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 had not been lying when she said that she had been really busy.After returning to Salem City, Sage had been drowning in her work as well as business gatherings. With work as an excuse, Sage had turned down invitations from the brothers of the Bennett family. She had disappointed them. Tonight, she had to attend yet another business gathering.The streets gradually began to glow with lights. Salem City was always the liveliest and busiest at night. The streets were filled with couples leaning against each other as they held hands, which made the city glow with romance. Leaning into the car seat, Sage wound down the window and stared quietly at the outside world.A couple was sharing food at a food truck by the roadside. She fed her man, and he kissed her. She smiled sweetly at him, and then, hand in hand, they moved on to the next food truck. Sage thought that what they had was simple yet sweet. Such life was all she had wanted.Tomorrow would be his wedding. Sage had on
Sage had no intention of engaging in endless small talk with a stranger. "I wonder what type of cooperation you expect when you said that you would like to form a partnership with me?" she said, cutting straight to the chase."I'm interested in that piece of land in the northern suburbs of Salem City," said Yoel, who also kept it short and simple. He did not beat around the bush."Oh, really?"Sage studied Yoel who was dressed in a V-shaped collared suit, and looked at her with an air of playfulness. She had a feeling that Yoel was here to impress her, rather than to discuss work.With nothing to hide, Yoel sat still, allowing Sage to study him, and he even flirted with her a little. "So, what do you think? I look quite handsome in this suit, don't I?" The words flowed out of him so easily that he sounded quite narcissistic. Sage was not the type to lie, so she replied honestly, "Not bad." "The main point here is the person who chose the suit has good taste," he said. Sage
The long-awaited wedding had finally arrived.Sitting in front of the mirror, Sienna was beaming as she admired herself dressed in a wedding gown.Adjusting the diamond crown on her head, Sienna whined, "Oh my, this crown is so heavy. I'm afraid my neck be aching by the end of the day."The bridesmaids had just changed into their gowns, but they were unsatisfied with their dresses. They exchanged looks when they heard Sienna's comments. "Goodness gracious, Sienna looks absolutely stunning today!" they said, trying to butter up to her. Sienna was walking on cloud nine after being showered with compliments. However, she let out a shriek when she saw her group of bridesmaids, "Oh my gosh! Why do you girls look so hideous and fat in those?""..."With just one comment, Sienna offended the entire group of bridesmaids. The bridesmaids, Sienna's "friends", were now cursing Sienna under their breath.Sienna, who had carefully picked out her own wedding dress, had done a poor job when i
"What do you know? This is what they call fighting fire with fire." Sage proceeded to max out the volume as she coldly said, "I can only give up after seeing him marry another with my own eyes."Pressing his lips together, Luther reached for his phone. Hitting WhutsApp, he sent a message to the group chat 'Battle Against the Mistress'. Luther: [Sage is watching the live broadcast of the wedding, and I can't stop her. What do we do?]Luther's second brother: [Why are you stopping her? Let her watch so that she can see how we're helping her get revenge.]Luther's third brother: [Live broadcast? I thought Jace didn't invite anyone from the press?]Luther: [Have you forgotten how Sage's hacking skills are now better than mine? There's nothing that she can't hack into if she puts her mind to it.]Luther's second brother: [You're such a weakling.]Luther's fourth brother: [There, there. If Sage wants to watch it, leave her be. She's loved Jace for too long, and perhaps this is the
Sage, on the other hand, did not notice what was going on with Zachary. She had her eyes glued to the stage. The ceremony had officially begun, and the emcee was beginning to speak.With chips in her mouth, Sage was patiently listening to the emcee finish his opening speech. Sage stopped eating when the groom showed up as the guests applauded. Jace Yuriel, her ex-husband, was standing tall on stage, waving calmly to the guests. Under the bright lights, his distinctive facial features and good looks were accentuated.She was used to seeing him in suits, but this was the first time she saw him in an all-white suit. Compared to his usual cold and distant vibes, Jace looked warm and gentle."He's finally marrying the person he loves; this must be the happiest day of his life." Sage thought bitterly to herself. For some reason, the chips tasted bitter in her mouth. Sage thought that the bag of chips might have gone bad.After introducing the groom, the emcee proceeded to invite th
Sage's suite also had a top-quality audio system. She squinted as soon as she heard the voice, "Was that Sienna's voice?"Sienna's dulcet voice was highly recognizable.Luther replied calmly, "Keep watching."Trying to regain her composure, Sienna walked toward Jace in a hurry and whispered, "Jace, I'm a bit terrified. Is someone trying to pull a joke on us?""Don't worry," said Jace. "I'm here."Sienna nodded weakly. Taking the microphone from the emcee, she announced, "Today is the best day of my life. There is nothing better in life than the person you love reciprocating your love, and we are each other's first loves. We have had several passers-by in our lives, but we still returned to each other. Some things are just meant to be."Crushing the chips in her hand, Sage was annoyed that Sienna still thought of her as a mere passer-by in Jace's life."So Jace, I've prepared a surprise for you," continued Sienna.Flashing a playful wink at Jace, Sienna went on, "Please have a l
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