Perching on the edge of his bed, Jace watched a surveillance video that Yoel had managed to download by hacking through the system. Jace frowned at the video that was filled with bright, colorful lights and loud dance music. He did not like these types of loud and messy places, but he had to put up with it and continue watching.He noticed a woman in the video. She was the center of attention. With a red dress and a pair of gold-colored high heels, she swayed to the rhythm of the music in the middle of the dance floor. Her movements were laid-back yet graceful and seductive. The colorful lights were unable to hide her glowing fair skin, and when she slightly tilted her head, Jace caught a look at her face. It was Sage Luz.Taking another careful look at the woman's face, Jace nearly jumped up from the bed as his eyes widened in shock.It was her, but not exactly her.In his eyes, his wife was a gentle, soft, and quiet lady. He thought it was hard to believe that she was the one
Sage stopped.For a second, Sage thought that she was still drunk and was seeing things.'Jace Yuriel, what is he doing here?'Judging by the haughty look he wore, and the way he glared at her, she guessed that he must have discovered her identity and now wanted an explanation. However, since they were divorced, she found that there was no need for her to greet him. Thus, she continued walking confidently to the exit. "Stop right there," a demanding voice said from the booth. Sage pretended as if she did not hear him and continued walking.All of a sudden, she felt a rush of wind blow past her, and then she felt someone grab her wrist. Her bodyguards immediately positioned themselves in front of her so that they could protect her. "What are you doing?" One of her bodyguards had stretched out his hand and pushed Jace's hand away, but Jace tried to resist. The tension between them was thick, and it looked like a fight was about to break out when Sage sighed and ordered her bo
Yoel laughed as he walked toward Jace. He placed his arms around Jace's shoulders as he said, "Are you sure that she is that dull and tame ex-wife of yours? And it looks like you, her ex-husband, is only worth fifty cents." Clenching the fifty-cent coin tightly, Jace gritted his teeth. The veins in his forehead popped. Yoel went out cluelessly, "Since you guys are divorced, you no longer have anything to do with one another, right? So, you won't mind me making a move, right? I must say that that feisty woman is just my type…"Before Yoel could even finish his sentence, Jace landed a punch on his face and hissed, "Get lost!"'Pursue her? Yoel that idiot better not think about it,' cursed Jace under his breath.…The moment she got into the car, Sage lost her cool.She reached for her phone and called Luther. "Luther, what is Jace doing at Skye Hotel?""What did you say?" cried out Luther who was sitting in front of his laptop. Startled, he asked, "Jace Yuriel is in Salem City?
In the mirror of the bathroom in his suite, Yoel checked his bruised lips and gasped in pain. "We haven't seen each other in such a long time, and you punched me in the face the moment we finally got to meet again?" Yoel glared resentfully at the man sitting on the sofa. The expression of Jace's face was as cold as ice. Jace said nothing as he thought about Sage and how she had looked. The scene flashed through his head, second by second, as her words rang through his ears. 'Is that confident and charismatic woman with her sarcasm and indifference really Sage Luz?'Jace had his doubts.Sitting across Jace, Yoel lit a cigarette and said, "How unlucky can I get? Last night, I got slapped by your girl, and today you punched me in the face. I swear that the both of you are a match made in heaven. You're both violent and aggressive. So, tell me, why the sudden divorce?" Jace looked up; he was utterly cold when he said, "Ex-wife."He had corrected Yoel's misaddress.Yoel nearly
The man had only gotten greasier after three years.Upon seeing Julian walking toward her, Sage frowned and growled, "Stay away from me."After being rejected by Sage again, Julian's face finally crumbled.He was, after all, the CEO of the Jefferson Group, and he had plenty of women flinging themselves at him. It was only Sage Norah who treated him dismissively. Julian had grown bored of women like Yeva who were easily tamed. Now, he wanted a taste of women like Sage— hard to tame. His forehead was still wrapped in bandages from the injury he had suffered when Sage had thrown the rock at him at Rosa Garden. It was obvious by how Julian threw himself at her that he had forgotten how he had been attacked.Standing just three steps away from where Sage was, Julian studied her appealing and pleasing face. All he could think about was how gorgeous Sage was.The Jeffersons and the Norahs were family friends, and both Sage and Julian had known each other since they were young and cou
Sage was unfazed by Julian's confession. Instead, when he grabbed her hands, she frowned and quickly pulled them back. Trying her best not to be overwhelmed by her disgust for Julian, Sage said expressionlessly, "If you knew that Yeva had been up to no good, why had you not reported her to the police?" Looking flustered, Julian quickly defended himself. "She tricked me with her acting. I had really thought that you had fallen off a cliff accidentally. You don't know how devastated I was when I heard of your "death". I had even been diagnosed with depression and had to go for therapy. It was then that Yeva had taken advantage of the situation. She had come to me when I was miserable and lonely. She had even tricked me into sleeping with her—" Before he could finish his sentence, the timer rang, startling him.Sage reached for her phone and turned off the alarm before saying, "Time's up, you can go now."Julian was stupefied.He did not expect Sage to be unaffected by his explan
Notified of Jace's departure, Sage felt relieved yet, for some peculiar reason, sad at the same time. She requested a copy of the surveillance footage of the lobby. There, she saw how Jace's usually cold and solemn demeanor cracked with anger. "I'm so proud that I am able to make him this angry," she said as she smirked. Sage knew that Jace, a specially privileged person who lived an unrealistic life, had never been rejected, and now, it was Sage who had refused him. She had been the person who had been tolerating his countenance, and now, she was the one to give him a taste of his own medicine. 'Phew! This actually feels sort of nice,' Sage thought to herself.Watching Jace indignantly leave through the main entrance, she scoffed. 'This is what you deserve for divorcing me and marrying that witch,' she thought to herself.Although Finn was her trusted subordinate, he was unaware of Sage's whereabouts during the three years she was missing. He was filled with suspicion as he
Hearing Yoel gloat, Jace had a sudden urge to end the call.However, he still needed a favor from Yoel. Holding back, he asked, "How much do you know about Sage Norah?""I don't know much about her. To be exact, I know just as much as you do. She is the eldest daughter of the Norahs, and she is also the CEO of the Norah Group. That is all I know."Putting on the suit that Sage had given him as compensation, Yoel observed himself in the mirror. He smirked and added, "Oh, and one more thing, your ex-wife has good taste."Jace misunderstood. He thought that Yuriel was referring to Sage's choice in a husband, and he felt slightly better for some reason. Clearing his throat, he added, "Help me to look into it.""Look into who? Sage Norah?" asked Yoel.With Jace's soft 'yes', Yoel chuckled, "Bro, listen. As your friend and colleague of many years, I have to remind you that no matter who Sage Norah is, she and you are divorced. Plus, aren't you getting married soon? Why are you still th
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