Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rwan Vale 58

That sentence hit Shepard like a hammer, snapping him out of his emotional meltdown. 

He froze, every movement coming to a halt. 

‘Sure enough, I just have to bring up Vivian and it works every time, Briana thought. 

She took a deep breath and shoved him hard. 

Her lips were stained with his blood. 

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Briana glared at him. “You love Vivian and want to marry her. For five years, you wouldn’t even touch me, just so you could stay loyal to her, to prove she’s the only one you ever cared about. 

“Shepard, what does this even mean? We’re divorced. I don’t owe you anything as your wife anymore, and you have no right to just grab me or kiss me whenever you want.” 

Briana’s voice echoed down the hallway. 

Shepard lowered his head, the bruise and blood at the corner of his mouth standing out starkly. 

Now, his mind was finally starting to clear. 

Shepard thought, ‘What the hell am I doing? I just forced myself on Briana. How could I do something like that? Just to see if she still cared about me? 

‘To find out if my kiss would make her heart race, if she’d actually fall for me again? What a joke. Why the hell do I even need to prove any of this? 

‘Briana is the woman I hate most and I can’t get rid of her for five damn years of marriage. 

‘Now that I’ve finally managed to shake Briana off, I find myself secretly wishing she won’t just leave without a 

care.‘ 

Shepard shook his head hard. 

He thought, frustration boiling over inside him, ‘Am I freaking crazy or what? 

‘Briana’s messed with my head so many times. I can’t even think straight.‘ 

Shepard threw a punch at Briana, his fist coming down with furious force. 

Briana’s eyes went wide with fear. She was too stunned to move. 

But his fist crashed into the wall, just inches from her ear. 

“Get lost,” Shepard spat, his voice cold and menacing. His lips barely parted, but his words were as chilling as a demon from hell. 

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He kept his gaze lowered, hiding whatever emotion flickered in his eyes from Briana. 

“Briana, get lost. Get as far away from me as possible. Do you hear me?” Shepard thundered, his voice reverberating down the hallway. 

Briana gritted her teeth, spun around, and marched straight toward the guest room. 

Her steps faltered a bit, but she didn’t let it slow her down. 

Briana shoved the guest room door open, walked in without a second thought, and slammed it shut behind her. 

She locked the door right away. 

Even though her hand was shaking, she still managed to turn the key. 

With a soft click, the lock slid into place, shutting out the world outside. 

Briana let out a long breath, slumped against the door, her legs buckling as she slid down to the floor. 

Her lips stung. She couldn’t tell if it was from wiping them too hard, or if it was Shepard being way too rough. 

Since they got married, this was only the second time Shepard had kissed her. 

It was nothing like those days filled with sweet, rosy dreams when they were crazy about each other. 

All that was left between them was repulsion, defiance, and nothing but hate. 

Briana used to love Shepard, but now, all that love had twisted into hate. 

She hated him for letting her down, for ignoring her, for crushing every hope and dream she’d ever had about what marriage could be. 

If they’d really loved each other, marriage should’ve been even better than just dating. 

They were supposed to build a life together, stick by each other, grow old together, and spend forever side by 

side. 

“Stop thinking about it,” Briana muttered to herself, shaking her head. “The Shepard I loved died in that fire. The man who came out alive belongs to Vivian now.” 

She glanced down at her stomach, remembering the baby growing inside her. “Ever since he said he hated the child I was carrying, that’s when I gave up on him.” 

Briana struggled to her feet and made her way to the bathroom. 

***** 

The next day, as soon as the alarm went off, Briana was up and out of bed. 

She was worried that if she overslept, Tiffany would come upstairs to wake her and realize she was in the 

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guest room, 

But when she came downstairs, she was surprised to see Shepard sitting on the living room couch, holding a cigarette between his fingers. 

Smoke drifted lazily in the air. The whole Carter Estate was dead silent, not a single sound anywhere. The atmosphere was tense and stifling. 

Briana thought, feeling like something was off, ‘Did something happen? Why is Shepard up so early? Did he have a rough night or something?‘ 

Briana hesitated, slowing her steps as she headed downstairs. 

But Shepard looked up at her. 

He took a slow drag and exhaled, bluish–white smoke curling around him, blurring his features. 

Briana knew Shepard well. He hardly ever smoked, and if he did, it was only when something major bothered him. 

“You’re up,” he said, his voice low and a little rough. 

“Yeah,” Briana replied. “You’re up early too.” 

“I got woken up by a call,” he replied. 

Briana just nodded and then asked offhand, “Work stuff?” 

“It was Grandma,” Shepard said. 

Suddenly, a bad feeling crept over Briana. 

Shepard flicked the ash off his cigarette. “Grandma called early this morning. She wanted us to head over to the Carter residence.” 

“Right now?” Briana asked, surprised. “Did she say what it was about?” 

He slouched back on the couch, paused for a few seconds, dodged her question, and asked instead, “How did you sleep last night?” 

Briana replied without hesitation, “I slept soundly.” 

Sleeping alone, she had the whole bed to herself. She could toss and turn however she wanted. It was so satisfying. 

Shepard snorted and took another drag on his cigarette. 

Briana instinctively took a step back. 

She couldn’t stand the smell of cigarettes. 

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It was so strong that it made her nose scrunch up. 

But Shepard just lounged on the couch, finishing his cigarette before stubbing it out and getting up. “Let’s go. 

“Where are we going? The Carter residence?” Briana asked. 

“Yeah,” Shepard replied. 

“What’s going on?” Briana kept asking as she followed him. “What did Evelyn say? You have to clue me in a little… I’m clueless here. If I show up there like this, I won’t even know how to play my part.” 

Shepard didn’t even look back. “No more pretending, Briana.” 

Briana froze. 

‘What does he even mean?‘ Briana thought, thrown off by his words. 

When they reached the foyer, she finally noticed Daniel and Tiffany standing there, their faces a mix of emotions. 

Daniel stayed silent. He bent down, set out a pair of dress shoes at Shepard’s feet, and then offered him the car keys. 

The whole thing felt like a silent movie. 

Briana was totally baffled. 

Tiffany spoke up, “Mrs. Carter, you…” Her voice faded into a sigh. 

Just as Briana was about to ask what was going on, her phone started blowing up with notifications. 

‘Who’s sending me all these messages?‘ Briana wondered. 

She opened it up and saw it was from Olivia. 

[Shepard and Vivian made out in the street? Do they have no shame?] 

[This is just too much. What a disgusting pair.] 

[I’m so pissed. Can’t they just wait until the divorce papers are signed before acting all lovey–dovey?] 

[Is it really that hard to hold back for, like, ten more days?] 

After that, Olivia sent over a news link and some photos. 

In the photos, Vivian was holding a dessert, and Shepard had his hand on her shoulder. They were all up in each other’s space. 

Anyone could tell what they were up to. 

The photos were pretty blurry, probably because the paparazzi had to shoot from far away, hiding out 

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somewhere. 

Briana tapped the link. 

Just a quick glance and she got the whole picture. 

The paparazzi had been stalking Shepard, snapped shots of him and Vivian getting intimate, and blasted the photos all over social media. 

The whole internet was going wild about it.