ened. \u201cI told you, I didn\u2019t sell your brother! As for why Draven isn\u2019t your real brother, I\u2019ve had time to think, and I\u2019ve figured it out. It must have been Valeria\u2019s mother, Thalia! She did it behind my back! I swear, I knew nothing about it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa scoffed. \u201cRight, you knew nothing. You expect us to believe that Thalia could swap her own son with the real Draven without your permission? Do you think we\u2019re idiots?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She paused, her eyes narrowing as she pinpointed his true motive. \u201cOh, I see. You\u2019re not trying to fool us. You\u2019re just terrified of dying. You think that as long as you deny everything, Haskell won\u2019t have the heart to hurt you. But if you confess, you\u2019ll be completely abandoned, left to live a life worse than death. Isn\u2019t that right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thatch\u2019s face grew paler. \u201cHaskell, don\u2019t listen to her! She\u2019s just trying to stir up trouble. She\u2019s the one who tore the Judson family apart! Think about how ruthless she is\u2013she even turned on her own parents. Do you really think someone like that has a good heart?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Haskell had felt even a shred of pity for the man who was his father before coming here, it vanished the moment he heard him slander Larissa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLarissa, could you step outside for a moment?\u201d he asked gently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Surprised, Larissa hefted her backpack. \u201cYou don\u2019t need me to interrogate him?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Haskell said with a faint smile. \u201cThis is something I need to handle myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFine by me,\u201d she said with a shrug. \u201cI can handle whatever you do to him, no matter how bloody. But if you want me out, I\u2019ll wait outside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned and left the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou as well,\u201d Haskell said to Dr. George and the nurses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. George nodded and exited with the two nurses. Crispin closed the door behind them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now free to move, Thatch scrambled off the bed and rushed to Haskell, kneeling before him and grabbing his hand. \u201cHaskell, you heard what I said, didn\u2019t you? You sent Larissa away because believe me, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
you\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haskell looked at the desperate face of the middle\u2013aged man before him and slowly pulled his hand away. He was done wasting words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCrispin,\u201d he said softly, \u201clet\u2019s start with an appetizer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thatch froze. \u201cWhat appetizer? Haskell, what are you doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crispin stepped forward, a switchblade sliding smoothly from his sleeve as he advanced on Thatch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thatch scrambled to his feet, his eyes fixed on Crispin. \u201cHaskell, stop trying to scare me! I\u2019m your father! I don\u2019t believe you\u2019d actually dare to harm me!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time he finished speaking, Crispin was standing right in front of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just drop this. I\u2019ll help you find your brother, I swear. We\u2019ll use whatever means necessary to\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:33\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tind him\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words were cut short by a sharp kick to his gut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOof\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He doubled over, clutching his stomach like a cooked shrimp. Before he could say another word, a second kick sent him sprawling to the floor. Crispin planted a foot on his chest, then knelt down and, with two clean, efficient motions, sliced across both of Thatch\u2019s wrists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAaargh!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thatch let out a pained scream that sounded like a pig being slaughtered. His face went white with agony. His tendons had been severed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could even process the shock and pain, Crispin grabbed his ankles and, with the same swift precision, cut the tendons there as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another bloodcurdling scream tore from Thatch\u2019s throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Crispin gave him no time to recover. He grabbed Thatch\u2019s face, squeezing his cheeks hard and forcing his mouth open. The blood\u2013streaked dagger moved toward Thatch\u2019s tongue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Wings of Broken Time by Alina Das 556 ened. \u201cI told you, I didn\u2019t sell your brother! As for why […]<\/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-31081","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\/31081","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=31081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}