Salem City's Annual Rose Festival was here again. It was another busy season for Sage. Finn had a bad cold that led to pneumonia. As a result, he got hospitalized at the busiest time of the year. He was still sick and not getting any better, so he had to take a long leave of absence.Sage had to take over all the work and was very busy. Fortunately, she did not have to worry about Yuriel Group because Jace was around to take care of the work there.Jace went back to Nadeem City to take care of some important business. The couple separated for a while to live in two cities.Both of them were very busy during the day. They went about their business and occasionally replied to each other's messages. They were just like any other couple in love. Sage always forgot to eat whenever she got busy. Her assistant, Sasha, sighed every time she saw a cold and untouched meal. She would secretly complain to Jace and tell him Sage was skipping meals again. As a result, Jace would call Sage and
Finn's face was red from coughing. He still looked surprised when Sage walked in."Sage, what are you doing here?!""I came to visit you." Sage came to visit Finn with a fruit basket and bouquet.After Sage placed the basket on the table, the girl beside Finn reached out to take the flowers. "Give me the flowers."The girl looked beautiful and gentle, but her eyes looked empty and cold. Sage observed her impassively and handed her the bouquet."Thanks." The girl took the flowers and placed them on the side table. Then, she looked at Sage and said nicely, "You must be Miss Sage, right? I've heard a lot about you from Finn. I'm Finn's girlfriend, Sheila Stone." Sage guessed who she was and was not surprised to hear that. "Hello, I'm Sage."She shook Sheila's hand. When she wanted to withdraw her hand, Sheila held it. Sage looked up slightly to meet Sheila's sharp and cold eyes. Sheila's grip on Sage's hand gradually tightened. Sage did not move and felt Sheila's strong grip.
Sasha followed behind Sage as they left the ward. She said unhappily, "When did Mister Janssen get a girlfriend? I had never heard him talk about her. She is a bit weird, but she is quite pretty though. The way she speaks is just too weird. So baffling.""Yes, I have the same feeling," Sage said. Although it was quite uncomfortable, she did care about it too much. Maybe the girl thought Sage was her love enemy, and that was why she was so hostile.Sage felt sleepy and yawned. "Finn finally got himself a girlfriend. Just let them be."After she got in the car, her eyes felt heavy. She sat down and immediately fell asleep. She had no idea that the car had stopped and someone had placed a thin blanket on her.When the car stopped, she was carried away while being wrapped in a blanket. That shocked her and woke her up. "Who…"The first thing she saw was Jace's deep and dark eyes. She was stunned and trailed off. She wondered if she was dreaming.Jace crackled uncontrollably when he s
When Jace and Sage were in the room, Jace finally put Sage down and switched on the light. The room looked plain, like all the other suites. The room was filled with the ambiance of a bachelor.Just as she was about to comment on a thing or two, she saw Jace's lustful look when she turned around. She swallowed all the words she had back into her stomach.There was no need for words between them. Both of them took a step forward together and kissed each other. She heard people talk about long-distance relationships or living in two different cities. It was until now she experienced exactly how it felt like having a long-distance relationship and how short partings made the reunion even sweeter.Both of them put effort into kissing and their breath interchangeably between each other. Maybe they were so affectionate that she accidentally knocked her teeth on his lips and tasted some blood.Finally, when they were apart, Sage pursed her lips, and her cheeks were blushing in rosy red. "
The feelings Sage felt last night were something she had never felt before. She had not expected it to be so painful and yet, so sweet. Was that the feeling everyone said, the pain and yet happy feeling?She felt like she had opened a door that led to a new world. She was like a tiny boat floating in the sea. Sometimes the boat was heavy and sometimes light. Her survival instinct told her to grab Jace's arms tightly and use her legs to wrap around his thin waist. When she was afraid and in pain, she would bite his shoulder to take revenge and leave bite marks…There were moments she felt she was in a theme park playing the roller coaster. The wind blew past her ears, and she shouted out happily. Then she could be a fairy, flying in the woods, playing with other fairies, picking fruits to eat, and playing hide and seek with animals. When she was finally tired, she would sleep on the tree branch.It was so comfortable…Jace looked at Sage, who was sleeping in the bathtub while leanin
Jace was quick. By the time Sage freshened up and left the bathroom, he was back with the medicine. Both of them met each other at the entrance. They made eye contact, were demure, and had no idea what to say.Jace stepped forward and touched Sage's face when he saw she looked unwell. He asked nervously, "Are you not feeling well?""A little." Sage pursed her lips. "I'm bleeding a lot, down there."It was weird. She was not bleeding last night, so Jace and her did not worry about it. Everyone who had attended human physiology class knew not all females would bleed during their first time. Sometimes, extreme exercise or injuries might tear the layer.Sage did not expect the bleeding to only start this morning, and the amount was quite a lot. It scared Sage as it was not really like menstrual bleeding."Maybe it ruptured," Jace said.Sage stared at him, "It's all your fault. So…thick and long."The descriptions were so direct. Jace burst out in laughter. Sage punched him heavily.
