Haskell tried to lighten the mood with a dry joke about his broken legs, but Larissa\u2019s careful examination revealed the deeper pain behind his paralysis. As he shared his story, Larissa learned about the complicated Palmer family dynamics. Haskell\u2019s father, Thatch, was once looked down upon by his siblings, but Haskell\u2019s own talents eventually earned the respect of the family patriarch, Zoltan Palmer, improving his father\u2019s standing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haskell explained that he had a younger brother, Draven, who was sent away as a baby after a fortune teller predicted misfortune for the family. Only Haskell\u2019s grandfather and father knew where Draven was taken. Tragically, Haskell\u2019s mother died searching for Draven. Years later, after gaining his grandfather\u2019s respect, Haskell brought Draven back into the family, along with Valeria, a girl from the orphanage who became like a sister to him.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story took a darker turn when Haskell revealed that Valeria was kidnapped last month, and the kidnappers demanded a ransom paid by him alone. Although Haskell secretly had men follow him, the kidnappers discovered the plan, broke his legs, and left him for dead. Crispin and reinforcements rescued him and Valeria just in time.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa\u2019s suspicions grew as Haskell admitted he believed the leak came from someone close, and shockingly, the mastermind might be his own brother, Draven. Haskell struggled to understand Draven\u2019s betrayal but concluded that Draven resented him for living a privileged life while he grew up in an orphanage. The chapter ends with Haskell asking Larissa whether he should seek revenge on his brother, highlighting his inner conflict and pain.<\/p>\n
Haskell cracked a dry joke, trying to lighten the mood. \u201cI suppose I should be thankful they broke my legs instead of ruining my face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larissa gave a small smile and carefully rolled up his pant legs to get a better look at the injuries.<\/p>\n
He chuckled quietly before launching into the story. Through his words, Larissa uncovered the painful truth behind his paralysis.<\/p>\n
The Palmer family was vast and complex. His father, Thatch Palmer, was the youngest of five siblings and had always been seen as the least accomplished, looked down upon by his older brothers and sisters from early on. It wasn\u2019t until Haskell grew into his own\u2014his talents far surpassing those of his cousins\u2014that he finally earned the respect of the family patriarch, Zoltan Palmer. Only then did Thatch\u2019s standing within the family begin to improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a younger brother, Draven, who\u2019s five years my junior,\u201d Haskell explained. \u201cShortly after he was born, a fortune teller warned my grandfather that Draven\u2019s presence would bring misfortune to the family. Without hesitation, and despite my mother\u2019s protests, Grandpa arranged for him to be sent away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one knew where he was taken except Grandpa and my father. When my mother found out he was gone, she set out to find him on her own. Tragically, she died in a car accident during that search.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haskell\u2019s voice faltered for a moment before he continued. \u201cAfter I earned Grandpa\u2019s respect by proving myself, I asked him to bring Draven back. He agreed. So, three years ago, Draven returned to the Palmer family\u2014and with him came Valeria, a girl he grew up with at the orphanage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cValeria wasn\u2019t my biological sister, but seeing how she\u2019d stood by my brother all those years, I treated her like family.\u201d He paused, his eyes darkening. \u201cLast month, she was kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded I come alone to pay the ransom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larissa\u2019s heart tightened. She raised an eyebrow. \u201cYou didn\u2019t actually go alone, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Haskell gave a bitter smile. \u201cOf course not. I had my men follow me secretly. But I never dreamed someone would find out about the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larissa frowned. \u201cSo someone leaked the information?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that moment, I didn\u2019t have time to consider that,\u201d Haskell said grimly. \u201cAll I could focus on was saving Valeria. I went to the ransom point alone\u2014the same abandoned factory we\u2019re in now. They didn\u2019t kill me immediately. Instead, they broke my legs and left me for dead. Thankfully, Crispin arrived with reinforcements just in time to rescue both Valeria and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Larissa absorbed the story, suspicion crept into her mind. \u201cIt sounds like they were targeting you specifically. What did the investigation uncover?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected the leak came from someone close to me,\u201d Haskell admitted. \u201cBut I never imagined\u2026 I never imagined the mastermind behind it all might have been my own brother, Draven.\u201d A shadow of bitterness finally darkened his smile. \u201cAt first, I couldn\u2019t understand why he would do something like that. But after spending the last month confined to my room, I\u2019ve had plenty of time to think. And I believe I\u2019ve figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larissa\u2019s voice was quiet but firm, as if confirming what she already suspected. \u201cYour brother resented you. He couldn\u2019t accept why you got to live a life of luxury with the Palmers, while he grew up in an orphanage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d Haskell murmured, staring down at his broken legs. A faint, almost sad smile touched his lips. \u201cHe probably thinks all the pain he suffered is my fault.\u201d He looked up at Larissa, eyes searching. \u201cTell me\u2026 should I seek revenge on my own brother?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Wings of Broken Time by Alina Das 46 Wings of Broken Time by Alina Das 46 Summary Haskell tried to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-throne-of-thorns-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}