Being Dumped by My EX, I Marriied His Older Brother-Chapter 163: Face-slapping

For over ten minutes, the audience was completely silent.

Everyone stared silently at Nina Thorne.

They couldn’t believe this was the same useless socialite from before.

It wasn’t until Nina Thorne finished her presentation that the people below slowly came back to their senses.

What followed was a thunderous round of applause.

Someone exclaimed in amazement:

"This theory is incredible! It’s simpler and more direct than Engineer Locke’s, yet somehow more advanced."

"Yeah, I even think that once this system is developed, new energy vehicles will break through their current bottlenecks. We won’t have to worry about all those safety issues anymore."

Instantly, the way everyone looked at Nina Thorne changed.

Their initial disdain and contempt had turned into sheer admiration.

When April Graham saw this, jealousy and resentment filled her chest.

’Why her?!’

’Why does Nina Thorne get so much praise?!’

Even the way Justin Kane looked at her had become exceptionally deep.

His eyes were as dark as night, and though his aura kept others at a distance, his gaze on Nina Thorne was scorching hot.

It wasn’t just him.

Even her brother, Jason Graham, was now looking at Nina Thorne with pure appreciation.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to Nina Thorne, as if she were a brilliant star.

Nina Thorne’s gaze swept directly to April Graham. "You can come up for the competition now."

But Nina’s highly advanced theory had made April Graham wary.

She especially recalled how Nina had designed a development system at just nine years old, and a knot of worry formed in her stomach.

’Could she really be that skilled?’

’Even if she hasn’t had any advanced training all these years, could her system development skills still be superior to mine?’

’No, I don’t believe it.’

’Someone must be helping her!’

’Yes, that’s it.’

’It must have been Justin Kane and Albert Locke helping her. That’s why Nina Thorne beat me before.’

’And that’s how she was able to recite a perfect theory just now.’

April Graham clenched her fists, stood up, and walked over. "A competition it is. I’m going to defeat you and show everyone that you don’t have what it takes."

Seeing her come up, Nina Thorne curled her lips into a satisfied smile.

’Good, she took the bait.’

Then, her gaze swept over the audience. "Does anyone have a laptop? I need two."

Two engineers enthusiastically brought their laptops up for them.

Nina Thorne thanked them before asking April Graham, "How do you want to compete?"

"Let’s just write a program. Anything too complex, and people might say I’m bullying you."

April Graham lifted her chin arrogantly. "Whoever can write a decryption program faster, wins."

She said this because she was confident she could finish in the shortest amount of time.

Even if Nina Thorne had a gift for it, April was certain her technical skills were superior.

To ensure a foolproof victory, she added another condition. "This competition will be judged on the result, not just on writing the program.

After creating the decryption system, we have to test if it can be used flawlessly. Only then does it count as a win."

Nina Thorne raised an eyebrow, looking thoughtful.

Everyone else thought she was hesitating. After all, talking the talk and walking the walk were two different things.

But to their surprise, Nina Thorne agreed without hesitation. "Fine. Let’s begin."

With that, the two began the competition.

In front of everyone present, they both began their work.

Soon, data began to stream down both laptop screens like waterfalls.

Their fingers flew across the keyboards, their movements fluid and seamless, and they didn’t even blink.

The data flashed by so quickly that it was difficult for the naked eye to judge whose technique was superior.

But on closer inspection, Nina Thorne’s was faster and more precise. Her keyboard practically looked like it was about to smoke.

Just as April Graham was about to finish, ready to press the Enter key and claim her victory...

Nina Thorne finished writing first, stopped, and said, "Done."

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

They hadn’t expected Nina Thorne to be even faster than April Graham.

And based on her performance just now, she truly seemed like a highly skilled engineer.

Even they couldn’t have been that fast.

Compared to her, they were left in the dust.

April Graham’s eyes widened in shock. "How is that possible?"

