The diners cheered and rooted happily in the restaurant. Melody looked at the motivated and energetic Yoel and thought, 'He's really a womanizer. Attracting their attention everywhere he goes day and night.'Suddenly, she remembered what her old man had told her."You have to be prepared to avoid another woman eyeing him if you really fall in love with such a womanizer. Don't think that he will give up the entire forest because of you. It's better to put your hope in winning the lottery than expect he will change into a better man. Even if you don't mind sharing him with another woman, you still need to prepare yourself. You can get married and have kids with him. But who knows, one day, there will be a woman at the doorsteps with a kid saying your husband is her kid's father. Then your kid will have to share his father with another kid from a different mother."Sadness appeared in Melody's heart. She did not understand why she would fall in love with him when there were so many oth
Yoel thought deeply about what Sage said.Without waiting for his reply, Sage looked at Jace and said, "Call Cole and ask if he is free to meet up."Jace knew what Sage was up to. He responded and gave Cole a call.Yoel immediately said, "Hey! I know I lost the bet, but I never said I'm going to treat Cole to a fancy dinner."He looked like a scrooge, not willing to let other people take advantage of him. As soon as he finished talking, Cole's voice came from the phone. He howled out, "Damn you! Are you really my friend? What's wrong with treating me to dinner?"Yoel ignored Cole and asked Sage, "Why don't we rain check? I promise I will treat you one day."Sage gazed at him with her full attention. She knew when Yoel said he wanted to treat them to dinner, he actually wanted to bring Melody out for dinner.Cole continued to act berserkly on the phone, "What do you mean rain check? What's wrong with me joining the dinner? It's been a long time since I had a fancy dinner. I don't
Yoel was angry at Cole and kicked him under the table. Cole could not endure Yoel's attack and kicked him back immediately.Jace called a halt when they were about to get into a fight."Come on. You should stop fighting. My dearest Sage is looking. You don't mind being embarrassed, but I do."The words hit home. Yoel and Cole turned and chided Jace in unison, "What's the big deal?"Jace almost got hit by them. He put his arm on his hand to block their attack and then responded with a serious face, "Well, it's great."Yoel and Cole snorted in unison. "Bah!"Jace was lost for words while Sage made a silent laugh.They were distracted by a short argument and finally got down to business.Sage called Cole over to ask about Sheila's situation.Cole said, "We haven't found her yet, but we know she was smuggled out of the country. We've launched a detailed investigation of her and found out about her involvement in several lawsuits involving death. We've contacted the police in Harbo
Cole was not happy at his friends' disdainful gazes."I have to find an excuse for myself. Otherwise, how can I get away from this? I'm just a small captain of the investigation team. How could I investigate a chief like him?"Yoel, however, was curious about the result of Cole's question. "What did he say to you?"Cole said, "Peter looked at me and said nothing. He let me go."Yoel moved his mouth. Cole seemed to read his mind and reached out to him. "If you say that's it again, I'll smack you."Yoel bristled in silence and swallowed the words.Jace looked at Cole with a sullen look. "So, what did you find out?""I did find out something."Cole said, "I heard about this from the old detective. Peter's personality isn't the same as it used to be. He always had a serious face, but he spoke less nowadays. He was short-tempered and might scold and curse others while angry. His temperament has changed a lot now. He's colder than before, and his eyes are scarier now. However, he doe
Jace reached out and patted Sage's head. He said in a low voice, "Don't worry. I'll speak to my uncle later and see if we can get more information from him. Aunt Primrose probably doesn't want to tell us because of her own reasons. Maybe there are some things she doesn't want us to know. We'll find out eventually.""Indeed." Sage snorted, "There's no secret that'll last forever. I'll see how long she can keep it to herself."When they returned to Rosa Garden, they saw Primrose munching a packet of snacks with an angry face. She was watching television while sitting with her leg crossed.A drama played on the television. Primrose was glaring at one of the characters and biting into the snacks fiercely."What's wrong?"Sage found Primrose to be in an unpredictable mood. Her mood was changing like a roller coaster.Sage looked at Sawyer and asked, "Did the snack bar offend her? Or did the character offend her?"Sawyer glanced at Sage and said, "The computer made her angry."'The c
The group stayed in the room with the doors and windows closed. Primrose leaned over the desk and stared at Sage and Jace coldly and quietly.She looked very serious. It was as if she was looking at her daughter and future son-in-law as some outlaws. Her gaze was sharp as knives.Jace sat on the sofa and felt uneasy. Jace was on pins and needles because of Primrose's intense staring.Sage actually felt weak in her heart. She was usually very aggressive with her mother, but she was still quite afraid of her mother. After all, she grew up under Primrose's strict guidance.Primrose might be casual and playful while relaxed, but she was quite different whenever she got serious. Sage resembled her mother a lot in this regard. It was like a split personality.Sawyer found the atmosphere too tense, so he went over to Primrose and patted her back. "Talk nicely."Primrose's face eased because of Sawyer's comfort. However, her eyes were still sullen. "Tell me. What have you found out?"Sa
Tim, Sage, and Jace turned to Primrose as soon as she asked that question. Their actions seemed to say, 'It's you. That's you. Yup, you.'Primrose was lost for words.Tim came in and closed the door behind him. He said, "It's about Peter, isn't it? Good, I'd like to know too."After that, he found a place to sit down and was all ears.Sage was pleased to have Tim's backing. She decided not to leave and sat on the sofa again. She tugged Jace's wrist and signaled him to sit down.Tim had spoken. This time, Primrose must tell them something.Primrose suddenly felt like she was surrounded by enemies.Sawyer advised Primrose timely, "You can't keep it a secret forever. The more you try to hide it, the more trouble will come. If the children want to know, just tell them. Otherwise, they won't stop going about it. Besides, more people means more help."Sawyer gave Primrose a look and told her to go along with the situation. After all, she was the one who needed Sage's help.Primrose
"Younger brother?"It was surprising to Sage. She asked in shock, "Is he our uncle?"Primrose missed her brother and was in sorrow. When she heard Sage's question, she gave her a look and said, "We're not blood-related.""I see." Sage did not find that surprising. She said indifferently, "Isn't Shawn your godbrother too? You weren't blood-related to him either."Primrose's face sunk at the mention of Shawn. "How can he be the same?"Sage knew Shawn was Primrose's nemesis. She should not have mentioned his name. She did not like talking about that perverted old man either, so she quickly changed the topic."Okay, okay. Let's continue with Blue Snake's story. Didn't you say before that he was dead?"Sage's words stabbed Primrose's heart like a knife. Primrose paled immediately. The past she wanted to forget kept coming back to her.Sage, Jace, and Tim saw Primrose pale and tremble in fear. Their faces changed immediately. They stood up and wanted to go over to Primrose, but Sawye
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