Being Dumped by My EX, I Marriied His Older Brother-Chapter 137: Marriage Certificate

"Nina Thorne, what did you say?"

Justin Kane’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes filled with excitement as he asked her to confirm.

He hadn’t heard clearly and wasn’t entirely sure what she had said.

He’d vaguely heard her call his name and say something about liking him.

He wanted to hear it one more time.

But Nina Thorne just nuzzled against his chest and fell back into a deep, quiet sleep.

Justin Kane wasn’t in a hurry. He pillowed his head on his hand, holding her and waiting quietly for her to talk in her sleep again.

The next day, Nina Thorne was full of energy, her cheeks rosy.

But when she looked up, she saw Justin Kane sitting across from her, dressed in a well-tailored, high-end, custom-made suit, looking a bit pale.

There were dark circles under his deep-set eyes.

"Didn’t you sleep well last night?"

Nina Thorne asked softly with concern, "Why do you look so tired?"

Fortunately, he was so handsome, with an innate aristocratic elegance, that he still looked strikingly exceptional even when he seemed unwell.

Justin Kane lifted his eyelids, a hint of complaint in his gaze. "Perhaps you slept so well that it made me look bad by comparison."

Nina Thorne thought his words sounded a bit odd, but she had indeed slept very well.

She smiled faintly and said, "It’s all thanks to you. I really did sleep well."

The corner of Justin Kane’s mouth twitched.

’His wife doesn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed.’

’He was complaining about her, so how did she take it as a compliment?’

Last night, she had mumbled that one sentence, leaving him unable to hear it clearly.

He’d wanted to hear it properly and ended up waiting the entire night for nothing.

After breakfast, as Justin Kane was leaving, Nina Thorne saw him to the door. "Be careful on the road."

Justin Kane raised an eyebrow and pinched her cheek. "I might be back late tonight. If you get hungry, just eat. Don’t wait for me."

Nina Thorne nodded obediently. After a soft "mhm," she asked, "Is it about the new energy project?"

Justin Kane replied gently, "We’ve been negotiating a merger and acquisition for the past couple of days. It’s with a top-tier foreign new energy company."

There were few foreign new energy vehicle brands at present, but their technology was far ahead of domestic standards.

Nina Thorne was surprised. "Are you talking about AstraCorp?"

Justin Kane wasn’t surprised. He smirked at her. "It seems Mrs. Kane is also very interested in new energy."

"And to be so knowledgeable about the procedures... Mrs. Kane, you’ve been hiding your talents."

Nina Thorne raised her eyebrows brazenly. "You’re only just realizing? I’m one of the Thorne Family, you know."

Justin Kane affectionately tapped the tip of her nose. "It just proves my excellent judgment. I’ve found a real treasure."

"Of course. You’d better cherish me, or I might run off." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"I’ll be sure to follow my wife’s instructions."

Nina Thorne was so amused by him that her cheeks started to hurt from smiling.

Only after hearing the engine fade into the distance did Nina Thorne go upstairs to the study, ready to check the surveillance disks one by one.

Before that, she arranged the photos of yesterday’s ingredients and their movie date into a nine-square grid and posted it to her social media feed.

Justin Kane had just arrived at his company building, striding through the first-floor lobby.

His distinguished aura drew many eyes, and employees passing by all stopped to greet him respectfully.

He gave a slight nod, his expression stern as he entered his exclusive elevator with Assistant Cheney right behind him.

Justin Kane took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to Nina Thorne: "Arrived at the office."

Then, he opened his social media feed and saw the new post she had just made.

The caption read:

A good partner can also be a great teacher and friend.

Thank you to my husband for your guidance. I look forward to learning more from you for the rest of our lives.

The photo in the very center of the grid was of their two little red books, surrounded by eight pictures of food and the movie.

A dark glimmer stirred in Justin Kane’s eyes. He couldn’t help but show his phone to Assistant Cheney. "Is my wife getting ready to announce me to the world?"

Assistant Cheney looked at the cheap joy on his boss’s face and nodded in agreement.

As the corners of Justin Kane’s mouth curved into a wide smile, Assistant Cheney grumbled internally, ’Is this still the CEO I know?’

’They all call him The Reaper, but in front of his wife, he’s a total sweetheart.’

The elevator doors opened.

His secretary was waiting outside, looking uneasy. "Mr. Kane, Miss Graham is here. She’s waiting for you in the lounge."

Justin Kane’s expression visibly darkened. "What is she doing here so early in the morning?"

The secretary didn’t dare to answer, instinctively looking toward Assistant Cheney.

"Ignore her. Announce the meeting."

Justin Kane strode on his long legs straight to the CEO’s office.

Assistant Cheney wasn’t surprised in the least. He quickly nodded. "Right away, Mr. Kane."

-

After posting to her feed, Nina Thorne started examining the surveillance disks.

Since so many years had passed, the disks were only labeled with approximate date ranges, even though they were separated by date.

So she had to go through all six or seven reels of disks.

To save time, she quickly wrote a script to precisely timestamp the footage, allowing the system to filter by time.

It had to be said, this single action saved a significant amount of time.

However, the first six disks all came up empty.

"How can there be nothing?"

Nina Thorne’s heart sank. She frowned, picked up the last one, and began to read it, full of hope.

Just then, she got a call from her uncle.

"Nina, your aunt said she hasn’t seen you in years and misses you terribly. She wanted to ask if you could come over for dinner tonight."

Mark Lockwood’s voice was urgent, as if he’d come over and drag her there himself if she refused.

Before Nina Thorne could reply, her aunt, Sharon Lawson, took the phone.

"Nina, your aunt really does miss you. We haven’t seen you in so many years. Your uncle wanted to invite you over several times but was too embarrassed."