She hit the Enter key and rushed over to Nina Thorne, only to see a green "COMPLETE" button on her screen.

April Graham’s heart trembled. She couldn’t believe it.

’Is Nina Thorne really this good?’

’The genius engineer grandpa always talked about?’

’No... impossible.’

’If she were really that amazing, she wouldn’t have spent all these years writing screenplays.’

’Could it be...’

’Was it really because of that incident ten years ago that she stopped developing systems?’

At this thought, April Graham felt a sense of validation, a surge of pleasant surprise, and even a thrill of pleasure.

’If that’s really the case, then this will be easy.’

Nina Thorne, unaware of her thoughts, said to the person in charge:

"The decryption system is complete. The next step is to test whether the program can break through a firewall."

After speaking, she looked at April Graham. "Any objections?"

April Graham sneered, "Of course not."

Then came the question: whose system should they try to decrypt?

If a company’s system was broken into so easily, not only would the company become a laughingstock, but it would also be targeted by those with malicious intent.

As they were at a loss, Justin Kane spoke up. "Use The Kane Group’s."

Everyone was stunned.

The Kane Group’s security system firewall was a top-tier program with multiple layers of protection.

How could it be breached so easily?

Suddenly, everyone began to wonder if they had imagined him being protective of Nina Thorne earlier.

Nina Thorne lowered her eyelids and accepted. "Alright, let’s test it on The Kane Group’s system."

The Kane Group’s system security was extremely tight, making it quite difficult to attack.

Moreover, cracking it in a short amount of time was considered impossible.

"Since there are no objections, let’s begin." Confident in her own abilities, April Graham agreed.

But she believed Nina Thorne couldn’t possibly succeed.

’She might have the skills, but that doesn’t mean she can pass the test.’

’That display just now was all for show.’

Nina Thorne’s lips curved slightly. "Alright. Let’s start."

Then, the two began working on their own.

Each started trying to crack the system using the decryption program they had just written.

April Graham worked quickly, with Nina Thorne following suit.

Once again, data streamed down the two laptop screens like waterfalls.

April Graham’s keystrokes were fast, her movements so fluid they could be called perfect.

This spectacular scene made the audience hold their breath.

Many began to praise April Graham, saying she was truly worthy of being called a senior engineer.

Cracking a system seemed like child’s play for her.

"You know," someone said, "the only reason Miss Graham was slower than Nina Thorne earlier was probably because she didn’t want to bully her and was giving her a head start."

Nina Thorne sneered inwardly.

’Giving me a head start?’

’Looks like April Graham will be "giving me" another win in a moment.’

Ben Cheney said worriedly, "President Kane, isn’t asking Mrs. Kane to crack our system a bit too difficult?"

"No, she can do it," Justin Kane said with conviction, his eyes fixed on Nina Thorne.

Albert Locke and the others were all watching her.

Jason Graham noticed Justin Kane’s gaze and his thin lips curled into a scornful smile.

April Graham worked with ease, thinking about how she was going to humiliate Nina Thorne.

’And show Justin Kane that Nina Thorne is nothing.’

But when she looked at Justin Kane, she found his gaze was still following Nina Thorne.

The tenderness in his eyes was something she had never received.

In an instant, she was so angry she clenched her jaw tightly.

At that moment, Nina Thorne’s expression was focused on the screen, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.

’Time to end this quickly.’

Her fingers danced across the keyboard, her rapid movements making her previous speed seem almost slow.

The crowd prepared to wait for at least half an hour.

After all, a freshly written program couldn’t possibly decrypt a system that quickly.

However, a mere ten minutes had passed when Nina Thorne hit the Enter key for the last time and said nonchalantly:

"Done."

April Graham was still struggling to decrypt the system.

According to her own estimates, she would need at least another five minutes to finish.

She never imagined that Nina Thorne would have already finished so quickly.

Amid the crowd’s gasps of astonishment, she stared at Nina Thorne in disbelief.