Crispin shot a dismissive glance at Faith as he pushed Haskell\u2019s wheelchair down the path toward the rear courtyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Faith hurried to keep pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d Haskell said smoothly. \u201cOtherwise, who would it be? Draven?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Faith knew he was baiting her but took the bait anyway. \u201cNot your useless brother Draven. My brother, Solomon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wheels of the chair crunched over the gravel path. Haskell tapped his fingers on the armrest. \u201cYour brother is better suited for a post in Africa.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll you can do now is run your mouth, Haskell,\u201d Faith sneered. \u201cYou can\u2019t even walk. You need your assistant to push you around like a child.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne manages a corporation with their brain, not their legs,\u201d Haskell retorted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As they passed manicured gardens, Faith continued her assault. \u201cPerhaps a lesser family could tolerate a cripple as its heir, but we are the Palmers, the most powerful family in Regal City. Every move we make is scrutinized. Do you really think Grandpa would allow the family to become a laughingstock by appointing you?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a man who values the family\u2019s reputation above all else. If your legs didn\u2019t matter, he would have announced you as the heir at your engagement party. Instead, he gave everyone three months.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crossing a small, arched bridge over a man\u2013made stream, she delivered what she thought was the final blow. \u201cYou don\u2019t actually believe he\u2019s waiting for Larissa to heal you, do you? He\u2019s giving other young Palmers time to prove they\u2019re worthy of replacing you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haskell remained silent until they were off the bridge. Then he spoke, his voice deceptively casual. \u201cYou only mention \u2018other young Palmers.\u2018 Has it never occurred to you that you could be the one to replace me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question caught Faith completely off guard. The thought had genuinely never crossed her mind. She was a woman. Why would she fight for power?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She quickly recovered. \u201cDon\u2019t be ridiculous, Haskell. You can\u2019t provoke me into turning against my own brother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just genuinely curious,\u201d he said with a sigh that seemed almost wistful. \u201cAfter all, I\u2019ve just returned from the Judson estate, where I witnessed my fianc\u00e9e, Larissa, successfully take control of her family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing Faith\u2019s brow furrow, he pressed on. \u201cIf you think you\u2019re not qualified because you\u2019re a woman, let me tell you this: Kiernan Judson himself announced today that he is handing the family over to Larissa. If she can do it, why can\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words were delivered casually, but they sent ripples through Faith\u2019s carefully constructed worldview. The education she\u2019d received, the life she\u2019d led\u2013no one had ever told her she could reach for the family\u2019s immense power. She had lived in luxury since birth; what more could she want?\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:19\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 385\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the taste of real power\u2026 why shouldn\u2019t she want it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re saying this because you think I have a better chance of becoming heir than my brother,\u201d she said, her voice laced with suspicion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haskell looked up at her and smiled. \u201cNo. I\u2019m telling you this because I want to drive a wedge between you and your brother, Solomon. I want to see you turn on each other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crispin couldn\u2019t help but choke back a cough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Faith\u2019s face flushed a deep red. \u201cYou must feel quite secure in your position to be making jokes with me, Haskell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haskell\u2019s smile faded. \u201cLarissa is capable, which is why she could take over the Judson family. You, on the other hand, are not. You\u2019re only suited to be a stepping stone for your brother, waiting for him to toss you a few scraps from the fortune he inherits.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words were sharp, cruel, and they struck their intended target with brutal precision.\u00a0<\/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 385 Crispin shot a dismissive glance at Faith as he pushed Haskell\u2019s wheelchair […]<\/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-30907","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\/30907","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=30907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}