Being Dumped by My EX, I Marriied His Older Brother-Chapter 152: Taking Over

"Miss Thorne, what a coincidence."

Jason Graham was tall and well-built, making him stand out among the group.

Nina Thorne smiled. "It certainly is."

’April Graham was his sister.’ 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’He must know better than anyone what happened on the night of the birthday party.’

The others saw they knew each other, but some didn’t recognize Nina Thorne.

"And this is?"

They looked uncertainly at Jason Graham, then at Jay Jacobs.

They knew Jay Jacobs.

He was Chairman Thorne’s right-hand man, and he often handled matters on the chairman’s behalf.

The Thorne Group had undergone a major upheaval in the last couple of days.

Master Thorne had been so angered by his own granddaughter that he’d coughed up blood and was hospitalized. Even Simon Foster had been dismissed from his post.

Although it wasn’t reported in the news, it was no secret in their circle.

"This is Nina Thorne, Chairman Thorne’s granddaughter. She will be managing the group from now on," Jay Jacobs announced proudly.

Immediately, a burst of snickering erupted.

"So, she’s Chairman Thorne’s granddaughter. Looks like the rumors were true. He just gets sick, and the company is handed over to someone so incompetent."

"A little girl who’s still wet behind the ears. All she ever thinks about is her little romances. I heard she even made a fool of herself at Mr. Kane’s birthday party a couple of days ago."

"Made a fool of herself how?"

"By trying to seduce Mr. Kane, of course. You didn’t know?"

The executives gossiped brazenly, showing Nina Thorne no respect whatsoever.

Jason Graham raised an eyebrow, watching Nina Thorne with great interest.

It seemed he wanted to see how she would handle it.

Jay Jacobs was furious.

Nina Thorne’s cold gaze swept over the men. Her eyes landed on Jason Graham, and her lips curled into a sneer. "I wouldn’t have expected someone like you, Mr. Graham, to associate with this kind of company."

The jab hit all of them, and their expressions soured.

"Watch your mouth, little girl. Your grandfather’s lying in a hospital bed now. There’s no one left to protect you."

Jason Graham narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing in their depths.

Just as he was about to speak.

Nina Thorne stared at the man and said sharply, "Cut the condescending crap. Who told you a woman needs to be protected?"

"You little brat, what did you just say!"

one of the men raged.

Jay Jacobs instinctively stepped in front of her.

Nina Thorne pulled him aside and faced the men directly. "You look down on women so much," she sneered. "What, was your mother a dog?"

"You!"

The men were red in the face with fury.

The excitement on Jay Jacobs’s face was unconcealed. "Well said."

"No matter what state The Thorne Group is in, we still have more than enough power to crush you. If you dare to mock our Miss Thorne again, you can forget about keeping your companies!"

Jay Jacobs shot a warning at them.

The men were indignant and about to retort, but a single glance from Jason Graham swept over them.

His gaze was as sharp as a blade.

Horrified, they immediately fell silent.

Nina Thorne said to Jay Jacobs, "Let’s go."

As she brushed past him, Jason Graham’s lips curled. "This side of you is quite a surprise, Miss Thorne."

Nina Thorne shot him a look but said nothing.

She left with Jay Jacobs.

As Jay Jacobs drove, he said, "The rumors about the Chairman’s illness are spreading through our circles. This is bad for the group. We need to handle this as soon as possible."

"Have the PR department issue a statement. Say that my grandfather is indeed unwell and is recuperating at home, and that the company will be under my full management from now on."

Nina Thorne was scrolling through the news on her phone, most of it about Cole Kane and Serena Kane.

She looked up and added, "And remember, don’t let anyone know Grandfather is in a coma."

"Understood. I’ll see to it."

"By the way, what about Mr. Foster?"

"He will return to the company first thing tomorrow morning."

"Good."

Once they finished discussing business, Nina Thorne leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes to rest.

She remembered five years ago, before her father got sick, he had told her, "You’re so bright, Nina. It’s time for you to come to the company and learn management."

Back then, Nina Thorne had been nothing but resistant. "The company has you and Grandpa. It doesn’t need me."

"Dad and Grandpa won’t be around forever. Don’t you want to take good care of the company, Nina?"

"Then you and Grandpa just have to live long, healthy lives and never leave me, okay?"

Her father had smiled dotingly and tapped her on the nose. "Okay, Dad and Grandpa will never leave our Nina..."

In the end, Dad broke his promise.

He was gone in less than three months, from the onset of his illness to his passing, leaving her and her grandfather behind.

It was all too fast.

So fast that Nina Thorne barely had time to process it.

A perfectly fine person, gone just like that.

From that day on, she was an orphan with only her grandfather left.

A heaviness settled in Nina Thorne’s chest. She didn’t want to think about the past anymore.

"Have you scheduled the meetings with the department heads?" she asked, taking a breath and gazing out the window.

’It seemed that starting today, she had to shoulder the heavy burden of The Thorne Group.’

"I tried to schedule them, but they all made excuses and declined." Jay Jacobs observed her expression in the rearview mirror.

Jay Jacobs was her grandfather’s right-hand man; he represented her grandfather’s authority.

For those people to refuse a meeting at this time, their ulterior motives were obvious.

"It’s fine. If they don’t want to meet, they don’t have to."

Nina Thorne said after a few seconds of thought, her tone nonchalant, as if she wasn’t particularly bothered.

Jay Jacobs had practically watched her grow up, and he just assumed she was tired.

The pressure of shouldering the entire Thorne Group at such a young age was immense.

But the harsh realities of the world don’t care about age or gender...

Nina Thorne had Jay Jacobs drive her back to the office.

