Justin Kane raised an eyebrow. "I’m your what?"
He noticed her strange expression.
Justin Kane followed her gaze and looked back.
At almost the sa mont, April Graham walked toward him, a bright smile on her face. "Justin, so this is where you were. You had looking all over for you."
Nina Thorne sized up the approaching April Graham.
She had only caught a quick glimpse of her at the celebration party and hadn’t gotten a good look at her face.
Now that April was right in front of her, Nina was rather stunned.
April Graham had the kind of striking, magnanimous beauty.
Her features were large yet delicate, looking particularly stunning on her small, squarish face.
Especially when she smiled, she radiated confidence, like a sunflower turning toward the morning sun.
"And this is?"
April Graham looked Nina up and down, then smiled in sudden realization. "Justin, this must be that little sister you ntioned to before, Nina Thorne, right?"
"She’s so cute, and quite pretty too."
April Graham stared at Nina with arrogant eyes, then naturally looped her arm through Justin Kane’s, as intimate as a pair of lovers.
Watching her cling to Justin Kane’s arm, Nina felt a tightness in her chest.
"Behave."
Justin Kane pulled his arm back, putting so distance between them. His expression was cold and displeased. "I’m a married man. Watch your words and actions."
April Graham glanced at Nina and let out a chuckle. "Alright, alright, a married man. I get it. I’ll play along, okay?"
Justin Kane’s eyes darkened as he shot a sharp glare at her.
April Graham just kept smiling brightly, not minding it in the least.
Nina froze.
’It seems Justin told her about their relationship.’
’And since she doesn’t care, he must have already placated her.’
Thinking it was probably with promises of divorcing her, Nina didn’t want to watch any longer. She forced her lips into a semblance of a smile. "You two talk. I’ll be going."
With that, she turned to leave.
Justin Kane suddenly grabbed her hand, his expression gentle and his voice magnetic. "I’ll go back with you."
Nina raised an eyebrow in surprise and instinctively glanced at April Graham.
’Isn’t he afraid of making his sweetheart angry?’
But she didn’t say anything. Feeling a sliver of comfort, she nodded with a soft "mhm" and was just about to turn and go.
Suddenly, April Graham swayed, her face pale, and collapsed against Justin Kane, her hand clutching desperately at the fabric on his chest.
"Justin, my heart... it hurts so much..."
She looked like she was in agony, struggling for breath. "I feel awful..."
Seeing her pale face, Justin Kane didn’t think she was faking it. He imdiately let go of Nina’s hand and scooped April Graham into his arms.
He looked at Nina. "Wait here for . I’m taking her to a doctor first."
Nina was stunned by April Graham’s state and numbly nodded.
In the next mont, she could only watch as Justin Kane carried April Graham away, rushing to find a doctor.
Justin Kane’s expression looked very tense.
Nina knew she shouldn’t overthink things when it was a matter of life and death.
But her heart still sank heavily, aching with a painful numbness.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her.
She had resolved not to care, but she still felt unbearably miserable.
She didn’t wait for Justin Kane. Instead, she quickly left the hospital and returned to the villa.
She was leaving for Vistara tomorrow.
Nina didn’t know if Justin Kane would be back tonight, but she figured that as his wife, she should at least tell him before she left.
She was about to send him a WeChat ssage when one ca from him first: "Are you ho?"
Nina replied, "Just got back."
She couldn’t be bothered to ask about April Graham’s condition. Whether she lived or died had nothing to do with her.
Besides, the woman was her love rival.
"Sorry about earlier. I couldn’t go back with you."
"It’s fine."
On Justin Kane’s end, the typing indicator appeared. After a long mont, a lengthy ssage arrived.
"Don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing between her and . April Graham has a heart condition, and she really was having an attack just now."
"I’ll be back in a bit to explain everything properly. Don’t be angry, Mrs. Kane, okay?"
Nina’s hand holding the phone tightened slightly, her knuckles turning white.
Reading Justin Kane’s explanation, the tightness in her chest eased considerably, as if she could see his concern for her between the lines.
’Maybe,’ she thought hesitantly, ’we really can sit down and have a proper talk?’
"Okay, we’ll talk when you get back."
After sending that, Nina added another ssage. "I have sothing to tell you, too."
After she sent it, Justin Kane didn’t reply again.
Nina didn’t think much of it and put her phone down to take a shower.
Perhaps because she had decided to talk with him, her heavy mood not only lifted but she also began to look forward to Justin Kane’s return.
After her shower, Nina heard a WeChat notification.
She walked over to the nightstand in a few quick steps. There was a friend request on WeChat.
"Z."
As Nina frowned, trying to figure out who it was from the userna...
The next second, a call ca through.
She hesitated before swiping to answer. A deep, magnetic voice ca from the other end. "The great heiress of the Thorne Family is trying to skip out on paying for a re suit?"
The other person’s tone was mocking, sharp, and direct.
Nina’s heart skipped a beat.
’Jason Graham?’
"That wasn’t my intention."
"You didn’t intend to, you just did it."
The voice on the other end had a nonchalant air, yet it was deep and magnetic in a way that kept her on edge.
"Surely Miss Thorne hasn’t been so busy for the past few days that she couldn’t find ti to add on WeChat?"
Nina cleared her throat in embarrassnt. "I’ll transfer the money to you right now."
Without even hanging up the phone, Nina transferred 100,000.
"Is that enough?"
