The assistant dean shook his head at the dean and gestured to him not to ask more.Freya heard them, so she told Sage, "I won't be coming. What's the point of saying goodbye now? I don't want to force myself. I don't want to lie to Lucas that I've forgiven him. Hate is hate. Even if I don't love him anymore, I still hate him."Sage's heart sank. It hurt so much and felt like someone had clutched it hard.Sage suddenly understood that everyone's fate was different. Love and hate seemed to be related to each other. The more you loved someone before, the more you would hate them for betraying you. Love and hate could coexist in a relationship, but people would stay separated forever after the end of the relationship.Saying that hate meant love was just too pretentious. For the proud Freya, hate was hate and nothing more.Lucas's life had come to an end. His disease had tortured him so much and put him in bad shape. He was a handsome man and had charmed many ladies, but he became so
In the end, Jace was the one who organized a funeral for Lucas.Yuriel Group Cemetery used to have a spot for Lucas, but Grandpa Yuriel had the spot filled in after his divorce from Freya. In the end, Lucas was buried in the West Hill Cemetery. It was a nice grave he had chosen for himself while still alive.Lucas's funeral was held on a rainy day. Sage accompanied Jace at the simple funeral and gave Lucas a final send-off. Most of Lucas's old family and relatives had lost contact with him. Lucas did not have many friends in his life. Only some of his old subordinates from Universal Channel came to pay their respects to the old chief. However, there was one person who grabbed Sage's attention.It was not too cold in May, but the guest was wearing leather gloves and held a large umbrella in his hand. The man coughed slightly and lifted his umbrella a little. It was a plain face, but Sage recognized him at once.Sage held her umbrella and walked to him."Mister Walter."The guest
Peter glanced in the direction of the tombstone. After that, he gave Sage and Jace a slight nod and walked away with his umbrella.Sage watched Peter walking away coldly. She felt a little irritated.Jace sensed her strange emotions. "What's the matter? What did he tell you?""He asked about Shanie, but he didn't mention anything important. I was thinking about asking him about the attack on Jekyll during the escort back then."Sage watched as Peter's car slowly drove away and restrained her emotions. "Forget it. It's not the time to talk about this."…After that, Jace and Sage sent off the people who came to give their condolences. The rain finally stopped in the late afternoon.Jace and Sage put the umbrella away and stood side by side in front of the tombstone. They stared at Lucas's photo. It was a photo from when he was younger. At that time, Chief Spencer was both successful in his career and in love. He was a successful man to most and looked full of pride.Unfortunatel
'Share a father?'Jace's mouth twitched. He pulled Yoel away from him and gritted his teeth. "Well, thanks.""Welcome, my brother." Yoel patted Jace's shoulder with a face of great pride and righteousness.The scene was too unbearable for Sage to see. She stared at Melody standing behind Yoel. "Why did you let this guy out?" Melody was speechless and said helplessly, "He heard the news about Lucas's death and insisted on coming. I couldn't stop him."Jace looked down and glanced at Yoel's leg. "How's your leg injury?""I'm feeling much better." Yoel leaned forward to Jace and complained, "I've had a lot of trouble with this little witch the past few days. Please let me stay at your house for a few days."Jace shook his head decisively. "I have no place for you to stay in my home. I think you're not well yet. You better go back for good." Yoel was lost for words. Was Jace serious? What?!After the drama, Yoel still asked about Lucas's funeral carefully. He was relieved to kn
Sheila was a martial arts coach, but it was just one of her professional identities. Her background was not ordinary. She was the daughter of Harbor City's Stone family, but she was not famous. She was Mister Stone's illegitimate daughter and was not recognized by the family. Her family did not accept her, but she had an inspiring life. She grew up as an honor student and obtained a master's degree in management from Calambia University. She liked boxing, racing, and other extreme sports in her spare time.According to the report, Sheila and Finn met at a boxing gym. Finn signed up as a VIP member of a boxing gym for the past six months. He often went there to exercise.Sheila was his personal trainer. While they got to know each other, they had feelings for each other and soon got together. They have been in a relationship for three months already.Sage furrowed her brow slightly.'Three months…' Sage thought about how Finn kept the relationship a secret. No one knew he had a
The days flew by in a flurry of activity.At the end of May, it rained heavily. The whole city was gloomy and damp from the rain.The airport was grounded because of the heavy rain. Sage planned to return to Salem City at the end of the month but was stuck in Nadeem City because of the bad weather. Jace, however, was happy that she was staying longer. He could not hide his happiness and hugged Sage from behind. He accompanied her as they stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and watched the rain."God must have pitied me and didn't want me to be left alone, so he kept you to accompany me for a few more days."He inched closer to her and pressed a gentle kiss on her ear.Sage thought Jace was gloating at her for getting stuck in town, but she could not get angry because of his kisses.The two of them were exhausted from work a while ago. They could finally breathe a sigh of relief after the third phase of the project, Forget Me Not, got on track.It was the weekend, and
Sage's eyes were closed. Somehow, his voice sounded clear in her ears. His low murmur sounded seductively charming.Sage wanted to open her eyes, but Jace would not let her. He removed the cucumber slices on the eyelids and replaced them with an icy cold eye mask. It was very comfortable on the eyes, but she was blinded.Her senses magnified infinitely in the darkness."I'm just thinking..." Sage rasped, "Well, do you believe in love?"What a cheesy question.Jace's fingers paused slightly. Then, he answered her without hesitation, "I didn't believe it before, but later, I had to believe it."When she treated her coldly, the times felt longer and tortuous than ever. He could not control himself and thought of her every night. It was Sage who taught him love and let him experience the taste of love. She taught him the taste of unrequited love as his love for her grew deeper.Sage understood what he meant. She asked, "When did you fall in love with me?"This question had crossed
Sage had seen many gemstones before. Usually, she would not be this surprised.Jace bought this Kashmir sapphire necklace at Harbor City's fall auction ten years ago for a hundred thirty million. Words had it that it took almost a century to gather the high-quality sapphire and another fifteen years to cut and polish the gemstone into perfect proportions. The price of a hundred thirty million ten years ago was astonishing."Didn't the chief of Harbor City Jewelry Department keep this sapphire necklace for himself? He has been working with the auctioneer and got it with tricks. My mom wanted to get it at the auction but couldn't. She was so angry that she cursed him for more than a month… How did it come into your hands?" Sage was very puzzled. Jace took the sapphire necklace from the jewelry box and put it on her.He explained, "Chief Rockey fell into huge debt from a failed investment and is selling off his assets. I bought this sapphire necklace through my connections. I wante
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