Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rwan Vale 97

Chapter 97 

Shepard weighed the medicine bottle in his hand, then glanced over at Briana. 

A faint smirk tugged at his lips. 

Briana’s face went ghostly pale in an instant. 

Shepard said, “An abortion only takes one night, doesn’t it? That should be enough, right?” 

Briana’s eyes widened in disbelief. 

She spun around, ready to bolt. 

But Shepard caught her easily, pulling her back without breaking a sweat. 

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her right into his arms. 

No matter how much Briana struggled, she couldn’t shake him off. 

Men were just so much stronger than women. It was not even a fair fight. 

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“No. Don’t! You can’t do this.” Briana shook her head frantically. “Shepard, how could you? You’re being a 

brute.” 

“Take it yourself, or do you want me to feed it to you?” Shepard said. 

He kept her pinned with one arm, shaking the white medicine bottle in his other hand. 

“I won’t take it. Shepard, don’t make me hate you… I swear I will,” Briana cried out. 

Shepard shot back, “Isn’t it true you already hate me?” 

“Then I–I’ll hate you even more than I do now,” Briana stammered. 

“Does it really matter how much you hate me?” Shepard twisted the cap off the bottle with one hand. “Briana, 

if I ever felt even a trace of guilt towards you, it’s gone now. Thanks to you.” 

Briana’s face was stricken with fear. 

“Shepard, you can’t do this… You…” Briana reached out, desperate to snatch the bottle from him. 

“Even if you make me lose this baby, you still can’t tear Henry and me apart. If this one’s gone, I’ll have another for him, and another after that,” she continued stubbornly. 

Shepard let out a sneer. “You’re dreaming.” 

“You can control this baby, but can you control the next one too?” Briana shot back. 

Shepard leaned in, his breath hot against her face. “Briana, if I don’t divorce you, how could you and Henry 

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ever be together? Hmm?” 

Briana froze, gazing at him in disbelief. 

‘Did he just say he won’t divorce me? Am I hearing things?‘ she wondered. 

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“You’ll always be my wife, Briana. You really think you can raise a family with Henry, spend your life with him?” Shepard pressed, stressing each syllable. “Do you honestly believe that’s even possible?” 

Briana stood there, baffled, for what felt like forever before she finally came ba 

elf. 

“You’re really refusing to divorce me, just so I can’t be with Henry?” Briana’s vo 

“You bet,” he said. 

“You’re cutting off your nose to spite your face!” Briana shouted. “Don’t forget, Shepard. If we’re still married, you can’t give Vivian a proper place in your life. 

“She’ll always be stuck in the shadows, hidden behind you, never able to appear beside you in public.” 

Shepard shot back, “Henry will be stuck in the dark, too.” 

“So we’re just holding each other hostage? None of the four of us will ever get what we want?” Briana cried out. 

“Vivian’s smart and sensible. She’ll be considerate and understand me,” Shepard said, raising an eyebrow. “But whether Henry can live with that, who knows, Briana?” 

With that, Shepard poured out two pills. 

Then he flung the bottle to the floor. 

Two pills were enough to do the job. 

He shoved them straight into Briana’s mouth. 

Briana clamped her lips shut, jaw locked–no way in hell was she letting him shove those pills in. 

Here, at the Carter Estate, his people were everywhere, watching every move. 

Even if Briana cried out for help, it was pointless, as no one here would dare lift a finger for her. 

She had no choice but to fend for herself. 

Briana used every ounce of strength she had–pushing, hitting, even kicking and clawing at him, desperate to break free. 

But it was useless. 

Briana stumbled back again and again until she finally ended up on the couch, curling up into a ball, hugging herself, and shaking. 

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Shepard dropped to one knee beside her, his tall frame completely overshadowing her, almost swallowing her up. 

Just then, his phone started ringing, the shrill sound slicing through the tense silence. 

It was Shepard’s phone. 

He didn’t even bother to look. 

Who would care about a phone call at a time like this? 

“Your phone…” Briana blurted out, “Shepard, your phone’s ringing.” 

She was desperately trying to distract him. 

But Shepard didn’t even seem to notice her. 

The phone rang for a moment, then stopped. 

The living room fell silent. 

But barely a few seconds later, the phone started ringing again. 

Briana tried again. “It’s so late, and someone’s calling you twice in a row–there must be something urgent… Go answer it. I’m not going anywhere. This is your territory, anyway.” 

‘Just keep him distracted for as long as I can. What if there really is something important that could save the baby and me?‘ she thought, clinging to that slim hope. 

Shepard’s grip loosened a little, and he paused. 

Then he turned to look at his phone. 

The screen showed his father was calling. 

‘What does Richard want with me at this hour?‘ Shepard frowned, wondering. 

He released Briana, walked over, and stooped to pick up his phone. 

Briana breathed a long sigh of relief, curling up in the corner of the couch and hugging herself. 

She scanned the room, looking around. 

She knew the Carter Estate like the back of her hand, as she’d lived here for five years. 

She knew every door, every room by heart. 

But she was trapped, plain and simple. There was no way out. 

Even if she somehow managed to shake off Shepard, the second she stepped outside, his bodyguards would be everywhere, blocking any chance of escape. 

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Plus, it was the dead of night. 

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Despair crashed over Briana, leaving her numb. 

‘Is Shepard always going to have this kind of hold over me?‘ Briana thought, feeling utterly defeated. ‘No matter what I do, he ends up owning both my body and my heart! 

She’d finally managed to get her heart back, but now, her body was still under his control. 

No matter how she tried to argue, the fact was that the baby was Shepard’s. 

“Hello, Dad,” Shepard said, his voice steady. 

Richard said something, but Shepard just kept responding with a few grunts before hanging up. 

He turned his head to look at Briana. 

Briana pulled her knees up to her chest, eyeing him warily. 

‘Was he really going to keep pushing?‘ Briana wondered. 

But no matter what, she was determined to fight him to the very end. 

“Grandma’s awake,” Shepard said. “She wants us to go over.” 

Briana was stunned for a moment, then a spark of life flashed in her eyes–hope flooding in where there was only despair before. 

‘Evelyn’s awake. That’s a good thing,‘ Briana thought, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. 

She actually saved Briana and her baby’s lives. 

“Okay.” Briana nodded eagerly. “Let’s go, right now!” 

Briana scrambled off the couch, carefully avoiding the mess on the floor, and rushed toward the door. 

Shepard watched her, his gaze fixed on her retreating figure. 

“Briana,” he called after her. 

But she ignored him completely, never looking back as she hurried forward. 

“You can dodge it today, but you’ll have to face it sooner or later,” Shepard continued coldly. 

As soon as the words left his mouth, Briana was already gone, slipping out through the living room doorway. 

***** 

The hospital. 

In the hospital room, Evelyn was half–reclining on the bed, her silver hair looking dull and dry, nothing like 

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its usual shine. 

: 

When she heard footsteps outside, Evelyn lifted her head. 

Soon, the door opened, and Shepard and Briana entered together. 

Seeing them arrive together, Evelyn couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. 

“Here you came,” she smiled. 

“Evelyn.” Briana rushed over, sounding genuinely relieved. “You’re finally awa 

“Yeah. I’ve been out for days. If I hadn’t woken up now… I might never have co 

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and,” Evelyn replied. 

“Come on, Evelyn. You’re not going anywhere. You’ll be around for ages,” Briana said, her voice soft and reassuring. 

Evelyn held onto Briana’s hand, patting it over and over. “Just give me a great–grandchild, Briana. That’s all I 

want.” 

AD