Being Dumped by My EX, I Marriied His Older Brother-Chapter 49: You... Drugged Me?

Nina Thorne didn’t dare to ask further, afraid she’d seem like she was reading too much into things.

Justin Kane noticed her gaze darting away, deliberately avoiding his own. "Why’d you go quiet?" he asked in a low, husky voice.

Nina Thorne glanced up at him, but only for a second before she hurriedly looked away and shook her head. "It’s nothing."

To stop Justin Kane from pressing the issue, Nina Thorne blurted out, "Cole Kane told me before. He said you’re the kind of person who can do anything."

Cole Kane’s name was a real mood killer at a time like this.

Justin Kane’s expression visibly cooled. Afraid of scaring her, he consciously relaxed his furrowed brow. "You seem to remember his words very clearly," he said, his voice husky.

Nina Thorne didn’t notice anything was amiss and just nodded. "He wasn’t wrong. That’s how I see you, too—as someone incredibly capable."

Nina Thorne looked up, her gaze sincere. The burning heat in her face had subsided, but a faint blush still lingered at the corners of her eyes, accenting her fair, translucent skin.

Justin Kane’s gaze was dark as he studied her face. He let out a soft sigh. "Nina Thorne, you can be a little dense sometimes."

"Huh?" Nina Thorne uttered.

Justin Kane didn’t explain, simply reaching out to ruffle her hair. "You must be tired. Go upstairs and get some rest."

His voice was deep and husky, betraying no emotion. It was low and magnetic, making him difficult to refuse.

Nina Thorne obediently went upstairs, washed her face, changed her clothes, and lay down on the bed for an afternoon nap.

Meanwhile, Justin Kane was in his study, lighting a cigarette.

The phone on his desk suddenly rang. Justin Kane glanced down at it, swiping to answer with his long fingers as he slowly exhaled a plume of smoke.

Seth Lawson’s voice came through the phone. "Kane, where you at?"

He let out an appreciative hiss. "Man, I read your girl’s script today. I’ve gotta say, she’s great at writing emotional scenes, especially family stuff. It’s incredibly immersive..."

Justin Kane’s handsome face was wreathed in smoke, obscuring his expression. The oppressive air around him had been heavy, but now, it warmed considerably.

He was silent for so long that Seth Lawson almost thought he’d hung up. Finally, Justin spoke quietly, "Send it to me."

Seth Lawson chuckled. "I was starting to wonder what was wrong, you went quiet for so long. Alright, sending it now."

A faint rustling sound came from the other end, and a document appeared in Justin Kane’s WeChat.

Seth said, "Script’s sent. There are twenty episodes left. We should be able to start filming soon."

He paused. "So, Kane, are you serious about this girl?"

The smoke cleared from Justin Kane’s face, revealing his well-defined features. The soft light cast shadows across his face, perfectly concealing the dark, swirling emotions in his eyes.

He raised a hand, his knuckles well-defined, and stroked the starry-sky watch on his left wrist a few times. "Mind your own business," he warned in a low voice.

He put the call on speaker, went into WeChat, and opened the document to start reading Nina Thorne’s work.

This wasn’t the first time he had read her writing. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He’d read her other produced scripts. The romance between her characters bore no resemblance whatsoever to her relationship with Cole Kane.

This was precisely why he had sought her out the day he returned to the country and goaded her into marrying him.

Seth Lawson, however, wasn’t one to shut up. He started joking, "Alright, alright, I won’t ask about your business. But do you know what you’re acting like right now?"

Justin Kane raised an eyebrow, waiting.

As expected, Seth didn’t disappoint. "You’ve been bitten by the love bug, my friend. Hard."

Justin Kane’s thick brows furrowed slightly. "..."

...

For the next few days, Nina Thorne stayed home and wrote.

She hit a creative surge and easily finished the remaining twenty episodes, turning in the script to the producer on the fifth day.

Ever since she went to the Kane family estate to break off the engagement, Felicia Yates hadn’t contacted her.

And since she had already blocked Cole Kane, there was no harassment from his end either.

She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. Although the engagement wasn’t formally dissolved yet, she had taken a huge step forward.

Nina Thorne was in the kitchen pouring a glass of water. Feeling a weight off her shoulders now that the script was done, she began thinking about how to follow up on the broken engagement.

