Looking out through the window, Leah stared at the black car that was pulling away slowly, and she wondered who might be the person in the car who was able to cause such sadness in Sage.…Sage had brought Leah to the company.This was the first time Leah was at the Norah Group. Staring at the tall building, clean and neat main lobby, as well as the polite employees, Leah was excited.Everywhere that Sage went, people would stop to greet Sage whereas Sage simply nodded, not even taking a look at them. She was exuding charismatic and imposing vibes.Following closely behind Sage, feelings of respect and admiration for Sage were written all over Leah's face.As soon as they entered her office, Sage said to Leah, "Make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink?"Leah replied, "I'm fine with just water."One of her assistants had entered the room just in time to make a cup of coffee for Sage and poured a glass of warm water for Leah.Shortly after, Hunter entered the room. At t
Leah was still trying to wrap her head around what Hunter mentioned earlier about a ten-year-old child who he had to take care of when she heard the conversation between Hunter and Sage.Leah wondered to herself, 'What did he mean by 'back on good terms'?''Could it be that the man in the car earlier is Sage's ex-boyfriend?'Furrowing her brows slightly, Sage said, "What's with the fuss."Hunter collected himself and crossed his arms over his chest. "Sorry, I was too agitated."Sensing that something was off, Leah quickly said, "Sage, I'll let you get back to work, and perhaps Mister Hunter can send me to Norah Jewel so that I can adjust myself to the new environment.""Okay," Saga added, "You can talk to Hunter if you have any questions. Make sure to stay humble when you're there, and do more, talk less."Leah nodded. "Okay, Sage."She then tugged softly at Hunter's sleeve. Hunter turned to see the nervous look written all over Leah's face and found it funny that this girl was
Sitting in front of her office desk, Sage looked up to see a man, tall with broad shoulders, walking into the room, dressed in a suit and tie. He was exuding a charismatic and imposing vibe.This was the first time that they were meeting for business in such a formal setting. It was new… yet strange."Please, have a seat." Getting up onto her feet, Sage gestured to Jace.Sage was in the same suit that she had been in earlier today. She did not dress up just for him, but somehow, there was something different about her.This was the second time that Jace was in her office. The last time they met, things did not end well between them, so he did not get the chance to take a careful look at her office.The style of her office was somewhat different from her previous style. Rather than a warm tone, the office had a Victorian style, and it was actually rather similar to the style of his office.After he took a look around, a painting on the wall captured his attention. It was a paintin
Sage had been continuously surprising Jace since their divorce, but right now, the way she looked at work surprised him the most.Jace had met a lot of female CEOs, and most of them were either too emotional or too imposing, but he had never met someone like Sage, who was gentle yet stern, frank and direct.Besides, she was well aware of his plans and his intentions.Jace heard rumors about her, but he was witnessing it first-hand.He had been underestimating his wife all this time.Jace had mixed feelings. Flipping to the last page of the contract, Jace was about to sign the papers.Taking a sip of her tea, Sage gently reminded, "There's no rush in signing them. You might want to take a careful look at the contract and make sure there isn't any issue before signing the papers.""There's no need for that. I have trust in you." After putting down the date, he took out a rose seal and stamped his name on the paper.Sage's pupils dilated. She did not expect him to keep the rose se
Sage instantly felt that Luther was her savior. "My apologies, Mr. Yuriel. I already have an appointment scheduled beforehand. Let's meet some other day, shall we? It'll be my treat."Even though he was rejected over and over again, Jace did not feel awkward or defeated. Instead, he asked, "Sure, and when shall we meet?"Jace was indeed stubborn.Sage felt a flicker of irritation, but she held back her anger and forced a smile. "When you're willing to give me that set of porcelain plates."Sage knew that there was no way that Jace would be willing to give her those plates anyway.The light in his eyes dimmed slightly. He looked as if he was thinking about it seriously. After a pause, he replied, "Okay, tomorrow it is then."Sage was dumbfounded."I'll pick you up at six in the evening tomorrow. I'll leave you to be then. See you tomorrow."Before Sage could even reply, Jace turned around and left with Zayne.Watching him as he left, Sage was left flabbergasted. Looking at Hunt
While Leah was in the washroom, Luther grabbed the opportunity and asked Sage, "What's going on? Who's upsetting you?"Sage took a sip of her sake; she did not say a word. Hunter explained the afternoon's events, from beginning to end. Luther immediately understood and said, "Pfft, he's just trying to buy you a meal. It's no big deal." Sage slammed her glass on the table, looking frustrated. "You got it the other way around. He wants me to buy him a meal!" "Fine, fine," Luther corrected his mistake and said, "It's okay, just treat him to a meal. It's not like you can't afford it. Furthermore, he is bringing the porcelain plates, right? One meal in exchange for four porcelain plates? That is totally worth it." Sage looked at Luther coldly and scowled, "It's not about the plates! I don't want to have a meal with him!""Okay, see now. This is all your fault," said Luther. "You set the conditions and he agreed to them. So, now you have to fulfill your end of the bargain. It's jus
They left the Japanese restaurant soon after they were done with dinner. Hunter walked Leah to her car, while Luther waited for Sage at the entrance. Sage's phone had run out of battery, so she had taken Luther's phone and was now playing some games on it. Halfway through, Sage turned to Luther and said, "Is Kane in Salem City?""Hmm?" Luther looked like he wanted to evade the question. "That's impossible." Sage found out the messages and showed them to Luther. One of them was a photo of the VIP lounge at Skye Hotel. There were pretty girls in the booth underneath bright neon lights, and in the midst of all this, there he was— with his braided hair and fair skin, sitting in the center. Kane looked extremely charming. The second message read, [I'm in the area. Don't tell Sage that I'm in Salem.]"Oh, sh*t!" Panicking, Luther snatched the phone out of Sage's hand. Kane could not have picked a worse time to have sent him a message, and Sage had seen him in the worst place possib
Jace left the Japanese restaurant and headed straight back to Skye Hotel. Zayne, looking at Sage's car disappear into the distance, asked Jace, "Mr. Yuriel, do we follow her?" "There's no need." Jace felt that if he were to continue with his actions, he would truly become a stalker. "Just ask your men to keep a close distance." Jace felt somewhat frustrated. He rolled down his window and lit a cigarette. The flame burned dimly in the night. Jace allowed his thoughts to carry him away. He could not stop thinking of the photo of Sage and Luther— their faces so close together. Sage had never liked her photo taken. He did not even have a personal photo of her. The only photo that they had taken together was their wedding photo. However, it appeared that whenever Luther was around, Sage was always close to him. Even if they had grown up together, they were way too close. Jace was green with envy as his heart turned sour and jealous.His phone rang loudly. It was a foreign numbe
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