’t stop. 

He just couldn’t help wanting to read them one more time. And then another. 

Then he tapped over to her Instagram. 

But all he saw was just a single dash. 

Chapter 194 

Suddenly, he was instantly wide awake, every nerve on edge. 

What does this mean?‘ Shepard wondered. ‘Did she block me? Or delete me? 

His hand shook as he gripped his phone. 

Is she really this ruthless?‘ he muttered, his voice hoarse. ‘She even blocked me from seeing her posts? I could still see her posts this afternoon. But now, it’s all gone.’ 

After thinking it over, Shepard went back to their chat, picked out an emoji, and got ready to send it. 

But his thumb paused above the send button, unsure what to do next. 

‘It’s so late. She’s probably already asleep, he thought. ‘What if she hasn’t blocked me, and I end up waking her up? And if she did block me, what am I supposed to do then?‘ 

Shepard’s head was pounding, and the dizziness just kept getting worse. 

He closed his eyes, tossed his phone onto the pillow, and let out a long, weary sigh. 

Slowly, he drifted off to sleep. 

But he barely slept at all; he kept waking up coughing, only to fall back asleep again. 

The whole night felt like an eternity of torment. 

Shepard was already awake before seven. 

His body was burning up, and his throat was painfully dry. 

He took a sip of water, but when he set the glass down, he wasn’t paying attention and didn’t hold it steady. It slipped and hit the floor with a sharp crack. 

It shattered into four or five pieces. 

Right away, a maid’s voice called from outside the door. “Mr. Carter, are you awake?” 

“Yes,” he answered quietly. 

“I’m coming in,” the maid said. “Did something break? I’ll clean it up right away.” 

“Come in.” Shepard got up and stepped into his closet. 

When he came back out, the maid had already tossed the broken pieces in the trash and placed a new glass of water on the table. 

He was tying his tie as he headed out. 

“Mr. Carter,” the maid said, her voice full of surprise and concern, are you running a fever?” 

He paused, caught off guard. 

‘A fever?‘ he thought, a little stunned. 

He hadn’t even considered that. 

Shepard put his hand to his forehead. 

The moment he touched it, he was surprised by how hot it was. 

14:58 Fri, Jan 9 G 

Chapter 194 

VIRA 

It was burning up. 

He just figured it was because the room was stuffy and he’d been coughing so much, with his throat all dry. He didn’t think much of it. 

“I’ll go get a thermometer,” the maid said. “Just wait a second.” 

She came back quickly with the thermometer. 

Daniel followed right behind her. 

They took his temperature. 

It was 102.2 F! 

“Oh my god,” Daniel sucked in a breath. “Mr. Carter, with a fever this high, you really need to get to the hospital.” 

Shepard frowned and checked the time on his phone. 

“I’ve got two meetings this morning, a client to see in the afternoon, and I need to go inspect the site,” he said. “I’ll deal with it when I get home tonight. Maybe the fever will be gone by then.” 

He just brushed it off and headed straight for the door. 

Daniel looked worried. “Mr. Carter, are you really going to wait until you actually collapse before you go to the hospital? Even iron wears down eventually; you can’t keep running yourself into the ground like this.” 

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “Collapse? That’s not going to happen. As long as I take my meds, I’ll be fine.” 

He’d been taking his medicine, and he’d already seen the doctor. 

As for the fever? “Just get me some cooling patches,” Shepard said. “And some fever meds.” 

Daniel knew there was no use trying to convince him, so he just let it go and stayed silent. 

Shepard headed downstairs. 

He hadn’t slept well at all last night, half–awake, half–asleep, coughing every few minutes, and Briana kept running through his mind over and over. 

‘Did she really cut me off?‘ he wondered. 

7 

1 

* 

Shepard set his jaw, pulled out his phone, and couldn’t help but check Briana’s Instagram again. 

For a split second, everything went fuzzy, and the whole world spun around him. 

He quickly grabbed onto the stair railing to steady himself. 

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