Being Dumped by My EX, I Marriied His Older Brother-Chapter 63: Don’t...

Nina Thorne felt awful.

She suddenly grabbed Justin Kane’s hand as it roamed freely upwards. Her breathing was a little heavy. "Don’t..."

Nina Thorne looked at Justin Kane.

Her bright cheeks were flushed scarlet, and her eyes were so clear and pure that he felt his actions had been a kind of desecration.

Seeing her resistance, the desire in Justin Kane’s eyes faded. "I understand."

Nina knew he’d misunderstood, thinking she was rejecting him, and wanted to explain.

She opened her mouth. "It’s not..."

"Not what?"

Justin Kane’s tall, slender figure rose to his feet. He went to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of ice-cold water, and chugged most of it in one go.

"I won’t force you, Nina. I told you I could wait for you, but I’ll say it again—don’t make me wait too long."

As he said the last part, he lifted his gaze to look at Nina.

His dark, profound eyes were bottomless, hiding some unknown emotion.

Hearing his words, Nina suddenly felt like she was the heartbreaker.

Justin Kane was truly a good man.

He wasn’t cold and heartless like he appeared on the surface. In reality, he was mature, gentle, incredibly responsible, and very well-mannered.

But the truth was, she wasn’t against... that... with him.

It was just that... he didn’t love her. And she wasn’t sure if she merely didn’t dislike him, or if she actually liked him.

He had suddenly gone from being an older brother figure to her husband.

For the time being, she found it truly difficult to sort out her real feelings for him.

Besides, he was in love with someone else.

"Justin Kane,"

Nina didn’t want to guess anymore. She mustered her courage and asked, "Who is the person you love?"

Justin Kane tossed the empty water bottle in his hand, landing it perfectly in the trash can. He then poured a glass of warm water and walked over to hand it to her.

"She’s a silly girl, with a fiery temper sometimes." Justin’s gaze was fixed on her face, as if he were talking about her.

"But she’s kind-hearted, pure-minded, and also very smart and talented."

Nina could see the unconcealable affection and admiration in his eyes when he spoke of that girl.

For a fleeting moment, she thought he was talking about her.

’To be loved by Justin Kane,’ she thought, ’she must be an outstanding girl.’

Unfortunately, that girl didn’t love him.

Nina couldn’t quite describe the feeling in her heart. It was like a muggy day in August, making it hard to breathe...

She clutched the glass and nervously took several sips, tactfully deciding not to ask any more questions.

Even if she did ask, it would only make her feel worse.

So there was no point in pressing the issue.

After finishing the water, she leaned forward slightly to put the glass down, but Justin took it from her and placed it on the table.

"Just stay here tonight." Justin stood before her, looking down with a tone that brooked no refusal.

Nina hesitated. "I have the shoot tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Eight in the morning."

Justin grunted in acknowledgment. "Go to sleep. I have to be near the set tomorrow morning anyway, so I can give you a ride."

’What a coincidence,’ she thought.

With that, Nina had no reason to refuse.

Lying in bed with her eyes closed, a full half hour passed, but Nina still couldn’t fall asleep.

Sensing the man stirring beside her, Nina ventured, "Are you asleep?"

Justin replied quickly, "No."

Nina had been lying on her side with her back to him. Hearing his voice, she turned over onto her back and tilted her head to glance at him.

The dim, yellow light cast his face in shadow and light, highlighting his chiseled features, so exquisitely handsome it was hard to look away.

"Staring at me like that, do you feel the urge to fall in love?" Justin asked teasingly, his voice low, magnetic, and pleasant to the ear.

Nina couldn’t help but smile, the tension in her heart easing considerably.

"Probably not."

She chuckled, speaking honestly. "But I can’t say for the future."

’Maybe I will fall in love with him.’

Her heart had already fluttered for him more than once.

’He might be in love with someone else, but who doesn’t have a past?’

Justin’s eyes darkened, and he said out of the blue, "Because you have a fiery temper."

"?"

Nina was confused.

Justin continued, "One year, a boy from the Lawson family said you ate too much, and you punched him in the head. Remember?"

Nina was thirteen that year.

The distant memory came rushing back to Nina. She suddenly remembered, and her face flushed red.

She vaguely recalled that the boy had tried to hit her back, but Justin had appeared just in time to stop him, so she hadn’t gotten hurt.

’How embarrassing.’

"It’s been so many years, and you still remember." Nina’s lips twitched. "So what does that have to do with the nickname you gave me?"

"The nickname is ’Gas.’ Short for gas tank."

Justin chuckled. "And what’s a key property of a gas tank?"

’Fire?’

’Flammable and explosive?’

"..."

Nina’s face instantly turned beet red. She yanked the blanket up, covering her entire face.

’So humiliating!’

’I shouldn’t have even asked.’

Beside her, Justin Kane watched her series of embarrassed actions. A deep amusement surfaced in his dark eyes, and a low chuckle escaped his lips.

’She’s actually pretty cute,’ he thought.

’A pity...’

’She doesn’t love me.’ 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

...

「The next day at noon, on set.」

「Lunch break.」

As Nina Thorne ate her boxed lunch, she recalled Justin Kane saying the person he loved had a fiery temper.

’That part sounds a lot like me,’ she mused.

’I have a pretty explosive temper too.’

’But "kind-hearted" and "pure-minded"... those don’t seem to have anything to do with me.’

"Nina..."