As if on cue, Felicia Yates called.

Her voice was cold. "Nina Thorne, even if you want to break off the engagement, we need to sit down and discuss some things clearly, piece by piece."

"It’s not as simple as you saying it’s over, and that’s that. Breaking an engagement is a major affair; we should meet and settle it properly."

Nina Thorne agreed with her. "What did you have in mind?"

"I’ll send you an address. Come over, and we’ll have a proper talk," Felicia Yates said, her tone condescending.

Nina Thorne fell silent, suddenly wary. She opened WeChat and only relaxed her guard when she saw the location Felicia had sent was a Chinese restaurant.

She agreed. "Alright."

Half an hour later, Nina Thorne arrived by car.

Once she was outside the restaurant, she sent her location to Justin Kane with a message: "Cole’s mother asked me to meet here to discuss breaking the engagement."

After sending the message, Nina Thorne got out of her car and entered the restaurant.

Justin Kane was sitting with his legs crossed on a black leather sofa. Across from him, a stern-faced Ethan Kane was both shocked and furious. "How could you do something like this!"

"If word of this gets out, do you have any idea how much damage it will do to the Kane family’s reputation?"

Justin Kane’s expression was cold and proud. "As far as I’m concerned, there’s no problem that can’t be solved."

"You!" Ethan Kane was seething.

But seeing Justin Kane’s cool expression, the sheer, arrogant confidence of a master strategist emanating from him, most of his own anger subsided.

This son of his had taken over the corporation at eighteen and, in just a few short years, built his own financial empire.

He had always been disciplined and methodical, never giving his father cause for concern.

The one thing that had always worried him was Justin’s love life—or lack thereof, having been single for twenty-eight years.

He’d never imagined Justin would give him such a massive shock!

His tone softened, and he asked with resignation, "Fine. Since you’ve already gone and gotten married behind our backs, tell me, how do you plan to clean up this mess?"

Justin’s brow furrowed. Just as he was about to speak, his phone chimed with a WeChat notification.

He picked up the phone from the sofa beside him, opened the app, and his gaze darkened instantly upon seeing Nina Thorne’s message.

...

By this time, Nina Thorne had already entered the private room.

Felicia Yates was the only one in the room.

After Nina sat down, Felicia Yates’s cold demeanor from the phone was gone. Instead, she was smiling amiably, her tone a mix of persuasion and placation.

"Nina, dear, I haven’t contacted you these past few days because I’ve been seriously reflecting on my mistakes from our last meeting."

"You were right that day. Cole was completely in the wrong. And as for Serena, I’ve already taught her a lesson as well."

"So, what do you say? How about giving Cole another chance? It wasn’t easy for you two to get to this point after five years together. It would be such a shame to just break up like this..."

As Felicia Yates pleaded earnestly, she got up, walked over to Nina, and poured two cups of tea.

Steam curled up gracefully, and the fragrance of tea filled the air.

Nina Thorne listened quietly, her expression neutral. She reiterated, "I’ve thought this through very clearly, ma’am. There’s no future for Cole and me. I am determined to break off the engagement."

Felicia Yates’s brow furrowed. "So there’s really no chance at all?"

Nina Thorne shook her head firmly. "None."

Felicia Yates sighed, her expression pained. She then picked up her teacup. "I’m not an unreasonable person. I had hoped to persuade you today, but since your mind is made up, I’ll respect your decision."

With that, Felicia Yates tapped her cup against Nina’s, saying they could toast with tea instead of wine, and wished Nina well in finding a good man in the future.

Not suspecting a thing, Nina Thorne drank the tea.

’Felicia wouldn’t go so far as to harm me,’ she thought. ’After all, in all these years, she’s never done anything truly awful to me.’

’Even if she dislikes me, she’s always been cordial on the surface.’

The moment she drank it, however, the world began to spin. The strength drained from her body, and her vision blurred until the image of Felicia Yates before her splintered into countless overlapping shadows.

Nina Thorne was horrified. "You... you drugged the tea?"

Felicia Yates sneered. "This is the only way to make you listen."

The words had barely left her mouth when Cole Kane walked in through the door, scooped Nina up into his arms, and quickly left the private room.