The night skies were clouded that night, and not a star could be seen.The wind blew strongly, and it was forecasted that there would be a thunderstorm.Halfway through their drive to Bridge Lane, the rain started falling.Gauging the traffic, Zayne then said to Jace who sat in the backseat and was silent throughout their drive, "Mr. Yuriel, there’s road construction going on in front and it’s causing heavy traffic. Should we take the side road?"Jace recalled the route that Sage took and immediately ordered the driver to change to the shortcut.The route was not shown on the GPS, and Jace had to give directions by memory.The shortcut was so rocky and bumpy that the car jolted a lot. With one hand holding onto the car seat and the other hand holding the porcelains, Jace tightened his grip slightly and frowned.Zayne took a glimpse at Jace's hand, and his face went pale immediately. "Mr. Yuriel, your hand is bleeding!"He quickly reached for the first-aid box and plastered a ba
"I must thank Aunt Florence," Sage nodded and added, "and Xavier too!"She then flashed a bright smile at Seth, "Thank you, Seth. You're the best!"Her words immediately triggered Nigel and Luther. "Eh, what about us? Don't you like our presents?""Exactly!"When it came to situations like that, Nigel and Luther were oddly in the same boat."Yes yes, of course, you guys are the best too." Not wanting to offend any of them, Sage immediately corrected herself.Sage could only surrender as she received gifts from them after all.Seth chuckled and quickly tried to smooth things over. "The costume is tailored according to your body measurements. Go change into it. I'll have Eleanor help you."Eleanor was Seth's assistant and she used to work in the fashion industry.Shortly after, Sage walked out of the changing room.The moment she showed up, everyone in the room had their eyes glued to her. Seth looked pleasantly surprised whereas Nigel and Luther were dazzled and stunned by her
Even though Sage found that Kane's present was a little out of the place, Sage was quite fond of the crossbow.Kane was always a fan for weapons and tools. When Sage just turned five and was able to hold things properly in her hands, Kane put a gun in her hand at her birthday party.Sage recalled that at that moment; the air grew cold immediately.Now that twenty years passed, Kane still gave her tools as gifts. However, the crossbow was much more useful than being given a gun."Don't underestimate this crossbow. It looks like a slingshot, but it works like a gun."Kane then started to teach Sage how to use the crossbow. "You just have to press here. If you want to prank people, you can put toothpicks in here; but if someone angers or annoys you, you can put needles in here. It can pierce through their flesh perfectly."Kane and Sage were fumbling with the crossbow, whereas the rest of the gang slowly moved away as they did not want to be caught in the crossfire.Sage quickly un
Nigel and Luther glanced at each other and started nudging their sister. "Sage, since you're in a costume, you should perform."Sage immediately rejected their idea. "No way! I can't sing or dance. What do you want me to do? Magic?"Kane replied, "You could."Sage threw a handful of peanuts in his direction in response. "Why don't you perform!"Nigel started complimenting his sister. "What do you mean you don't sing? You sing like a melodious lark. It's true! Even Sean says you have a unique voice. No one sings like you do."Luther added, "Sage can dance, too. There were plenty of men who couldn't take their eyes off her when she danced that time at Skye Hotel."Sage was unbothered by their compliments. "That was rave dancing! It's not the same as proper dancing.""It's all the same to us."Nigel and Luther refused to give up on pestering their sister to at least perform something. She was not allowed to end the night before doing so.Sage could not stand them anymore and thre
Luther wiped off the cake on his face and held on to his tummy that was hurt from laughing too much."Your singing is life-threatening."Sage lifted the crossbow gifted by Kane. Luther immediately felt fear and hid behind Seth.Nigel sighed and said to his sister, "You've always been a multitalented person. You're smart and a fast learner. Any teacher would want you to be their apprentice in a heartbeat. How come you refused to learn singing and dancing? I'll never know."Sage was unbothered. "I can't be good at everything. God is fair. It's not like I sing and dance for a living. Why should I learn to do that?""You're still really bad at singing!" Nigel was direct and brutal.Sage aimed the crossbow at Nigel. He immediately kept his mouth shut and continued eating the cake.Seth comforted his sister. "It's okay, Sage. I know many autotune specialists. Just let me know if you ever want to record an album. I'll recommend a few to you."Sage shot two white feathered bows in Seth
Jace left without saying goodbye. Sage was dumbstruck.Zayne watched as Jace walked out as he still held on to Myles. It took so much effort to sneak in but why did Jace come out so early?Zayne was confused.Sage stood in front of the kitchen door with one hand holding a porcelain vase and another hand a pink velvet box. She was befuddled.Jim came out from the kitchen in surprise and looked at her hands full of things. "Miss Sage, what just happened? Who's that guy?"Jim thought he saw his master, but clearly, that guy was not Myles as he just disappeared into thin air. Sage frowned hard at the two items in her hands.Her brothers came over as soon as they heard noises in the kitchen. "What happened? What's going on?"Luther stared at Sage's hands. "Whoah. Who gave you this?"He took the vase over from Sage's hands and was preparing to examine it as he heard Sage muttering, “Jace Yuriel.""What?"All of her brothers looked up as soon as that name was heard. Their eyes loo
"This thing costs a hundred million bucks?"Kane could not understand. He could buy many other things with the same amount of money. "Hey, Sage. Which era is this vase from? It looks like an enamel vase to me," Luther asked Sage as he did not know much about antiques. Sage explained, "This isn't enamel. This is a multi-colored porcelain vase from the Renaissance era. It is extremely rare, and there aren't many left in this world."Sage caressed the vase as she introduced it to them."Prior to the Renaissance era, the medieval era used a lot of blue-and-white colors, but as the Renaissance era took over, red was introduced as a medium, and thus, it expanded into multi-colored designs. Take a close look at these exquisite patterns. It was painted in red…"All of them listened to Sage as she continued explaining, but none of them truly understood. Sage was a professional in antiquing. They could joke and laugh along when she was singing or dancing, but when it came to antiques, Sa
Zayne was nagging his boss."Mister Yuriel, did you speak to her when you saw her? Such a waste. You should've spent more time with her. It wasn't easy getting into the restaurant."We've completely ruined our relationship with Chef Myles this time. Should I prepare a gift and send it to him? He must have thought that we were going to kidnap him…"Jace nodded and said, "Just take charge."Zayne turned around and asked, "The multi-colored vase you got me to retrieve from the museum was one of Mendoza's precious collections. Does Miss Sage know how much it costs?"Zayne was worried that Sage had underestimated the value of the vase."It's worth much more than the porcelain plates—""I'm not spending your money. Don't be a busybody," Jace interrupted Zayne.It was impossible for Sage—Master of Jade—not to recognize the multi-colored porcelain. As for the price value…It did not matter. Jace looked at his wounded hands and thought he would craft another gift for her if not for his