Sage had a deep thought about what Jace said. She did not think Sheila was jealous of her because of Finns, but she felt Jace was being jealous. With her eyes squinted, she asked, "Is she the jealous one, or was it you? Don't tell me you treat Finns as your love enemy."Jace stuttered, "Am I…that obvious?""Very." Sage exposed him mercilessly.Jace accidentally choked on his own saliva and coughed.Sage said, "Save your jealousy. It's true that I have known Finns since we were young, but our relationship is so far from being childhood friends. He is the son of our driver, Uncle Janssen. He grew up in the suburbs. Up until he was in high school, Uncle Janssen worried about his education, so Uncle Janssen requested my father to transfer him to the city to continue his education. Then he stayed in the house together with Uncle Janssen."Jace furrowed his brow, and Sage continued talking, "Although he stayed in our house, he attended boarding school during his high school years. I did
Sage gave him a look. "You can just get married. I'm not going to get in your way." Hunter looked at Sage with a bitter expression. "I've proposed three times, but Leah always says it's not the right time. According to her, you haven't married Mister Jace yet, so it's not right for her to get married before you. Why don't you and Mister Jace speed things up a bit? Can you get married as soon as possible?"Sage was tired of being rushed, so she frowned and tsked. Hunter was scared and took two steps backward. He did not dare to speak anymore.Sage glared at him and made a phone call. "Have Leah, the designer from the design department, come to my office." Hunter arched his brow.Leah knocked on the door and entered Sage's office. "Miss Sage, you asked for me?"Sage snapped the pen in her hand. She said faintly, "It's a private matter. Call me Sis.""Sis." Leah greeted Sage obediently and looked over at Hunter, who stood aside warily. She asked him apprehensively, "What's wron
Sage heard of the saying, 'Marriage is for happiness, and so does divorce.'Based on Wikipedia, the definition of marriage was, 'Marriage is a long-term contractual relationship between a man and a woman based on equal consent.'Someone once said, 'Marriage is like a siege. Those outside wanted to break in, while people inside wanted to break out of the siege.'Sage and Jace had been through marriage once. In their first marriage, they were both losers. This time, they were both determined to win. They wanted to live their lives well. Even if their passion were to fade in the future, they would never leave each other. There were eight couples in line ahead of them. Sage and Jace were the ninth.Jace was eager for their turn. He counted carefully and then said with a smile, "It's nine again. It's a good day for this number."Jace suddenly came up with a good idea, "Let's have a daughter and call her Little Nine, okay?"'Did he just come up with that? How brave,' Sage thought and
The ninth of September arrived quickly.Sage was worried that Jace would not be able to get up on time, but Sage turned out to be the one who overslept. Sage had not slept all night because of a certain someone. She was so sleepy, while Jace was full of energy.Jace carried Sage to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth. "Open your mouth. Ah…"Sage squinted as she saw the terrible dark circles under her eyes. She turned around in anger and bumped Jace's head.Jace was caught off guard and felt dizzy from the impact. He rubbed his head. "Dear, aren't you hurting yourself by doing this…""Look at my dark circles. They're so ugly. How am I supposed to take pictures? Sage complained in anger.Jace squinted and rubbed his eyes. "Let me see. What's ugly?"He held Sage's face and observed it. "What's ugly? It's not ugly. My wife is the prettiest in the world!"Jace did not care about the toothpaste foam all over Sage's mouth and kissed her anyway.Primrose opened the door and
Jace made Sage stay up all night. Sage was so sleepy that her eyes were closing."Sleep. I'll wake you up later."Jace leaned down and kissed her forehead. As he closed his eyes, he remembered something and sat up sharply."By the way, we have to wear white shirts for tomorrow's photo session. We haven't prepared the shirt…"Jace rolled over and jumped off the bed right after saying that. Sage could not stop him in time, so she turned on the lamp helplessly. She leaned over the bed and waited for Jace in silence.Shortly after, Jace came back with two shirts. His eyes were shining. "Dear, you've prepared for us?""Yeah." Sage nodded weakly. "I've got them ready. I've had Zamora iron them for me."Jace could finally put his mind at ease. "What about the documents and identifications…"Sage pulled open the drawer of the bedside table and took out the papers and documents she had prepared ahead. "It's all here."Sage looked at Jace. "Everything is ready. You've checked three time
