Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rowan Vale 7

Posted by ADMINMMADMIN, ? Views, Released on December 18, 2025

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Briana gripped her phone tightly. “I understand,” she replied. “I’ll make sure to come to the hospital before the end of this week.”

“Alright, just make it as soon as you can,” the nurse said.

After hanging up, Briana rummaged through her handbag and finally found the surgery consent form.

She carefully tucked it inside the divorce agreement, lining up the edges so perfectly that even if someone looked closely or flipped through it a dozen times, they wouldn’t spot a thing. Only then did she let herself

relax.

Deep down, Briana told herself, “Tomorrow, I’ll bring it to Shepard for his signature. Given how much he hates me, he’ll just flip straight to the signature page and sign without even bothering to read the rest.’

By the time night had fallen, Briana used the address and private room number Liam had given her to make her way smoothly to the club.

The staff escorted her to the door of the private room. “This is it, ma’am,” he said.

“Thank you,” Briana replied.

Belaris was the country’s top economic powerhouse, a city where money flowed like water and temptation was everywhere. Briana had heard of the club before; just to get a seat here for one night, one had to drop at least 300 thousand.

It was clear that only the true heavyweights gathered here, the kind of people even Liam had to curry favor with.

For the Lane family, and to stand on her own two feet, there was no turning back for Briana now. She knocked on the door and stepped inside.

Inside, a few men about Liam’s age were hanging out. When Briana walked in, their eyes immediately lit

up.

“Well, well, when did we get a new girl?” one of them said with a smirk.

“She looks really pure,” another chimed in.

“The manager finally knows how to pick girls. At least this time he didn’t send us one of those cheap girls from the streets,” a third guy snickered.

Briana stood up straight and gave them a polite smile. “You’ve got it all wrong, gentlemen. I’m here to discuss a business partnership.”

“With a face like yours, you could make a living off your looks. Why bother with a real job?” one of them

teased.

“Agreed. Just name your price,” another chimed in.

1/4

Chapter 7

Briana’s smile was starting to crack; she could barely keep up the act.

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Liam just had to laugh along with them. “Well, I brought her here. I’ll ask her to drink a toast first.”

As he spoke, he gave Briana a meaningful look, but she didn’t budge.

“Can’t even have a drink with us? How are we supposed to talk business?” Liam glared at her. “You know the rules here. If you’re worried about your reputation, you’re in the wrong place.”

It wasn’t about pride for Briana. She just couldn’t drink. She was pregnant. Otherwise, she’d be downing shots with them without a second thought.

Handling people was Briana’s specialty. The only difference was, she used to deal with just Shepard, and now she had to face these big–shot clients. Honestly, Briana would much rather hustle in the business world than go back to being Shepard’s stay–at–home wife.

Briana bent down, sidestepped the wine bottles, and grabbed a glass of sparkling water. “It’s that time of the month for me. Hope you don’t mind if I toast with water instead,” she said politely.

Liam’s face darkened instantly. “Get out,” he snapped, pointing at the door. “Showing up here while you’re on your period? That’s just bad luck.”

These businessmen were superstitious. To them, seeing blood meant bad luck for their money. The other men all looked annoyed, too.

Briana bit her lip in frustration. She’d just made up an excuse to dodge the drinking, but totally forgot how touchy they were about stuff like this.

Briana thought, ‘What now? I could just walk out, but if I leave my proposal here, maybe one of these guys will actually pick it up and be interested.

But before Briana could even get the folder out, Liam was already on his feet, giving her a rough shove toward the door. “Get out, now!” he barked.

Briana stumbled back, crashing into a solid chest. Someone caught her by the shoulders, steadying her. “You alright?” he asked.

Turning around, she saw Henry. “Henry?” she said, unable to believe she’d run into him here.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He nodded. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here covering for my brother on this deal,” Briana said.

Henry got the picture right away. Charles couldn’t keep things afloat, so now Briana had to take the reins. He gave Liam a sharp look. “If you’ve got something to say, let’s keep it civil. No need for rough stuff.”

“Oh, Mr. Parker!” Liam flashed a greasy smile. “You’re absolutely right. Come on, have a seat. We’ve been waiting ages for you.”

As soon as Henry walked in, the other men all stood up to greet him, but Henry didn’t leave Briana’s side for a second.

“I’m backing her on this deal,” Henry said. “From now on, she’s my partner. If you run into her, do me a favor. Cut her some slack and help her out. I owe you one.”

2/4

Someone thought, ‘Wait, Mr. Parker’s backing her? Is he interested in her or something?‘ The men started glancing at each other, all clearly wondering the same thing.

Just then, the door to the private room swung open again.

“Who’s so important that even Mr. Parker has to show her some respect?” a lazy, mocking voice called out. “Let me see who it is.”

Briana turned around, and when the two’s eyes met, both of them froze in shock.

Eric, Shepard’s cousin, pulled the cigarette from his lips, blinked hard, and double–checked if he was seeing things. ‘Wait, isn’t that Briana? How did she end up here, serving drinks to these businessmen?‘ he thought.

But Eric knew the score. Shepard couldn’t care less about Briana, and he was head over heels for Vivian

anyway.

Eric cleared his throat. “She really does look pure and pretty. Who wouldn’t get a little dazed looking at her?”

With that, he walked over and sat down on the couch, pretending Briana was just another stranger in the

room.

Briana knew it was best not to acknowledge any connection with Eric. After all, she and Shepard were divorced now, and she was no longer part of the Carter family.

Liam flashed a sycophantic grin. “Mr. Carter, you’re here, too. This place is buzzing. Drinks are on me tonight.”

“I’m just tagging along for the fun,” Eric said, tossing a few peeled peanuts into his mouth. “Mostly just here to make sure Mr. Parker enjoys himself.”

Eric and Henry were close off the clock, always catching up and meeting up whenever they could.

Liam pointed at Briana. “Mr. Parker says he wants to team up with her. Mr. Carter, you sure you don’t want to persuade him?”

Charles’s reputation in Belaris was in the gutter. Anyone who got mixed up with him was just asking for bad luck. Sending a pure beauty like Briana to pitch business? Even if he sent a whole squad of pretty girls, nobody wanted anything to do with his deals.

Eric just kept munchin

on peanuts. Ever since Briana married Shepard, she’d pretty much disappeared from the scene, focusing all her energy on being the perfect wife. After a while, everyone knew Shepard was married, but hardly anyone had a clue what his wife was like.

Now, she was back in the spotlight, yet nobody even recognized her.

Eric replied, “Persuade him? No. Whatever she’s pitching, I’m in, too. I’ll partner up with her.”

The whole room was stunned. ‘Both Mr. Parker and Mr. Carter are interested in her? If she manages to get in with those two, her future would be golden, one of the men thought.

Briana was completely caught off guard. One moment, Eric was pretending not to know her, and the next, he was ready to team up. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She decided to grab the opportunity