With that thought in his mind, he started to get nervous and panicked. He switched on the bedside lamp and took out the wooden hairpin from the wooden box. He touched the carved-out rose and Sage's name on the hairpin. It was then he felt more secure.It was definitely the right decision to exchange the hairpin Sage was wearing on her hair with the colorful enamel bowl. 'So worth it!'Since he could not see her in person, he felt closer to her after looking at the hairpin.In the past, he always felt that a man should not pay attention and prioritize his life with love. He disregarded those who actually cried and wanted to die because of a woman. However, the person who had loved him dearest and cared for him the most, the strong and gentle woman, had become like the sun. He could see her, but he could not reach out to her. Her existence became so far from him.Day after day, Sage suddenly became an obsession of his. He was like Icarus, chasing after the sun, so far and yet so near
Yale glanced in Luther's direction because Luther was talking too much.Luther ignored Yale's meaningful gaze. He only paid attention to Jace and saw his eyes narrowed. "Oh, so you didn't know."Luther went over and pressed the button for the elevator.Jace rushed forward. "Is Sage really coming back today?""Yeah. I'm on my way to pick her up."Luther glanced at his watch. "Oh, we've got to hurry. She'll be there in forty minutes. Sage wants to see Jekyll get on the plane."When the door to the elevator opened, Yale and Jace got in at the same time and almost bumped their shoulders. They looked at each other and apologized in a low voice.Luther glanced up at them, feeling strange. After getting out of the elevator, Yale got into Luther's car. Meanwhile, Jace got into his car. Zayne had brought a lot of people with him just in case. Soon, a convoy of cars headed for the airport.Sage was still flying in the sky. She would usually sleep on the flight, but not today. She c
What followed the loud bang was Cole's shouting. "Sh*t! Jace! Jekyll is trying to escape! We're fighting now!"Jace got up with a start and ran out immediately.Luther faintly heard some loud noises from the call, but not the conversation. He shouted at Jace from behind, "What happened? You're not waiting for Sage anymore?"Yale got up after Jace. He said to Luther with grim eyes, "Something happened on Jeykll's side. I'll go over there. You wait here for Sage.""Mister Jace, what's wrong? Did something happen?"Zayne saw Jace running out of the waiting room in a panic. He just came back from deploying his staff and went after Jace.Jace said in a deep voice, "Jekyll's men ambushed the police. They're fighting now. Get our men to rush over there now! They're nearby Ark Mountains… Give me the car keys!""Okay, I'll get on it… What about you? Mister Jace!"Zayne gave Jace the car keys. Then, Jace ran out the door in a hurry. Zayne tried to follow him but failed to stop him, so
Sage's palms were cold and sweaty. Her head was pounding, and her heart was cold and sinking, void of any warmth.The group was on the way to the Ark Mountains Hospital. Luther told Sage about Jekyll's death. Jekyll's men ambushed the police on their way to the airport. They tried to escape and exchanged fire with the police. Jekyll was shot in several places and finally killed by a single blow.Jekyll died. The demon that tormented her, causing her so much pain, was finally dead.However, Jace and Yale's car collided with Jekyll's car. It was a serious and bad accident.Jace and Yale were taken to the nearest hospital from Ark Mountains, but… things might be bad.The sunny weather suddenly turned gloomy. The sky changed so soon, making it unbearable.Sage stiffened. Luther continuously comforted her, but she just could not seem to hear him. All the voices were cut off from her ears. She could hear nothing.Her memories flashed before her eyes quickly.She remembered that day t
She went to the stretcher and raised her trembling hand. She stiffly pulled back the white cloth and saw Jace's deformed and cold face.He just lay there quietly in silence. He was so quiet, like he was asleep.He was probably just asleep.Yes. He was just asleep."What are you guys still standing around for?"Sage suddenly spoke up with a raspy voice, "Take the patient to the ward and let him rest."Everyone stared at her in shock. No one responded.Sage got angry. None of them listened to her. Why?Nevermind. She could push herself.Sage walked around the bed and pushed the stretcher toward the ward.Cling. She heard a noise and something seemed to fall from Jace's palm.She stopped walking and looked down to see a hairpin.It was a wooden hairpin that broke into half. There was a rose carved on the wooden hairpin that was stained with blood.It looked like a blood-red rose.Drip. A tear fell from Sage's eyes. She raised her hand and tried to wipe her eyes dry. For some
Jace died just like that.Even when Sage hated him the most, she never wanted him to die. He was dead with Jeykll.The last time he got into a terrible car accident was three years ago. It almost killed him. Sage spent over three hours putting the broken bones back together.The last time when he suffered a severe head injury and bled in his skull, Sage went into the operating room and performed a craniotomy to bring him back from the brink.However, this time, he died before Sage could even save him.Sage sat in the morgue for a long time with him. She looked at the white and ashen face and body on the cold bed. She could not believe this was the man she had loved for ten years.He was still handsome and cold. His mouth was set into a straight line, looking unsympathetic and distant.It was this calm, indifferent face that once hurt her deeply before.Sage looked at Jace and thought about them.What if they had never met? What if she had not fallen in love with him?What i
Yale was still unconscious.He was badly injured and in a similar condition to Jace three and half a year ago. Yale had a broken sternum and fractures all over his body. Even if he woke up, he was not in a good situation.If he were lucky, he would survive with paraplegia. If things did not improve, there was a good chance that he would stay in a coma.Sage had done what a doctor should do. The rest was up to Yale.Sage returned to Rosa Garden with her brothers. Zamora heard about Jace. She felt distressed, looking at Sag's pale face.It was too late to say anything, so she rushed to make the arrangements for Tim and the rest to settle down.Sage was completely exhausted, and her eyes were swollen.She said she wanted to be alone for a while and shut her brothers out of the door.Luther and Nigel were worried that she might do something stupid. Tim said, "She knows what she's doing. Leave her alone first. Let's go and rest."Sage turned on the shower to the strongest, lett
Boom! A loud thunderclap shook the sky. Next came the pouring rain, washing Salem City. The weather was getting colder with the beginning of autumn.Sage stayed awake almost all night. She sat by the window with a shawl wrapped around her and stared at the endless rain pouring down. She wanted to get out and soak in the heavy rain.On the floor were two bottles of heavy liquor and Irish Whisky with high alcohol content.Sage was not a good drinker. She easily got drunk and always made a fool of herself.However, for some reason, she became sober as she drank.She wanted to get drunk and fall asleep. It was too hard to stay awake with all the sadness around her.This feeling seemed very strange.She was drowning in sorrow with an inexplicable bitterness and emptiness. Her heavy heart was suddenly hollowed out. She could hear the whistling wind blowing through her hollow heart, leaving nothing but a feeling of emptiness behind.As the wind whistled and forth, her heart only ach
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