Sage spread out the notebook and looked at the blurred handwriting. She slowly read it out loud, "Step one, conquer her with sweet talking. Use sweeter and flirtatious words that would make people blush. Forget about modesty and shame in bed. It's best to whisper them into her ears…"Sage read the notes with a straight face, making Jace so embarrassed that he could hardly keep his feet on the ground.Jace strode forward with a stiff face and tried to snatch the notebook away. Sage was quick to dodge and continued reading with her head down."Step two, be aggressive at your offense. Focus and remember this, being rough yet gentle. You can use props such as blindfolds, ties, handcuffs, and so on…"Sage's face turned red while reading it. As the images popped into her mind, she had to stop reading.Jace was about to go crazy. He buried his face in his hands, unable to look up at Sage."Where did you learn all these?" Sage threw the notebook at Jace. "Rough yet gentle? Are you seriou
'Electric drill? Seriously?!' Jace thought and got a headache.Seeing that Sage was about to open her mouth again, he panicked and kissed her directly to shut her up.Dean was stunned by Jace's quick action. When he saw the couple kissing in the light, he suddenly raised his hand and hit his head.'I must be on the set… Who else would be so shameless as to kiss in public like that?' Dean thought.Sage finally calmed down after a long kiss. Jace breathed a sigh of relief and picked her up. He told Logan, "I'll leave the other guy to you!""Oh," Logan responded. Then he picked Dean up like a kid and walked out the door.Jace was tired and sweaty by the time he arrived at the hotel. Sage was already soundly asleep. Jace put her to bed and took off her shoes, socks, pants, and clothes. He stripped her clean.Sage drank a lot and was reeking of alcohol. Jace did not want to wake her up, so he did not carry her to the bathroom and bathe her. Instead, he wet the towel with hot water to
In the words of the commentators, the basketball game was very smooth. The national team played well! At last, the national team defeated the opponent team by a score of 106-73.The crowd was thrilled that the national team had won the game. The internet was buzzing with excitement too. There were several hot searches about the national team's victory. The topic #RisingStarJim made the headlines too.Sage had lost her usual composure. She was following the fans and shouting wildly, cheering for the victory.Perhaps this was the power of sports. It made the audience exhilarated and trembling with excitement. Jace looked calm on the outside, but he was actually quite excited on the inside.Sage was cheering in excitement. She jumped up and down like a child while hugging Jace. Jace followed and laughed with her too.They were planning to leave after the game, but Sage was really happy and stayed for the team's celebration party. Sage even asked Jim for his teammates' shoe sizes and
"Is that so?" A trace of interest flashed in Jace's eyes.Sage did not understand, so she asked, "What does a small forward do?"Jace explained, "The small forwards are typically the tallest and most athletic of all players. They are responsible for scoring points and defending. The main goal of strong shooters is to score and create opportunities for teammates. In other cases, they would operate as off-ball specialists. They would wait for teammates to pass the ball, catch the ball, and shoot to score."Seeing Sage's confused look, Jace added, "James and Durant, for example, are playing as small forwards.""Oh!" Sage immediately understood after hearing the name of these famous basketball stars. Her eyes lit up. "Isn't that amazing?"Jace saw the sparkle in her eyes and found her really adorable. He said, smiling, "It is. Basketball is all about teamwork. Small forward is probably the most versatile of the five main basketball positions and carries multiple functions in the game.
The next morning, Sage, Jace, and Dean went to the basketball arena for the World Championships after breakfast.It was the men's basketball world championship, where their country's basketball team was up against another country. By the time they got to the arena, many people were in the audience.The staff guided Sage and the group to their designated seat in the family section.As soon as Dean sat down, someone next to him called out his name. Dean seemed unsurprised by this. He even smiled and waved at them. After that, he gestured for them to be polite and silent. It was not Dean's first time watching his younger brother's basketball game live. Many of his fans knew that Dean's younger brother was playing on the national team. They especially came over to get closer to him. Some were Jim's fans too. They knew Dean was Jim's brother, so they would greet him.After listening to Dean's explanation, Sage's businessman side as the owner of Norah Entertainment appeared again."If
Jace muffled his laughs and relaxed in the night light. He said, "I have to work harder, or someone will call me old.""Hey." Sage knew he would get back at her.She rolled over and lay on top of Jace. She played with his chest and said in a muffled voice, "I have a new nickname for you."Jace responded, "Hm?"Sage looked up at him. "Vengeance."Jace was stunned and soon broke into a peal of laughter. Sage leaned on him and felt the rise and fall of his breathing. As his chest resonated with his laughter, Sage followed along with his laughter. Both of them were laughing like fools. Sage and Jace lay flat on the bed after laughing nonstop. They opened up and improved their intimacy so much. As a result, their whole body and mind were very relaxed tonight. "Hey..." The two spoke in unison, exchanged a glance, and smiled again.Sage said, "Go ahead."Jace looked at Sage and muttered, "I'll say something, but don't get mad at it.""Just say it." Sage looked at him.Jace though