"Look, can you do your aunt a favor today and come over to our place for dinner?"

Listening to them, Nina Thorne felt a pang of guilt. "Okay, I’ll come over tonight."

"That’s wonderful! It’s a date, then."

As if afraid she would change her mind, Sharon Lawson quickly hung up, absolutely overjoyed.

Mark Lockwood was stunned. "Nina agreed?"

"She agreed." Sharon Lawson was grinning from ear to ear.

Mark Lockwood let out a hearty laugh and praised her, "It seems my wife has the magic touch. This is great! I’ll have the kitchen make all her favorite dishes tonight."

"Of course. You don’t have to tell me."

Sharon Lawson was thrilled and immediately told the household staff to start preparing.

Nina Thorne hung up the phone and saw the search results on her computer screen. Her face turned pale.

Nothing?

There was absolutely nothing!

None of these disks were from the date of the incident.

How could this be?

Nina Thorne fell into thought. ’I must have missed something.’

’It seems I’ll have to get all the disks from that year and check them one by one.’

Since she was going to her uncle’s house this afternoon anyway, she could bring it up then.

Nina Thorne’s unease subsided a little, and she continued to refine the system she had written earlier.

-

Meanwhile, in a private room at a Chinese restaurant.

After failing to contact Cole Kane several times, Serena Kane resorted to asking Felicia Yates to help arrange a meeting with him.

The two sat at the dining table. Felicia Yates asked in confusion, "Didn’t I tell you to go to Vistara to help your second brother out so they could get back together?"

"How did it end up causing a rift between you two? What on earth happened?"

Serena Kane found it hard to explain, so she lied. "It’s all Nina Thorne’s fault. That bitch actually plotted against me and Second Brother, and now he doesn’t even want to see me."

"How outrageous."

Felicia Yates slammed her hand on the table in fury, not even asking for details. "She really thinks she’s something, doesn’t she? She’s just a damn orphan. In our circles, she’ll be eaten alive sooner or later!"

"She’s only seducing Justin because she can’t swallow her pride. And Justin is only giving her the time of day for the Thorne Family’s sake."

"She’s just a useless rich girl. What good is writing scripts!"

Felicia Yates vented her dissatisfaction, her expression filled with disgust and anger.

"I heard that yesterday, Cole Kane even got into a fight with Zane Jarvis over that bitch and cracked his head open."

"Even though the Jarvis Family is no match for the Kane Family, Cole was the one who threw the punch, so we’re in the wrong. Just wait until she gets back together with Cole and marries into the Kane Family. I’ll show her what’s what!"

Upon hearing this, Serena Kane was secretly pleased.

’Even if I was kicked out of the Kane Family, I still have Felicia Yates’s support.’

’If I’m miserable, Nina Thorne can forget about being happy!’

’The more Nina Thorne wants to know the secret from ten years ago, the more I’ll make sure she never finds out.’

The door to the private room was pushed open from the outside.

A moment later, the handsome figure of Cole Kane walked in.

"Second Brother."

Serena Kane looked at him excitedly.

Cole Kane’s face fell. "What are you doing here?"

"I invited her. Whatever misunderstanding there is between you two, clear it up today."

"Don’t let some irrelevant person ruin your relationship."

Cole Kane sneered. "I have nothing to say to her. Mother, don’t lie to get me to come out for her sake again."

He turned to leave, his back resolute and merciless.

Felicia Yates was aghast. "Stop right there!"

But Cole Kane paid her no mind and walked away quickly.

Serena Kane was furious. She clenched her fists tightly and shot to her feet. "Mom, don’t worry. I’ll go talk to Second Brother."

Felicia Yates took a deep breath, her expression softening slightly. "Fine. You two need to talk things through so you can present a united front."

Serena Kane chased after him and managed to stop Cole Kane in the open-air parking lot just as he was about to get into his car.

"Move. I have nothing to say to you."

Cole Kane’s face was stern, his aura frigid. All traces of his former affection for her were gone.

Serena Kane’s heart ached fiercely. She gritted her teeth and said, "If you’re not afraid of Nina Thorne finding out who saved her ten years ago, then I won’t stop you."

Cole Kane froze, his hand on the car door handle. "What did you say?"

Serena Kane had expected this reaction and smirked triumphantly. "Corinne Kerr saw Nina Thorne go to Mark Lockwood with her own eyes."

"Mark Lockwood is in charge of The Thorne Group’s tourism division. Tell me, why would Nina Thorne suddenly go to a branch office for no reason?"

"And of course, she also asked for the surveillance disks from ten years ago."

Cole Kane looked as if he’d been struck by lightning, staring at Serena Kane in horror. "Did she get them?"

A sinister smile flickered in Serena Kane’s eyes. "My dear second brother, this is precisely why I came looking for you."

With that, she moved closer, her hand caressing his chest, her gaze thick with ambiguity.

"If Second Brother still wants to take over The Thorne Group and turn the tables, then Nina Thorne absolutely cannot find out who saved her ten years ago."

"But Second Brother has been ignoring me lately, and it’s making me so upset~"

Cole Kane grabbed her wrist, his eyes narrowing menacingly. "Stop playing games. If you can be useful, I promise I’ll treat you better from now on."

"Alright."

Serena Kane tilted her head up, giving him a tender, seductive smile. "It’s a promise."

Cole Kane stared at her, his face taut and grim, his eyes cold and sinister.

A moment later, a WeChat notification chimed.

Cole Kane picked up his phone, swiped it open, and his expression changed dramatically.

Jessica Jenkins had sent a screenshot:

"Mr. Kane, Nina Thorne posted a picture of her marriage certificate on her feed. She’s really married."