Being Dumped by My EX, I Marriied His Older Brother-Chapter 130: The Bet and Streaking

Justin Kane quickly sidestepped, avoiding April Graham’s outstretched hand.

After hearing what Nina Thorne said, a flash of pleasant surprise crossed his deep eyes. He glanced at her. "Really?"

Nina Thorne had given it serious thought over the past two days. She nodded. "Yes, I’ll..."

"You? Nina Thorne, you’re getting better and better at putting on an act."

April Graham immediately sneered. "Do you think this is like writing a script? That you can just tap your fingers and write a few mindless lines of dialogue?

"This is R&D. This is technology. Can you please not try to compete with me here just for the sake of your pathetic pride?"

Her eyes were filled with contempt, and every word she spoke dripped with condescension for Nina Thorne.

The others didn’t dare to speak.

But in truth, their hearts sided more with April Graham’s assessment.

’A screenwriter just writes scripts. How could she possibly develop a system?’

But April Graham was different.

She was a graduate of a prestigious international university with a double degree and a nationally renowned female engineer.

Domestically and internationally, she was a rare talent.

Justin Kane’s expression turned grim. He shot her a frosty glare. "You’re noisy."

April Graham’s chest tightened with anger.

Seeing that the others seemed to agree with her, she became even more relentless.

"I’m just stating the facts. Even if you have to consider the Thorne Family’s reputation, you shouldn’t let her act so recklessly."

April Graham snorted coldly at Nina Thorne. "I suggest you go back to writing your scripts...

"Oh, no, you should go back and inherit the Thorne Family business. After all, your family’s enterprises also involve the R&D and technology sector."

"I’d love to see how the Thorne Family gets ruined in your hands."

April Graham showed Nina Thorne no courtesy whatsoever, wishing she could pin her to the ground and trample all over her.

’A useless woman like her dares to fight me for Justin?’

’She’s completely overestimating herself!’

Nina Thorne’s elegant brows furrowed slightly. "What’s your hurry? Whether I can do it or not, we’ll know once I try, won’t we?"

"Fine, then let’s have a competition."

April Graham had been looking for a chance to take her down a notch. She threw out the bait. "If you can really solve the problem, I’ll even run naked."

’Going this far?’

Nina Thorne didn’t try to stop her. "Are you sure? No regrets?"

"Of course!"

Seeing her take the bait, April Graham couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement. "But if you lose, I want you to unconditionally agree to one demand of mine."

The engineers were stunned.

Anyone with eyes could see that April Graham was deliberately making things difficult for Nina Thorne.

It was no different from an expert taking on a complete newbie.

No, that wasn’t right.

Nina Thorne was a total outsider. Even if she had the Thorne Family’s resources backing her, her actual knowledge probably didn’t even qualify as entry-level.

Mr. Wagner spoke up, trying to persuade them not to compete out of anger.

All the while, he kept glancing at Justin Kane’s expression.

’He dotes on Nina Thorne so much, why isn’t he reining her in?’

He was actually letting Nina Thorne compete against April Graham.

’Isn’t she guaranteed to lose?’

Justin Kane looked at Nina Thorne and spoke slowly, deliberately. "Do you want to compete?"

"I do."

In his eyes, Nina Thorne could see that he trusted her.

Although she didn’t know why he was so indulgent with her.

But she wouldn’t let him down.

"Then compete."

"Okay."

Nina Thorne agreed, then shot a lazy glance at April Graham. "I’ll compete with you."

April Graham found it so laughable she couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

’She actually dares to compete.’

"I’d like to see how you’re going to clean up this mess," she huffed.

Nina Thorne’s expression was cool and collected, entirely calm and composed.

It was as if she already had victory in her grasp.

To ensure fairness, they each chose one of the engineers to be their assistant.

This was a suggestion deliberately made by April Graham to prevent Nina Thorne from pulling any tricks.

After both sides had agreed.

Seeing that April Graham had no intention of leaving, Justin Kane’s eyes turned sharp. "Aren’t you leaving, Miss Graham?"