Jessica Jenkins suddenly tapped her on the shoulder, scaring her so badly her soul nearly left her body.

Nina’s heart hammered. "You scared me to death! What’s up?"

Jessica Jenkins grinned and lowered her voice. "I saw that guy from last night! He’s even hotter than Cole Kane!"

"If I remember correctly, his name is Justin Kane, Cole’s older brother, right?"

"Come on, spill it! What’s the dramatic love story between you two? Last night when I got home, I saw your message asking me to bring your script today, and I was dying to ask you then."

Jessica Jenkins was cute and charming, with a cheerful personality that made her very likable. Nina was very fond of her.

After what happened last night, she had been terrified, but it seemed she’d recovered quickly and was already back to gossiping.

Nina gave a helpless smile. "You should quit acting and become a paparazzi."

Jessica bumped her with her shoulder, whining playfully, "Tell me! I’m so curious!"

When it came to her private life, Nina would only open up a little to Macy Lynch; with everyone else, she was always intensely guarded.

"Alright, enough with the gossip."

Nina changed the subject, asking if she was still psychologically affected by the incident last night.

Seeing that Nina didn’t want to talk about it, Jessica was tactful enough not to press her.

But at the mention of last night’s drunkard, she huffed and let out a string of curses before going off to run lines with another actor.

As soon as she left, a WeChat message arrived from Justin Kane.

JT: [When do you get off?]

Nina: [Almost done for the day. Should be early.]

She glanced at the time.

She added: [Before three, I think.]

JT: [Okay. There’s a dinner tonight. Come with me. I’ll pick you up.]

Nina replied with an ’OK’ sticker, turned off her phone screen, and went to the restroom.

Around two-thirty, filming resumed.

Director Aldridge asked Nina, "Ms. Thorne, have you finished revising the parts I mentioned?"

Nina hummed in assent and opened her laptop, but a moment later, her expression changed drastically.

Director Aldridge noticed her strange expression. "What’s wrong?"

"The revised draft was deleted, but I’m sure I saved it properly..." Nina didn’t finish, her sharp gaze suddenly sweeping across the area.

’I get it,’ she realized. ’Someone tampered with my laptop.’

Director Aldridge said anxiously, "The filming schedule is already behind. We have to finish these scenes today. Do you think you can revise it again right now?"

"I..."

Nina had just started to speak when a disgruntled voice piped up, "Even if the screenwriter fixes it now, it’ll just delay filming for us actors and eat into everyone’s break time."

"Exactly! Ms. Screenwriter, this is just too unreliable of you."

"Yeah, Director! You promised we’d be done by nine today so we could get some rest. Are we going to have to pull another all-nighter?"

"..."

Every word they said, both explicit and implied, was filled with dissatisfaction toward Nina.

Seeing the actors getting riled up, Director Aldridge looked very troubled.

Jessica Jenkins spoke up for her friend. "Stop it, you guys. Nina didn’t do it on purpose. She feels bad about the draft being gone, too."

She came to Nina’s side with a worried look. "Nina, how could the draft just disappear like that?"

Nina frowned and shook her head. "I don’t know."

She suspected someone had deleted it, but she had no proof.

The most urgent task was to recover the draft.

Jessica anxiously grabbed her hand. "So what do we do now? Why don’t you start revising it again? Worst case, we pull an all-nighter. The director already gave the word, so even if they complain, there’s nothing they can do."

"I can get it back."

"Really?"

"Really."

Nina pulled her hand back and said to Director Aldridge, "Director, just give me two minutes."

Although Director Aldridge wasn’t entirely convinced, he still nodded.

"Fix it in two minutes? What a load of hot air!"

"Everyone should just get used to it. In a minute, when she can’t find it, she’ll just come up with another excuse to fool us. In the end, we’re the ones who suffer."

"..."

The actors started up with their doubts again, seemingly in tacit agreement to target Nina.

Nina’s clear gaze swept over them one by one. Without another word, her ten fingers began to fly across the keyboard, typing lines of code.

She moved so fast it was dazzling to watch.

In less than two minutes, Nina announced with a relaxed expression, "I’ve got it back."

Everyone was stunned.

Director Aldridge looked at the contents. Sure enough, all the parts he had pointed out had been adjusted perfectly. He immediately broke into a laugh.

"Ms. Thorne, I had no idea you were hiding such skills."

Just based on the way Nina’s hands had moved so fast they were a blur, her proficient skills, and recovering the file in such a short time, it was clear she was incredibly capable.

She had more than enough talent to be a high-level tech professional.

So why on earth did she...

...choose to be a humble screenwriter?

The others hadn’t expected Nina to actually have a solution. They fell silent at once and dispersed, looking bored.

Jessica Jenkins was thrilled, her eyes filled with adoration as she looked at Nina. "Oh my god, Nina, you’re so cool! I feel like you’re totally overqualified to be a screenwriter!"

A dark look flashed in Nina’s eyes, but she just smiled. "Alright, stop with the flattery and get ready to film."

’If it hadn’t been an emergency, I would have rather rewritten the draft than show off a skill like that,’ she thought.

After Jessica left,

Nina glanced at the time and began packing her things, ready to leave.

「Not far away.」

Justin Kane’s handsome and noble figure stood under the eaves of the corridor. He gazed at her, and a comforting smile graced his lips, especially as he recalled her fluid, confident, and graceful actions moments before.

’Has she finally moved on from that incident?’ he wondered.