She needed to pick up some files to review at home.

She was clueless about the company’s projects, big or small, over the past years. Now, she had no choice but to cram.

’I’ve already caused Grandfather to be hospitalized and fall into a coma. I absolutely cannot let anything happen to the group.’

As soon as they entered the ground-floor lobby.

A figure rushed toward her, pointing a finger in her face. "You bitch! You’ve already done this to Cole, and you still have the nerve to sue him?"

It was peak time for employees leaving work.

Employees were streaming out from the elevators.

Jay Jacobs instinctively moved to block Felicia Yates from getting any closer.

But the curses were especially loud in the lobby, and the employees all stopped to watch.

Some people even took out their phones to take pictures and record videos.

"Mrs. Kane, this is a public place. Please be mindful of your image," Jay Jacobs reminded her.

’He couldn’t believe it. For the esteemed Mrs. Kane to act so shamelessly in public... Then again, the scandal with the Second Young Master and Third Young Miss of the Kane family was causing a massive uproar, and the videos online didn’t look AI-generated. Rumor had it they were still in custody at the police station, denied bail. Could this have something to do with Miss Thorne?’

"Get the hell out of my way! This has nothing to do with you."

Felicia Yates was in a fit of anger and couldn’t care less about her image.

Especially now, when Old Master Kane refused to see her, and her husband had yet to make an appearance.

Even Justin Kane, the most resourceful member of the family, was turning a blind eye to the matter.

"Nina Thorne, you were with Cole Kane for five years. Are you really so heartless as to send him to prison?"

"All these years, if it weren’t for him, you would have died long ago! Is this how you repay him?"

Completely ignoring the crowd, Felicia Yates aggressively tried to grab Nina Thorne and force her to withdraw the lawsuit.

But before her hand could touch Nina, Nina sidestepped her.

"Are you talking about him saving my life? As for whether he actually saved me... I think Serena Kane knows the truth, and you probably do, too."

Nina Thorne raised her eyes and said coolly, "In that case, you must also know that Cole Kane spent ten years posing as my savior, correct?"

Felicia Yates shuddered.

She looked at Nina Thorne in disbelief, and it took her a long time to find her voice. "What nonsense are you spouting? He was the one who saved you back then."

Nina Thorne laughed coldly. "Let’s put that aside for a moment. He drugged me. Serena Kane hired someone to run me over... For every single one of these acts, I’m going to put them behind bars. They’ve earned it."

"Felicia Yates, don’t forget your place. Stop trying to order me around!"

Nina Thorne’s expression was cold; she didn’t want to waste another word on her.

Felicia Yates was livid. She pointed a finger at Nina and sneered, "You... With a character like yours, so vicious... no wonder Cole doesn’t love you."

"So don’t blame anyone but yourself for not being acknowledged that night!"

At the mention of that night, a pang of pain shot through Nina’s heart, as if a hole had been torn through it.

Even though she had come to terms with it, the words still stung sharply.

’Why, even now, was she blaming everything on me?’

’Was it my fault I wasn’t loved?’

’Was it my fault I wasn’t acknowledged?’

Nina Thorne wasn’t falling for it anymore. She looked at Felicia Yates coldly. "And that is why I have no goodwill toward you or anyone else in the Kane family."

Nina Thorne turned and ordered Jay Jacobs, "Get her out of here. And anyone who took photos or videos, make them delete everything. If anyone dares to leak a thing, they’re to be fired from the group immediately and reported to the police."

With that, Nina Thorne turned and walked toward the elevators.

Felicia Yates shouted anxiously from behind, her voice urgent and helpless.

But Nina Thorne didn’t even glance back as she went straight upstairs.

Felicia Yates shouted desperately at her retreating back, "Their reputations are already ruined! Isn’t that enough?"

Hearing this, Nina Thorne’s lips curled into a cold smile.

’Ruining their reputations wasn’t nearly enough. They were going to pay the price for everything they had done to her!’

When Nina Thorne returned to her office, Albert Locke called. "I’ve heard about what’s happening at the company. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Nina Thorne was just about to look for him when he called.

"I officially took over the company today. There’s a problem at the factory, and I suspect there’s a mole."

Nina Thorne cut to the chase. "Do you want to come back and help me?"

Albert Locke laughed. "Give me two days. I’ll wrap things up here."

Nina Thorne readily agreed, "Perfect, there’s a new energy seminar in two days. We can go together."

"No problem."

After hanging up, Nina Thorne walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the towering high-rises before her, and fell into deep thought.

She remained there until Jay Jacobs pushed the door open, followed by several employees carrying stacks of files, which they placed on her desk.

Jay Jacobs came up behind her to report. "Miss Thorne, the situation from earlier has been handled."

"As for the files, I’ve selected the most urgent ones for you to review first."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Nina Thorne said with genuine appreciation.

’As expected of the man who’s been by Grandfather’s side for so long. He really is competent.’

Nina Thorne had him carry the files she needed to review, and they prepared to head downstairs.

As they were walking out of the building, she suddenly remembered something. "Help me find a place to live, preferably close to the office."

Jay Jacobs nodded.

He was inwardly surprised and astonished.

’Miss Thorne seems so capable. Why did everyone used to say she was a useless rich girl? And this afternoon at the factory, the way she handled things was so confident and composed, yet so radiant and assertive. She was just like the Chairman.’

Nina Thorne had no idea what he was thinking. When she got back to her apartment building and was about to head upstairs,

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from behind her, "Nina Thorne."

Hearing the voice, Nina Thorne’s steps halted, and her heart trembled.

She clenched her fists, hesitated for a few seconds, then slowly turned to look.