Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rwan Vale 210

Chapter 210 

Briana had to find Charles and give him a piece of her mind. 

She thought, ‘He’s really turning his back on his own family for Shepard. 

‘And what did Shepard give him to get him eating out of his hand so fast?‘ 

Instead of heading to the gallery, Briana set up her drawing board by the window and sat there. 

She was waiting for Charles to come home. 

‘If he’s got the guts, he can just stay out all night,‘ she thought. 

Her phone suddenly buzzed with a call from an unknown number. 

Briana picked up. “Hello? Who’s this?” 

“Hi, it’s the delivery guy. Could you come sign for your order? I’m at the front gate,” the voice on the other end said. 

Briana blinked. ‘Delivery? 

‘But I didn’t order anything! 

“Are you sure you’ve got the right place?” Briana asked, holding her phone. “Can you check the house number again?” 

“Are you Ms. Lane?” the delivery guy asked. 

“Yes,” Briana replied. 

“Alright, then it’s yours,” the delivery guy said. 

Briana was totally confused. ‘Who sent me a delivery? And what exactly is it?‘ she wondered. 

When she reached the front gate, it turned out to be a stunning bouquet of flowers. 

Ninety–nine blue roses. 

Briana just stood there, staring at the breathtaking bouquet, her mind blank with shock. 

There was a small card tucked into the bouquet. 

It simply read: [Wishing you happiness every day.] 

Just that. No name, no clue who sent it. 

“Ms. Lane,” the security guard asked, “do you want me to help you bring these in?” 

“Yes, thank you,” Briana said. 

Briana nodded, but inside, she was still completely baffled. She had no idea who on earth would send her flowers like this. 

No one was trying to date her, anyway. 

Around here in Belaris, no one had the guts to hit on her. Everybody knew she was Shepard’s wife, and she was about to be 

his ex, too. 

The security guard carried the bouquet into the living room and set it down exactly where Briana asked. 

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“Hey, these flowers are really pretty,” the maid said, beaming as she caught sight of them. “Ms. Lane, I bet these are from Mr. Carter, right?” 

It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. 

Suddenly, it all made sense to Briana. 

She thought, ‘Of course, it could only be Shepard! 

‘He’s really going all in now, clingy, shameless, trying every trick in the book. 

‘Five years, and not once have I gotten even a single bouquet from Shepard. 

‘And now, out of the blue, I get ninety–nine roses from him. 

‘Humph. So now he decides to act all loving? Spare me. I couldn’t care less. It’s not even worth my 

attention. 

Now, no matter how Briana looked at that bouquet, all she felt was irritation. 

Just as she was about to tell the maid to throw them out, footsteps and whistling echoed from the entryway. 

Charles was home. 

Charles had no clue Briana was home. He was feeling on top of the world, humming a tune and whistling, just taking it easy and enjoying himself. 

Then, he glanced up. 

“Yikes!” Charles nearly jumped out of his skin. “Briana, why are you still here?” he asked, awkwardly chuckling. 

Still talking, Charles started edging backward, hoping to sneak out when Briana wasn’t looking. 

“Stop right there,” Briana said. “I’ve been waiting for you.” 

“Why are you waiting for me? Seriously, I’m totally fine now, nothing wrong at all. Come on, Briana, don’t worry about me. I’m tough as nails,” Charles said. 

Briana snorted. “Save it. Don’t try to play dumb. You know exactly what you did.” 

“I… Huh?” Charles was in the middle of talking when he suddenly noticed the flowers. “Oh, these must be from Shepard, right? Gotta say, the guy’s got style. His taste is spot on.” 

He gave a thumbs–up. 

Briana was so mad that she stormed over and gave him a hard pinch. 

“Ouch! That hurts,” Charles yelped. 

Briana’s anger didn’t fade at all. She pinched him even harder. “Seriously, what happened to you? Where’s that spirit you had. when you stood up to Shepard for me? Where’s all that backbone now?” 

“Hey, that was then, and this is now!” Charles said, trying to play it off. 

“You totally got bought off by Shepard!” Briana shot back. 

Charles shook his head. “Seriously, I didn’t take anything. But Shepard genuinely bailed me out of a ton of messes. Briana, Eric roped me into all these investments, and every single one tanked… 

“If it weren’t for Shepard, you’d probably have to visit me behind bars.” 

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Briana raised her hand, holding it in the air for a long moment. 

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“Shepard probably told you about it, but you don’t really know the details, do you?” Charles continued. “Honestly, it was rough. Without him, I’d be finished. And for something that big, he never once tried to take credit in front of you. 

“After all he’s done for me, if I didn’t have his back… what 

kind of 

person 

would I be?” 

Briana lowered her hand. “So, you’re really siding with him now, trying to help him get me back?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way,” Charles said. “I just think maybe you two aren’t finished yet. There could still be something there.” 

“Not a chance,” Briana shot back. 

“Come on, with a kid in the mix, how could you two ever really cut ties for good?” Charles said. 

Briana was at a loss for words. 

After about ten seconds, she bit down and forced out, “So he really wants to let everyone know I’m still pregnant, huh? Just put it out there for the whole world to see?” 

“No way,” Charles said, shaking his head. “If he’d really spread the word, do you honestly think Grandma wouldn’t have come looking for you? 

“Do you think the Carter family would just sit on their hands and do nothing? Do you really think—” 

Before Charles could finish, a familiar, elderly voice called out from the entryway, “Pregnant? Who’s pregnant? Briana, are you pregnant?” 

Wrenley was standing there, leaning on her cane, staring at Briana in surprise. No one had noticed when she’d come in. 

Then her eyes drifted down to Briana’s abdomen. 

Both Charles and Briana just stood there, stunned into silence. 

Charles quickly smacked his own mouth. “Whoa, Briana, don’t look at me. I swear I didn’t spill the beans. This is just a total fluke, I promise.” 

Wrenley hurried over, leaning on her cane, practically storming up to Briana in a rush. 

“Answer me, Briana,” Wrenley said, her voice urgent. “Was what your brother just said true?” 

Briana let out a long, weary sigh. 

‘Whatever you fear most always finds a way to happen,‘ she thought. 

“Grandma, you just showed up out of nowhere and didn’t even give us a heads–up,” Briana said, helping Wrenley over to the couch. “Come on, have a seat.” 

Wrenley squeezed her hand, her voice sharp. “Just tell me, are you really pregnant? Is it Shepard’s baby? Or don’t tell me it’s some other guy’s?” 

“Grandma, who else could be the father? Briana’s not the type to mess around,” Charles muttered. 

Briana shot him a glare. 

He just shrugged. 

Since Wrenley already heard it all, there was no point pretending anymore. 

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Wrenley was both thrilled and surprised, her eyes wide with joy. “You two are having a baby? Then you should really stick together! Briana, you kept this under wraps so well. 

“If I hadn’t just happened to overhear, were you really planning to keep it from me forever? 

“Oh, right, you know in the first three months you’re not supposed to go around telling people. It’s an old rule. It’s bad luck to talk about it too soon. But we’re family, so just keep it quiet for now, alright?” 

Briana listened to all this, her head spinning. 

They just took it for granted that now she was having a baby, she and Shepard were stuck together for good. 

She thought, ‘Why can’t I just do this on my own? 

“There’s nothing wrong with being a single mom. 

‘If anything, it takes real courage. 

‘Courage to leave a broken marriage behind, and to cut off a relationship that is just sucking the life out of me. 

Before Briana could say anything, Wrenley’s sharp eyes caught sight of the bouquet sitting in the corner. 

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