On her way back, Sage received a call from an unknown number. She suddenly felt her heart was compressed when she saw the unknown number. Without any reason, she kinda guessed who was on the other end of the phone. Her intuition had always been very accurate.She stayed silent when she answered the phone. A low and smoky voice was heard, "Sweetheart." The voice was the most beloved type of voice by all the young girls; yet, it could make a person's scalp numb.Sage's body tensed up as if she had lost control of her own body. She had to admit it. Even after ten years, she was still afraid of his voice. Being locked in the prison made of iron, she curled up with shackles around her wrists and ankles and a collar around her neck. It was very cold and cramped. Humiliation and fear were all she felt. How could she think about her dignity when the safety of her life could not be guaranteed?A man slowly approached her. Under the faint moonlight, she could see his face was sharp like an
For a moment there, Sage thought she was hallucinating. "What did you say?" Her body and the hand that was holding the phone stiffened up. "Did you say my parents are alive?""I don't know if they are alive or not. I just know that I didn't kill them." Jekyll said plainly, "Honey, I really did come back for you this time."He sneered, "But I don't want your blood or your life, I want… you."Her heart was beating rapidly like a drum. She could not sit still, so she forced herself to grab the handle. The fact that her parents might still be alive had overwhelmed her heart and thoughts. She could not process and pay attention to other stuff."Tell me clearly. Are you the one who ordered Uncle Braxton and Uncle Zane to create an accident three years ago? You did not kill them?"Jekyll sneered like he was teasing. "I was still on the run and trying to survive three years ago. I didn't have that spare time.""Then…" Sage's throat clenched tightly and asked, "Could it be Shawn and his p
It was a question that no brother would have expected to be asked. However, an elder brother was always an elder brother. He thought for a while and asked, "Who told you?""Jekyll." Sage had no intention of hiding it from Tim.Tim asked again, "What exactly did he say?""I recorded it down. Let me send it to you."Sage wiped away her tears, searched for the recording, and sent it to Tim. She played it again for herself too. After estimating that Tim had finished hearing the recording, she asked nervously, "Is it? I didn't understand it wrongly, did I? He said my parents are not dead, right?"At that moment, Sage was very emotional. She needed someone to tell her that her parents were not dead very badly. She needed to know that Sawyer and Primrose were still alive."Sage, calm down." Tim's voice was very clear and chilled like the summer wind. "His original words were, 'I don't know if they are alive or not, I wasn't the one who killed them.' He is coaxing you."Sage's heart dro
Tim jokingly asked, "Have you calmed down yet?"Sage responded, "Yes."Someone was urging Tim to continue the meeting. "Everyone has been waiting for too long…"Tim replied indifferently and majestically, "Let them wait."Sage laughed. She thought that Tim was being domineering and felt ashamed. "Tim, I'm okay now. You should go back to work."Hunter opened the door for Sage to exit the car. The white bandage on her hand was extra noticeable at night. Just as she was about to hang up the phone, Tim said, "If you want to hear me play live, you should come over soon.""Alright, I just need to settle the opening ceremony for the racecourse tomorrow and arrange the follow-up. Then, I will fly over."The water slowly dripped down from Sage's hair. She closed her eyes and let the ice-cold water shower her face and body. The bandage was taken off and the blood was washed away slowly with the running water. She wanted to calm down. She needed to calm down.The nightmare from ten years
Sage's smile stiffened when she saw Yoel and Jace's arrival. Her mouth was set in a hard line. If she knew they would be here, she would rather not come.Jace walked to her with a megawatt smile. "Happy Valentine's day."Sage did not even smile at him. She said ruthlessly, "If you really want to make me happy, you should have stayed in the hospital obediently and not come."Jace knew he would be criticized for coming, but he wanted to see her and spend Valentine's day with her, so he came anyway.Jace pursed his lips slightly. He wanted to make her happy, but he did not know what to say."It's such an important occasion. How can I leave you alone?"Sage thought in her heart, 'Right. At least they care.'Yoel was much more carefree compared to Jace's cautious approach. He came over casually and wrapped his arm around Jace's shoulder. He greeted, "Sage, Happy Valentine's day!"Yoel wore a toothy grin. "Today's a day worth celebrating. You should cheer up. Come, smile."Sage felt
"Of course."Jace took Mister Jordan to Sage and introduced him to her. "Sage, this is the chairman of Jordan Group. Meet Mister Jordan and his wife, Missus Jordan. They're my mother's old friends."Since they were Freya's friends, Sage showed more respect to them. She shook their hands politely and greeted, "Hello, Mister Jordan, Missus Jordan."After a few business greetings, Missus Jordan held her husband's arms and observed Sage."No wonder Freya kept praising you to me. She says you're a nice person. I'm not as lucky as her to have such a beautiful, capable, and understanding daughter-in-law like you."Sage maintained a polite smile on her face. She corrected her softly, "Missus Jordan, I'm her ex-daughter-in-law."Her words hurt Jace instantly like an arrow to the heart. It stung.The air became awkward for a moment. Missus Jordan covered her mouth and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I thought you got toge—" Mister Jordan held his wife's hand and stopped her from finishi
Sage was on her way back to Rosa Garden. As the car drove away, she looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Jace standing in the same spot, not moving. His figure became smaller and smaller until it disappeared from her sight.She retracted her gaze and stared at the bouquet of pink roses in her hand with mixed feelings.In the past, she hoped he would give her flowers every Valentine's day like any couple would do. She was happy, even if it was just one stalk. However, he never gave her any. She comforted herself, thinking that he probably just did not understand romance at all.However, she finally understood that men were not entirely slow-witted in romance. Rather, they just did not care until the right person came.She could not have his love before. When she could finally have it, she no longer wanted it. See, people were hard to please. Things just did not work out the way she wanted.Sage smiled coldly.There was a saying that a good marriage would teach people to love oth
Yeva smiled bitterly. "I've warned you, but you refused to listen. Who can you blame but yourself?"Yes. It's all my fault! I was blind and trusted the wrong woman. Now, I finally understand that you're the only one who treats me the best. Julian looked up at Yeva with a deeply regretful look."Yeva, I know I'm wrong. Please, forgive me once. I've divorced Queenie. We can go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to remarry right away. I will love you and pamper you. After you give birth to the baby, we can live together as a family of three. How nice!" Yeva's tears fell on Julian's face, and her heart ached beyond words. Oh, how wonderful. She could not resist imagining the happy image of their future, but she could not forget how Julian abused her.He humiliated her in front of Queenie, threw her into the cold and dirty attic, ignored her, and made out with Queenie in front of her.She had knelt on the ground and begged him, but he was so cruel and cold-hearted at that time…Yeva too
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