Honora breathed a silent sigh of relief as Finley came to her defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivica stared at her son in disbelief, shocked that he would side with their adopted daughter over his own father. \u201cFinley, are you saying you\u2019d rather watch your dad suffer?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finley was at a loss for words. The truth was, he did think it was a terrible trade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fearing she would be forced to go through with it, Honora decided to take a gamble. \u201cMom, I can do it,\u201d she said, her voice wavering. \u201cI can give up a finger for Dad, but\u2026 I doubt the Turners will accept it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked toward Ziggy and Gloria Turner and their five sons, praying they were only interested in punishing the person truly responsible for Sapphira\u2019s kidnapping, not wasting their energy on her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gloria glanced at her daughter, Sapphira, who in turn looked to Larissa for her opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa gave a slight shake of her head. She had no intention of letting Honora take Paxton\u2019s punishment. Dealing with Honora could wait until Leopold woke up. Once he exposed her true nature, Paxton\u2019s family would be consumed with regret. They would blame Honora for everything that had happened, and their rage would lead them to punish her themselves. When that day came, losing a finger would seem like a mercy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Understanding the signal, Gloria turned back and said flatly, \u201cShe\u2019s right. We won\u2019t accept it. We want a finger from one of you two. Don\u2019t even think about substituting your adopted daughter. Her pain won\u2019t satisfy us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop wasting our time,\u201d Stanley, the eldest Turner brother, urged impatiently. \u201cCut the finger, or we\u2019ll do it for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet on with it!\u201d the second brother, Tavish, added. \u201cWe don\u2019t have all day to watch you tear each other apart. Save the family drama for after we\u2019re gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was hopeless. Vivica shot her husband a pained look and fell silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paxton, his courage gone, held the knife out toward his son. \u201cFinley, you do it. Help me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finley froze for a moment before stepping forward and hesitantly taking the blood\u2013stained knife. He positioned the blade over the gash his father had already made, but his hand trembled. He couldn\u2019t do it. As the Turners grew more insistent, he finally steeled himself and pushed down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivica turned away, unable to watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the knife was still too dull. It scraped against bone but didn\u2019t sever the finger. Paxton\u2019s face was contorted in agony, his forehead beaded with a cold sweat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously?\u201d Avril scoffed. \u201cAre you two men or not? You can\u2019t even cut off one little finger!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unable to help, Vivica could only scream, \u201cWill you just shut up!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Avril shook her head. \u201cNope. You can\u2019t make me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivica trembled with impotent fury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09-45\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 360\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, Larissa offered a suggestion. \u201cIf you can\u2019t cut it,\u201d she said with a chilling smile, \u201cwhy don\u2019t you just smash it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLarissa, you\u2019re so thoughtful!\u201d Haskell praised.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa\u2019s smile widened into a vicious sneer. \u201cOf course. After all, he is my uncle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t thoughtfulness; it was pure schadenfreude. Vivica felt her chest constricting, but she was powerless against them. All she could do was swallow her rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finley just wanted his father\u2019s suffering to end. He followed Larissa\u2019s advice, turning to a drawer in the TV stand and pulling out a small hammer. Taking a deep breath, he placed the blade back on his father\u2019s finger and brought the hammer down with all his strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAaaah-!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A scream filled with limitless terror and agony ripped through the living room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a sickening crack, Paxton\u2019s pinky finger was severed from his hand. Blood instantly gushed from the wound, staining the tabletop a deep crimson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
0<\/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 360 Honora breathed a silent sigh of relief as Finley came to her […]<\/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-30882","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\/30882","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=30882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}