Sage glanced at Jace and Luther who came together and asked suspiciously, “How did you guys manage to be together?”Luther puffed out smoke, licked his lips, and said, “I was having dinner with Jace and heard you got into trouble in here. So, we decided to come to take a look…”Luther gritted his teeth and continued, “Lionel and Mister White, are they as dumb as a bag of rocks? How dare they cause such a scene at my hotel!”He kept reprimanding, but Sage disrupted him, “Stop changing the topic! Tell me, how did you guys end up having dinner together? What’s going on?”Luther almost choked over his cigarette, and he coughed lightly to hint at Jace. Both of them gave a tacit gaze in their eyes.Sage observed as the two of them exchanged sights. What was it?“Let’s not talk here. Let’s go get you some food and some peace.” Luther grabbed Sage’s shoulders and said playfully, “I came immediately when I heard you’re in danger. Are you touched?”Sage ignored Luther and continued asking
Sage understood Jace well, but she knew Luther even better.Her brother Luther never did things that did not benefit him. Jace must have given him something he wanted as his attitude toward Jace drastically changed.As for Jace, he was a man acting on a purpose. He would do anything to achieve his goals. Jace’s current goal was to pursue Sage, and since he kept getting rejected, he would find another way at it.Obviously, Luther fell into Jace’s trap, and he might be in unison with Jace already.Jace stared deeply at Sage. He often felt transparent in front of Sage, and she could read him instantly no matter what he thought or did.She never held back.Jace said lightly, “Don’t worry, I’ll never cause your brother any harm.”His answer was generic, but to Sage, it was as if lightning struck her.Sage furrowed her brows and asked, “Did you investigate me?”Jace always thought Sage was a talented mind reader. She could always hit the nail on the head.He admittedly said, “Yes.”
Sage snorted. She knew Yoel somehow had a part in this.“He’s good,” said Sage sarcastically. Jace, however, took it the wrong way and thought she was praising Yoel. He felt jealous and said, “I did the first two levels myself.”“Oh, so you want me to praise you for hacking into my files?”Sage glared at him and smirked, “I can’t stop you from investigating my files. If you can hack into all ten levels, I’ll be impressed.”Jace was stunned for a bit. He spent a long time and effort getting into the first two levels. He never thought Sage encrypted every page with multiple passcodes.It was tough gaining all the skills. As he got to the third level, he could not get past it and had to ask Yoel for help.At first, Yoel was not willing to do so as he was afraid of irritating Sage. However, as they were of the same occupation, he wanted to compete with Sage and so he half-heartedly agreed to it.They did not expect Sage’s passwords to be both sophisticated and brilliant. It was like
Hunter awaited at the entrance as Sage walked out of the event hall.“Miss Sage, are you alright?”Hunter looked worried, and Leah looked out the window, worriedly asking, “Sage, are you hurt?” Sage pushed Lean’s head back into the car. “Why are you two even here? Aren’t you guys on a date?” Hunter and Leah had shyness and then guilt written all over their faces.Hunter never left Sage’s side as her private assistant. Today, Sage approved his leave so he could go on a date for movies and dinner with Leah.As they were on their way to the movies, Hunter received news about Sage fighting someone else, so he hurriedly came over with Leah. Sage explained what happened in the car. Hunter and Leah both felt relieved upon knowing she was not hurt in the fight.On the way home, Sage asked both of them about their date.Their faces were bright red, and they were both shy yet overjoyed. It was obvious that it went well.Sage understood and did not ask any further.Hunter opened the d
Sage’s answer was unexpected to Leah.Sage laughed at Leah’s overjoyed face and said smilingly, “How can I miss my dear cousin’s graduation? I have to go.”“Hurray! You’re the best, Sage!” Leah passionately hugged Sage by her neck like a little kid.Looking at the cousins being harmonious, Zamora stood aside and smiled lovingly. She was reminded of the past when they were children, and they had been as close as what they were now.Sage had no real siblings of her own, and she was always kind to both of her cousins. She would think of them whenever she had something good to share.Leah was well-behaved and intelligent, but as for Yeva… that dumb, heartless, ungrateful girl.Hunter already organized and sent over the files of Suki and Dean as Sage just finished her shower.As they were both public figures, their information was easily downloadable from the internet. However, the files Hunter sent over had a lot more information, including those available online and those hidden fr
No one expected Sage to arrive, including Seth. He was pleasantly surprised to see her.Dean’s eyes softened the moment he saw Sage.He could recall most of what had happened last night although he was semi-conscious. He might not be able to escape if not for Sage’s arrival in time.Also, Sage managed to grab him before he collapsed the ground. Dean was not able to describe his exact feelings.It was as if he was pulled out from the darkness and into the light.“Hey, you came,” Seth habitually welcomed Sage with both hands ready to embrace her, but she avoided him.She looked up to Suki’s direction, “Seth, please! You know someone gets easily jealous.”Suki knew she meant her, and her face turned bright red. She felt slightly queasy.It was a weird feeling. After knowing that they were blood-related, Suki did not mind Sage at all. Her hatred just vanished as if it never existed.Seth felt both helpless and humored upon being teased by his sister; instead, he lightly caressed h
“Don’t worry, it’s not going to cause you any harm,” said Sage lightly. “We’ll talk after the meal.”Sage brought a breakfast truck, and it was filled with all sorts of cuisine.Dean did not have an appetite, but he had a piece of sandwich for the sake of Sage. It was tasteless in his mouth as he kept thinking about what Sage meant by repaying his debt.How would she want him to repay for saving his life?He had a tough thought, but he dared not give it too much thought. He thought it was not that possible thought.The food truck left as they were done. Sage went straight to the topic as she did not like wasting time.She placed down two contracts drafted by Hunter in front of Suki and Dean before saying, “These are agency contracts. You guys can take them home and look into them. You may ask Hunter if you have any questions about it.”Seth looked up and stared at his sister in surprise. He knew Sage would never waste her time, and her visit today had to be purposeful. He also g
Dean was dumbstruck.Sage did not take this lightly as he thought. She was determined to get him on board, and her offer was sincere.If it was not an issue to her, there was no reason he would not accept it.“I have a question,” Suki said as her brows narrowed. She looked at Sage and asked, “But why do you want me?”Though Suki was a prominent figure in the industry and had won several awards, she was no longer young. Her career declined.Lionel’s attitude toward her changed as well. She no longer got to act, she only appeared in various reality shows and train rookies. To Lionel, Suki was near worthless, except for the times he brought her out to sweet-talk investors.“Miss Sage, I understand why you would sign Dean, but I’m not worthy of your time and effort,” Suki said truthfully because Sage was Seth’s sister. She did not want to hide anything from her.“It’s up to me if you’re worthy or not.” Sage thought that Suki had nothing to worry about and said, “Miss Suki, the award
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