Jace's condition was more serious than they imagined.At the mention that Jace had to undergo cranial surgery, Freya's face turned utterly pale, and she nearly fell off her wheelchair.Lucas reached out to hold her. "Freya!""Freya," said Sage.She also went up to Freya to help her. At the sight of Freya's disoriented expression, Sage felt her heart drop.Even though Freya was considerate and did not blame Sage for what happened, it was after all her son who was injured. How could a mother not be worried?Freya was someone who went through a lot. Shortly after, she was able to regain her composure. Pulling her hands away from Lucas, Freya said to the doctor, "Do it then, the cranial surgery. But you must guarantee my son's life would no longer be in danger!"The doctor looked conflicted. "Truth be told, this will be surgery with a high risk, and only experts like the professors in the hospital are allowed to carry out the surgery. But all of our professors are away for a confere
After taking a look at Jace's condition, Sage started making preparations for the surgery.The first thing she needed to do was to shave all of Jace's hair to prevent the hair from getting in the way during the surgery."My my, what a pity to shave off all of such a good-looking guy. I can't bring myself to do it.""Stop being dramatic! We're going to open up his skull anyway. What's the fuss with shaving his hair?""He's Sage's ex anyway. It doesn't matter that he looks ugly.""From what I gathered, Jace got hurt because he saved ma'am. So I would recommend that you guys be more careful when handling him. We can't be sure that ma'am might not go soft-hearted and get back together with Jace.""Is ma'am the kind to go soft-hearted?"Everyone shook their heads.It was Sage. Walking into the operating room dressed in surgery scrubs, she asked, "What are you guys talking about? Talking bad about me behind my back?""No!"' They replied at the same time.One of the staff finished s
Laura was rendered speechless by their childish bickering.Aside from that, it was a relief that Jace finally regained his consciousness.The nurse checked on Jace and informed them that his condition was much more stable. She also added that Jace needed to rest more, replenish his nutrients, and take care of the surgery wound on his head.Yoel and Laura fixed their gaze on Jace's head."Miss, I have a question."The nurse turned to look at Yoel who was good-looking, blushed, and replied, "Yes?"Yoel asked, "Do bald people need to wash their hair?"The nurse was baffled.Laura cracked up. But to be fair, she thought of asking the same question too.***When the Yuriels heard the news of Jace regaining his consciousness, they immediately showed up at the hospital to visit him. Freya's eyes were red as she said, "Son, how are you feeling? Does your head hurt?"Jace replied softly, "I'm fine."He then scanned the room. Not seeing Sage around, he asked, "Where's Sage?"Zachary
Freya looked as if she made her mind up. "So? What do you say?"Faye was exhilarated. "That sounds good. I have always wanted a sister…"Before Faye could finish her sentence, Jace cut her off. "No!"How could he allow Sage to be his sister?Everyone in the family had their eyes fixed on him, waiting for his response.Jace let out a soft sigh. "I'll try.""Is that enough?"Jace's grandfather glared at him. "You must give your all!"He then held up a fist and cheered, "You can do this!"And the rest of his family all cheered for him. "Good luck, Jace!"Jace felt a warmth welling up in his chest. Letting out a soft chuckle, he nodded.***Sage finally wrapped up her presentation. Walking out of the hall, she sighed in relief.The professors followed behind her. "Dr. S, your talk was phenomenal. Let me buy you dinner, what do you say? About that surgery, I do have a few more questions that I'd like to ask…""My apologies, but I'm quite busy these days."Sage put on a smile
Sage was in a good mood after the call with her eldest brother.It was always that way for her - just a phone call with Tim and she would be put in a good mood. It was the feeling that she did not have to worry about anything because she knew Tim would have her back.It was just that Tim was always busy. Because of his identity, he was not able to leave his country, so Sage would need to visit him instead.There was a time when he bought her an entire island and said, "I've gotten you an island. Do you want to fly over and come and have a look?"It was obvious to Sage that Tim missed her.He just could not bring himself to say it.The corners of her lips curled up, which was seen by Yoel."Did something good happen? Look at you all smiling."Yoel arched his brow. "Come on, share your happiness with me."He was about to sit down next to Sage when Sage pushed him away. At the same time, Laura walked over and gave him another push. "Did we allow you to sit here?"Laura then sat
Laura kept her eyes on Kane. Still confused, she asked, "I thought dating it's supposed to involve both parties? Since when does dating only need one person's approval?"Laura was confused.Kane nodded. "It's what the youngsters do these days."Youngsters.To prove that she was still young, Laura tried to convince herself that Kane made sense.Yoel, on the other hand, found Kane ridiculous."I never expect to see this side of you, Kane."Yoel smirked, "I've always thought that you were gay."Laura turned her head abruptly to look at Kane. "Are you gay?""Of course not! Don't listen to his nonsense!"Kane then glared at Yoel, seething, "Do you have a death wish?""Uh, no."Yoel added nonchalantly, "But if you wish to win over Laura, you better mind your manner when you're with me. After all, I have a bag of all your dirty little secrets."Kane simmered in anger.Yoel was unfazed.Laura looked to her left and right.It looked as if a fight was about to break out."Are yo
It fell silent for a moment."My my, look at me. I just remembered that I have a medical appointment with Doctor Samuel."Jace's grandmother added, "Honey, let's go. Didn't you want to drop by the museum?"Jace's grandfather nodded and played along, "Oh right! I'll be taking my leave then, Sage!"Jace's uncles suddenly checked their wristwatches simultaneously."There's still some work left to do at the office. We'll be leaving now as well. Take care of yourself, Jace."Zachary said, "Jace, I have some assignments that I need to rush. I'll also be leaving now. See you around, Sage!"Faye and Zachary then waved goodbye to Sage and Jace.With her eyes full of delight, Freya left the ward and softly closed the door behind her.Within a few seconds, everyone in the Yuriel family left, leaving Sage and Jace alone in the room.Sage was stunned. She then felt the grasp around her wrist being tightened.As Sage lowered her head, her brows knitted into a frown when she realized that
He lay on the bed and she stood next to his bed, leaning toward him. They were at a dangerously close distance from each other.Jace still held her hands, and the sounds of their breath were in sync.It was a rather peculiar scene."Feeling better now?"Sage felt slightly uncomfortable and moved further away from him."Yeah, much better."Jace let go of her hands slowly, and just when Sage was about to take back her hands, Jace grabbed her wrist again.Sage was annoyed as she did not understand what Jace tried to do.Only God knew how confused and conflicted Jace felt.He had to decide between his rationality and emotionality.Staring right into Sage's mesmerizing eyes, Jace finally came to a decision."Sage."In a husky and low voice, he asked, "Can you keep me company during my stay here at the hospital?"Meeting his eyes, Sage fell into silence.***"What? He wants you to keep him company at the hospital?"Luther exploded in anger. "Jace Yuriel said that to you?"Wi
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