It had been a while since Sage left Salem City.Jace had been staying in Salem City without returning to Nadeem City.He had been watching Jekyll as well as Sienna and Peter. Sage's safety would still be a concern if the issue persisted.Simon thought Jace and Sienna had gotten back together when he learned that Jace had been tracking Sienna. He called Jace and lectured him furiously.Jace had to explain himself over and over again before Simon would believe that he was doing it for Sage and not for Sienna.Simon's attitude did a one-eighty in an instant when he learned that Jace was indeed doing it for Sage."Oh, it's for Sage, I see. You should've said so earlier. I could've saved my energy from yelling at you.""Fine then, I can't care much about what you kids are doing these days, but if you manage to win Sage back, I'd give you a reward."Jace sighed in relief after hanging up the phone, unsure whether to laugh or cry.Reward…?That old man was so naive.Jace was in no
Lucas took a sip and collected his emotions before he spoke, "Your mother went to Mostal to recuperate, right? How is she?""Don't you worry about her? She's always been great."Jace continued, "Haven't you bailed Luna out of jail? That's pretty impressive. Congratulations on the reunion."Lucas' face darkened when he heard Luna's name.He cleared his throat and said, "I ended things with her.""Oh?" Jace raised his brow, "What a surprise! Isn't she pregnant with your baby?"Lucas was uneasy. He responded awkwardly, "It's not what you think it is… Getting her out of jail was the last thing I could do for her. We ended on good terms.""Oh." Jace nodded calmly.Jace was now certain that Luna's pregnancy was fake, and the pregnancy test she did was also a sham."Son."Lucas called out to Jace gently, "If I told you that I wanted to fix things with your mother, would you support me?"Jace raised his head up slowly as if he had seen a ghost."What did you say?"Lucas' eyes lit
It rained again at night.Sage replied to Jace's message and headed straight into the shower. When she came out of the bathroom, the smell of barbecue filled the room.Sage was starving after swimming for almost half a day. She ran toward the station and grabbed a chicken wing for herself. She munched on the wing happily even though it was still too hot to eat."Careful, hot," the three men looked at her and said at the same time.Sage gestured okay in response.All of them enjoyed the barbecue with a beer in the companion to the sounds of the rain. Senior Shelby went to bed first. He was starting to feel a little tipsy after some beer. He bid goodnight to his children and went to sleep.It was just the three of them now."I'm bored." After a sip of beer, Sage said, "Let me sing you guys a song or two." "No, thanks." Tim said, "I'm happy with our current arrangement."Seth shook his head and said, "I agree. The rain sounds infinitely better than your singing voice anyway."
Jace decided to do it.He took out a piece of paper, opened his pen cap, and started scribbling under the warm, dim light.He found it hard to stop writing once he had begun. There were too many things he wanted to say to Sage…The sun was up by the time he had done writing.At the end of the letter, he signed his full name at the right bottom corner and sealed it off with the Rose Stamp.He smiled lightly as he lifted the letter to fold it in half and slipped them into an envelope.The last word of the song trailed off as the piano and guitar came to a stop. Sage had fallen deep into the song and did not react for a brief moment before realizing that the song had ended."I want more. Can you do it again?"Sage pointed her index finger up and begged for the brothers to perform one more time.Tim did not entertain her at all and closed the lid of the piano in an instant. "If you don't stop playing, the old man's going to come outside with a stick.""Godfather will never scol
Seth was heading to Lundon for Lundon Fashion Week and had invited Sage to go with him just for a casual day out.Tim was worried about Sage's safety and insisted on tagging along.The three of them then left for Lundon together.Lundon Fashion Week was ranked top four internationally; compared to New Yark's casual style, Parith's exquisitivity, and Miland's extravagance, Lundon was a city that fulfills one's imagination.It was also the most aberrant city out of all.Since Sage was the daughter of Norah Jewelry, Fashion Week was something she had familiarized herself with. She used to attend all sorts of events with her mother since she was really young; being in and out backstage was something that happened every other day.Sage grew up around top models and fashion designers. She was given multiple opportunities to become a child celebrity, but Primrose rejected them all.Sage did not turn out to be a celebrity, but her brother, Seth, did.Aside from being a young celebrity,
Sage fell into a deep silence, and she felt an odd sense of familiarity.It was as if she was listening to her own story; at the same time, it felt like she was an outsider listening to the story."I finally mustered enough courage to confess my feelings to him, but he rejected me and got married to someone else almost right after."Madam Meyer took two deep puffs of the cigarette, her eyes filled with pure anger and envious. "I don't understand. How is Sofia any better than me? Is it because she was a mixed-blood just like Timothy? It's unfair! Since I was born, I have gotten everything I ever wanted. Money, status, and men! Nothing was unattainable! Do you understand that?""Then you'd get anything you've ever wanted?" Sage gritted her teeth. "What makes you think you deserve that? Just because you're shameless? Or is it because you're just an evil, twisted person? There's a saying in my mother's tongue…""An empty vessel makes the loudest noise," Sage said.Madam Meyer knitted
Tim's men dragged Madam Meyer out of the scene while Sage and Tim stayed to watch the rest of the fashion show.The two of them sat in the front row. Sage turned her head to look at Tim and gripped his hand. "Tim."Tim squeezed her hand back and tapped it lightly. "I'm okay. Watch the show."After years of being involved in the military and political world, Tim had mastered the art of disguising his emotions. Sage was still overwhelmed by how Tim lashed out at Madam Meyer earlier that day.Sage knew that the deaths of Sofia and their child were Tim's biggest pain and regret in his life.Tim was able to ignore and look past whatever Madam Meyer was doing before, but the fact that she admitted to harming his loved ones had successfully awakened the sleeping demon.The consequences that came next were not something she would be able to handle by herself.Jace had just finished reading the email sent by his unrelated uncle when he received a call from Yoel.Upon answering the pho
Yoel took a moment to catch his breath from laughing too much and asked, "Have you spoken to Sage since she went to Yathein?"Jace's temper immediately disappeared upon hearing Sage's name, and he hummed yes in response."Oh yeah?" Yoel was surprised. "Sage contacted you? Really? Don't lie to me."Jace responded, "She added me on WhutsApp.""What?" Yoel was dumbfounded. "Sage added you? On WhutsApp?"Jace hummed yes in response.Yoel exclaimed, "What a miracle. Ever since that incident, I've tried calling her so many times and sending her so many texts, but she'd rarely respond to me. This is a double standard!""That's right." Jace smiled satisfyingly.Yoel scoffed lightly. "You must be ecstatic, aren't you? Finally, some progress. However, I wouldn't be too excited if I were you. You don't know if she'd really get back together with you yet.""I know that. I'm trying my best," said JaceYoel stopped joking around upon hearing how serious Jace was. They exchanged a few more
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