A knot formed in April Graham’s chest.

She lowered the arms she had crossed over her chest. "Justin, I will make you see that I’m the one who’s most suitable for you."

She snorted coldly and left reluctantly.

By the time the meal was over, Mr. Wagner and the engineers were breaking out in a cold sweat.

The problem wasn’t solved yet, and Mr. Kane was even allowing them to compete.

From this perspective, he was indeed being far too indulgent with Nina Thorne.

Fortunately, April Graham was genuinely skilled.

The Graham Family and the Kane Family were fierce rivals in the business world. Normally, even consulting April Graham on technical matters would be a problem.

To have her proactively offer to help this time felt like they’d struck gold.

On their way back after the meal.

Nina Thorne sat silently in the car, looking slightly lost in thought. To Justin Kane, it seemed like she was contemplating something, and he couldn’t resist breaking the silence.

"What is Mrs. Kane thinking about?"

Justin Kane turned his head to look at her, his gaze, as deep and gentle as ever, fixed on her delicate face.

Nina Thorne looked up, meeting his dark, star-like eyes, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly. "I was just thinking about which street to pick for her naked run after I win."

This was no joke.

For the past five years, she had been unwilling to take over the company.

Part of the reason was that she didn’t want the familiar sights to stir up painful memories of her father’s death.

Later, she simply moved out of the Thorne Family home and into an apartment.

It was convenient for getting to school, and also convenient for...

She couldn’t run away from it anymore.

"Naturally, we’ll choose the busiest district in Vistara," Justin Kane chimed in dotingly.

Nina Thorne couldn’t help but laugh. She gave him a serious look. "That cruel?"

Justin Kane took her hand and brought it to his lips for a light peck. "When she wanted to trample all over you, she wasn’t considering whether it was cruel or not."

’Just listen to that.’

’He’s already so on my side. How could April Graham possibly be the one he loves?’

’Unless... he’s just an incredibly good actor.’

-

The next day, Nina Thorne was on set early to supervise the shoot.

There were many changes to be made throughout the morning, but thankfully, everyone cooperated well, and the shoot still went smoothly.

Because the call time was so early, Director Aldridge, considerate of everyone’s hard work, bought them all morning tea and drinks.

The refreshments were all laid out on a table for them to choose from.

Nina Thorne reached for a coffee, but someone else grabbed it faster.

It was the last one.

Nina Thorne paused, instinctively looking at the person who had taken the coffee.

Jessica Jenkins smiled fawningly. "Miss Thorne, for you."

Nina Thorne was polite but distant. "Thank you, but you can have it."

After her cool refusal, she casually picked up a cup of red bean soy milk next to it and turned to walk away.

There were a few people nearby.

An actor started to mock her.

"Jessica Jenkins, why are you so desperate to suck up to her? She doesn’t even want to talk to you."

"Exactly! She’s not some huge star, just a screenwriter. She wrote one minor hit, but it’s not like she can do anything for you."

Jessica Jenkins glared at them angrily. "If you love gossiping so much, why don’t you go say it to the director’s face?"

The actors immediately fell silent.

They started whispering among themselves as they walked away.

"Tch, what’s she so proud of!"

"Don’t you know she only got famous after starring in her last script? Of course she has to suck up to Miss Thorne."

"Even this script was written specifically for her and Leo Cheney by Miss Thorne..."

"If they’re so close, why was Miss Thorne so cold just now?"

"Hmph, do you even need to ask? Obviously, Miss Thorne has seen someone’s true colors."

Hearing their words, Jessica Jenkins’s face turned deathly pale.

She looked in Nina Thorne’s direction, her heart aching terribly, and secretly clenched her fists.

Nina Thorne felt someone staring at her. She turned her head to look but saw no one there.

At the same time, her phone rang.

It was a call from Mr. Cheney of Wagner Corp.

"Miss Thorne, when can you come over?" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Probably this afternoon. What’s wrong?"

