"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
Grandma Yuriel smiled gracefully as she clapped her hands."Happy birthday, Sage. I wish you happiness always."Sage replied with teary eyes, "Thank you, Grandma. Please stay healthy as always."Grandpa Yuriel came closer to the screen and said, "Hi Sage, I can finally enjoy some cake thanks to your birthday. I don't get to have cake very often. Happy birthday, sweetheart."Sage laughed in response, "Don't have too much! Take care of yourself, Grandpa. You have to control your diabetic level."Freya sat in the wheelchair. She had a blanket embroidered by Sage even though the weather was hot. Her facial expressions were warm and smiley. "Happy birthday, my dear.""Thank you, Freya. I received your precious gift. Why'd you give something so precious to me?"Freya smiled in return as she said, "Silly dear, it's for you. I'd keep everything for you if you like them."Zachary created a group chat titled 'Without Jace'. Everyone from the Yuriel family was in there except for Jace. 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