"One hundred thousand?"
Jason Graham’s tone was teasing. "Miss Thorne, that suit was handmade in Valoria by a master tailor. What do you think?"
"..."
If the man on the other end wasn’t the famous Crown Prince of the Vistara Veridian elite...
Nina would have really suspected she was being scamd.
She took a breath and asked impatiently, "Why don’t you just tell how much it costs, and I’ll transfer it to you."
Jason Graham let out a low chuckle. "You can owe for now."
"You..."
Before she could finish, he hung up.
Nina was completely baffled, with no idea what he ant.
Especially since the Graham Family were rivals to not only The Kane Group, but the Thorne Family as well.
She didn’t want too much contact with him and wanted to resolve this quickly, so she decisively accepted the friend request and sent a ssage.
"Just tell the price. Let’s not waste ti, President Graham. After all, ti is precious."
To her surprise, Jason Graham replied instantly.
"Is it your ti for writing short plays that’s precious, or... sothing else?"
Nina frowned slightly, sensing an insinuation in his words.
She sent, "?"
He didn’t reply again.
Nina didn’t pay it much mind. Rembering she had things to discuss with Justin Kane, she went downstairs to the kitchen herself to make a white fungus and sweet herb soup.
Miss King joked, "Madam is so good at making food, we’re all going to lose our jobs soon."
"I was just idle and wanted to try sothing new. I’m nowhere near as good as you," Nina said, stirring the sweet soup in the pot.
"Madam has such a good temper. No wonder the President likes you so much, and for so long, too," Miss King remarked with a sigh.
Nina was tasting the soup for sweetness and accidentally burned her tongue.
She quickly went to rinse her mouth.
Miss King anxiously handed her a napkin from the side. Nina took it, wiped her mouth, and then looked at Miss King seriously.
"What did you just say?"
Nina was astonished. "Justin Kane likes ? And has for a long ti?"
"Yes, the President is incredibly fond of you, Madam. Speaking of which, you could already tell five years ago at the Kane Family estate."
Nina felt that Miss King must be mistaken.
’Five years ago? How could Justin Kane possibly have liked her back then?’
"I was still young then. How could he have liked ? It was good enough that he didn’t find my willfulness annoying and constantly butt heads with ."
Nina went to turn off the stove, ladled the soup into two bowls, and carried them out to the dining table.
Miss King frowned, puzzled.
’Annoyed?’
’How could he have been annoyed?’
’Back then, there were so many photos in the President’s room. Eight out of every ten of them were of Madam.’
Miss King walked over to Nina and said tentatively, "Madam, could you have misunderstood sothing?"
"The President really does like you. In his room..."
Nina stared at her intently, waiting for her to continue.
Suddenly, the sound of an engine echoed from the courtyard outside.
Justin Kane was back.
Sure enough, a mont later, Justin Kane’s tall, lean figure strode in. He walked with long, quick steps toward Nina.
"Did you have this prepared for ?"
Justin Kane noticed the dessert on the table and assud Nina had asked Miss King to make it.
Nina nodded, her expression demure. "I was craving dessert, and I rembered you seem to like this too, so I made so."
"Are you hungry? Want to have so together?"
Nina extended the invitation.
The surprise in Justin Kane’s eyes deepened. "You made it?"
Before Nina could speak...
Miss King said with a happy smile, "Madam made it especially for the President. She put a lot of thought into it."
Nina smiled shyly. "I don’t know if it’s any good. You should try it."
"Let’s eat together."
Justin Kane pulled Nina down to sit with him.
Seeing the harmonious couple, Miss King tactfully withdrew.
The warm light of the dining room cascaded down on them from above.
Sitting together, their two figures looked sweet and intimate.
Justin Kane took a few bites and didn’t hold back his praise. "It tastes wonderful. Mrs. Kane is truly skilled and clever with her hands."
Nina tilted her head up to look at his handso face. The tightness that had plagued her heart for the past two days didn’t seem so painful anymore.
But there were so things she felt she had to ask about clearly.
"Justin Kane, where did you go last night?" Nina asked, seemingly casually, as she ate.
Justin Kane looked at her profile, knowing which night she was asking about. He explained in a gentle voice, "There was a sudden problem at the company. A board mber was making trouble behind the scenes. I called an ergency eting that night and dealt with it all night long."
Nina was very surprised by this answer.
"You were handling business all night?"
She had a certain amount of trust in Justin Kane’s character and knew he wouldn’t lie. She asked again, "Is it handled now?"
"It’s handled."
Justin Kane put down his spoon and took Nina’s small hand, which was resting on the table. "It was an ergency. I haven’t been able to spend much ti with you these past two days. Are you angry?"
Feeling the warmth spreading from her palm, Nina’s heart suddenly sped up as she thought about the question she was about to ask.
"Didn’t you go find April Graham that night? I..."
Nina paused. Not wanting to evade the issue any longer, she gathered her courage and looked him in the eye. "I heard you on the phone in the hallway. I know it was April Graham looking for you."
"Justin Kane, don’t lie to . I just want to hear the truth."
Justin Kane froze for a mont, then it dawned on him.
’So she heard my phone call that night. Is that why she was so cold to the next day?’
"I really was in a eting that night. I didn’t see her."
After explaining in his magnetic voice, Justin Kane’s thin lips curved into a smile. He reached out and affectionately tapped the side of her nose. "Mrs. Kane, be honest. Are you in love with ?"
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