Mr. Cheney stammered, "Miss Graham’s stance is... that if we’re going to run the test, we should do it together, to avoid... to avoid..."

He seemed to find it hard to say.

Nina Thorne understood. "She’s afraid I’ll cheat?"

Mr. Cheney was silent on the other end, clearly in a difficult position and not daring to answer.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be there at three this afternoon."

"Nina Thorne, if you can’t do it, just say so. Why put on an act?"

April Graham snatched the phone and taunted, "It’s not too late to admit defeat. At least you won’t have to embarrass yourself in front of Justin."

"Miss Graham..."

Nina Thorne’s voice came through, low and laced with cold sarcasm. "Did you buy your certifications? For a supposedly great engineer, you have an awful lot of free time."

"..."

April Graham gritted her teeth in anger.

But Nina Thorne didn’t give her a chance to curse back; she had already hung up.

However, Nina Thorne hadn’t expected that such a small competition...

...would even reach Cole Kane’s ears.

She had just walked out of the film set’s main gate when Cole Kane blocked her path.

After several failed attempts to get around him, she simply stood there, looking at him expressionlessly, and spoke in a cool, detached voice.

"Do you want me to call the police?"

Speaking of which, she still had a bunch of explosive videos from the incident at the resort.

Cole Kane’s expression froze. "Do you really hate me that much now?"

A chill filled Nina Thorne’s eyes. She answered without a hint of hesitation, "Yes."

"Why?"

Cole Kane growled, seemingly unable to accept it.

’The woman who loved me for five years now says she hates me?’

’How is that possible!’

He didn’t believe it.

’Why?’

Nina Thorne found it funny that he could even ask such a ridiculous question.

Her expression was icy as she stared straight at him. "Because you’re shameless. You pretended to be my savior for ten years. Isn’t that enough?"

"Fine. Then you can listen to exactly why I hate you."

"I was with you for five years. How did you treat me during those five years? Everything you did hurt me, broke me down, and made me doubt myself more and more."

The more Nina Thorne spoke of these things, the more laughable she found it, and she actually laughed. "Cole Kane, tell me, isn’t all of that enough to make me hate you?"

She looked completely devoid of anger, only indifference.

It was as if he were just a joke, no longer able to provoke the slightest emotion in her.

Cole Kane’s heart pounded like a drum. A sense of fear once again washed over him, overwhelming him like a catastrophic flood.

Especially Nina Thorne’s gaze—so cold, as if he was someone completely irrelevant. It made him feel flustered and agitated inside.

"It was wrong of me to deceive you ten years ago, but I didn’t mean to take the credit back then. It’s just that later, you said you liked me,

"...thanked me for saving you, and said you wanted to be with me forever..."

Cole Kane said regretfully, "I was afraid of losing you. That’s why I kept it from you for all these years."

Nina Thorne didn’t want to hear another word of his nonsense.

She had needed to get those things off her chest, and now that she had, she was done.

As for Cole Kane?

Hah...

"Stop bothering me, or I’ll call the police."

Nina Thorne turned to leave.

Cole Kane watched her retreating back and said helplessly, "If you really don’t care about me, why on earth would you get into a competition with April Graham?"

Nina Thorne stopped in her tracks and glanced back in surprise.

Cole Kane thought he had guessed right and excitedly hurried in front of her. "It’s because I said you were just a minor screenwriter, and you were afraid I’d look down on you.

"That’s why you’re competing with April Graham. You want to prove yourself, to make me see you in a better light, right?"

Nina Thorne was speechless.

’Even now, he still thinks like that.’

She looked at him, dumbfounded, for a moment before sighing and letting out a helpless laugh.

’So, it’s true. People really do laugh when they’re at a complete loss for words.’

It was clear that Cole Kane was already trapped in his own way of thinking, convinced of his own conclusions. Nothing she said would matter.

Nina Thorne didn’t plan on saying anything more. She got into a ride-share and headed for Mr. Wagner’s tech company.

The only thing she needed to do now was make April Graham—

run naked.