Though Jace already knew Sage couldn't promise him a remarriage, it stil hurt. Jace felt his pride get hurt. His lips pursed into a slit.He let out a bitter smile and said, “I’m not an idiot. How could I force you to remarry me with this? I can’t bulldoze you to such arrangements. I know.” At least Jace was smart enough.Sage asked patiently, “So, what do you want me to promise you about?”“I want you to trust me one more time,” said Jace as he looked her in the eyes firmly. “I did not meet with a lady in my room. Suki West flirted with me at the bar and I thought she was you. I was pretty drunk at that point. I apologized and told the bartender to bill it to Room 77, I guess she must’ve gotten my room number from there.“After that, I didn't expect her to come to my room with wine. I told her to leave after telling her I’m not interested in her. You can also ask Yoel if you don’t trust me, or check the surveillance cameras.” Sage felt a little lost while listening to him. After
Sage’s face darkened as Jace opened his mouth. She asked with an annoyed tone, “Jace, don’t be greedy now. You said I only had to promise one thing.”Jace replied, “You also said other than remarrying me, you would promise anything else.”Sage wanted to punch him in the face again.‘He has always been good at loopholes. Pfft, what a cunning businessman!’ thought Sage.Sage squinted and looked at him in silence. Jace stared right back at her. They remained to stare at each other for quite a while before Sage looked the other way.She was cursing Kane for always causing trouble in her heart. Sage rubbed her fingertips and said slowly, “Mr. Yuriel, please think carefully before you make any more requests. If you forced my hand, who knows what I’ll do next,” Sage tried to bargain.Noting the threat in Sage's voice, Jace chukled and said, “Don’t be nervous now, it won’t be something crazy. I guarantee it will be something you can manage.”Sage scoffed. She didn't really believe that.
“I’ve missed this face.” Jace replied as he asked out of curiosity, “I’ve always wanted to ask, did you have anything injected into your face?”“What injection?” Sage suddenly understood what he meant, “You mean Hyaluronic Acid?”Jace nodded, it sounded something like that.Sage scoffed and said, “I don’t need that. I’m not a celebrity. I don’t care about that at all.”Jace complimented her as he smiled, “You’re prettier than the celebrities.” Sage didn’t even look back and replied, “Au-naturel.”Sage was everything but humble.Jace happily watched as she applied moisturizer in front of him. She didn’t take him as an outsider. And he couldn’t help but keep smiling.As Sage applied layers and layers of skincare and patted it into her face with slapping motions, Jace’s smile disappeared, and he asked, “Doesn’t it hurt?”Sage looked at him and asked, “You want some?”“No thanks,” said Jace.Turning off the lights, Sage went up to bed and covered herself fully in sheets, revealin
Jace was astounded by Sage’s directness.He stuttered, “How did you…” Sage scoffed at him and said, “How did I know? I know better than you yourself, Jace. Don’t try to play tricks on me. Such a shame if I had to embarrass you.”Jace was speechless. He compressed his lips, feeling embarrassed already at this time.‘She actually knew!’ thought Jace.“You’re foolish,” Sage’s voice sounded extra cold. “For thinking I would be softened up after taking up a beating?”Jace toned down his voice and said, “All I wanted was a chance to chase after you.”“And if I deny?” Sage asked.“Then I’ll seize the opportunity whenever I can!” answered Jace with a voice full of determination.“You used to say, you being in love with me has nothing to do with me. Now, that I chase after you has nothing to do with you either. I’ll not ask for you to be with me,” Jace said.And he added, “Because, from today onwards, I am chasing after you, Sage Norah!”Sage kept quiet.She looked at him quietly
Jace thought, 'I can’t make her angry again now that she’s opened up a little to me.'He had to practice self-restraint and lie back on the bed.Her biological clock woke her up and as she opened her eyes and turned over. She realized the bed next to her was empty. Jace was not there.She furrowed her brows and got up. A sizzling sound came from the kitchen corner. Sage walked towards the kitchen and saw Jace dressed in his hospital gown frying an egg in the kitchen. He felt her at the door and he turned around immediately. "Awake already?” he asked.Jace gently smiled at her as a drop of oil splattered on him and he jumped. He quickly checked on his fried egg. Jace was not like his usual CEO persona at all. He looked clumsy.Sage sighed and signaled him to step away. It was a wonder he didn’t start a fire. She rolled up her sleeves and took the spatula over from Jace, “I’ll do it.”Jace was ordered to stay aside. He quietly observed as Sage flipped the egg. A perfect sunny-s
Jace answered Yoel with pride, “Sage made chicken noodle soup.” Jace smacked his lips at Yoel. “You had Sage’s cooking?!” Yoel was shocked by what he said and dashed to their table.“Anymore left for me? I’m so hungry… What! not a single bite left for me?” Yoel yelled as he looked at their empty bowls and the room was still filled with the delicious smell of the food, “Make me another bowl, please.”Zayne stood at the door and sighed. 'Why can’t these men grow up?' Sage wiped her mouth and said, “Next time. I’m running out of time already.” She glanced at Jace and said, “I don’t think you can make it to the turf club today. Let’s meet again another day.”“No, no. I can go,” Jace said as he tried to take the bandage off his head. Sage held his wrist and glared at him as she said, “You are not fully healed yet. Just stay here if you don’t want it to be worse.” Jace obediently put down his hand and nodded, “Yes. Whatever you say.”'What is happening?' Yoel stared at them with his
Braxton’s trip to Yusemite wasn’t fruitful. He only bought a few pieces of worthless pebbles. He almost spent all his savings, too, and he fought with Zane all the way home about stuff that happened in the past. Yeva fell into her father’s embrace and cried hysterically as she saw him. She scolded about how Sage bullied and traumatized her while he wasn’t around.Braxton was not interested in their squabble. He comforted his daughter half-heartedly and said, “Your sister did that for your good. I’ll have less to worry about if you are half as smart as her.”Yeva was not pleased with how her father reacted. She felt a great deal of disappointment. She was longing for her father to teach Sage a lesson. In the end, that was all she got from him. ‘Might as well be unhappy together,’ Yeva thought. Then, she told her father about his land being turned into a turf club.Immediately, Braxton was pissed at what happened to his precious land. He almost had a heart attack, and he questione
Everyone stood up and bowed lightly at Sage as they saw her. They greeted, “Good morning, Miss Norah.”Braxton got even angrier. These idiots didn’t even look at him as they saw him, the director of the company!Sage nodded lightly and signaled everyone to take their seats.She walked towards the right hand seat of the conference table, and Hunter fetched her a chair. As Sage sat down, all the board members and voting members instantly pulled their chairs nearer to Sage and turned towards her.They clearly had a preference when it came to who was the real decision-maker of this corporation.“Hello my niece, you finally came." Braxton lowered his body onto the table as he glared at Sage who was seated opposite and said in an unkind voice, “You seem to owe me an explanation on the turf club issue.”“What else do I need to say? You clearly knew it all,” Sage looked up lazily and threw a file across the table.She added, “This document stated more than twenty reasons as to why this
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